How to: Milk Kefir

You may remember this post about how the husband and I were getting in to fermentation. For one week now I have been making kefir and cannot believe how easy it is! Today I thought I would share the ease of it as well as the supplies you will need to make it.

Supplies:

• kefir grains- check your local craigslist, ask friends or if you are in KC I can sell you some for $5! If you still cannot find anything local check out Cultures for Health. They sell just about anything you may need.
• glass jars- I use canning jars. You will need two.
• coffee filter
• rubberband
• PLASTIC fine mesh strainer- this was a bit hard to find, suprisingly. I finally found one for less than $3 at a specialty store. Our local Whole Foods, Target and Walmart did not sell them.
• glass bowl
• wooden spoon or plastic spatula

Step 1:

I am going to assume you have your grains in already made kefir. Your first step is to set up your strainer on your glass bowl.

Step 2:

Slowly start pouring your kefir in to your strainer. It is very important that you pour very SLOWLY! The grains sometimes come out in clumps and can overflow your stainer very easily. I know this from experience. Once you have the kefir in the strainer start slowly stirring it with your spatula or spoon. The grains like to get in the way and make it difficult for the kefir to make its way out of the strainer.

Step 3:

See that clump right here? Those are your grains!! Dump those in to a clean glass jar and set aside. Keep repeating step 2 & 3 until your jar of kefir is empty.

Step 4:

Once you have empited out your entire jar you should have all of your kefir in your glass bowl. You can now pour this in to a container of your choice (I use glass canning jars) and store it in the refrigerator for future use.

Step 5:

Take that jar with your grains and fill it up with milk. How much milk you fill it with is completely up to you. I fill an entire quart jar since my three kids beg for their "special milk" every morning. You can fill a pint, a quart, whatever amount you want.

You also can use just about any milk you like. I use whole milk.

Step 6:

 

Cover your newly poured milk with kefir grains with a coffee filter. Secure the filter with a rubberband. Fermentation can lure fruit flies and other small insects. You want to make sure you cover your fermentation to keep these critters out. Store your kefir in a place out of direct sunlight and in relitively warm climate. We have a monster or an old stove in our kitchen. We do not use the top oven so I use that as my fermination place.

Let your kefir sit for 24 hours or up to 10 days. The longer it sits the more pungent it gets. If you enjoy the vinegar taste then you may want to let it sit up to 10 days. It will look like water but that is perfectly safe. I myself let it sit for only 24 hours. I like the yogurt consitency.

After sitting for the length of time you choose, repeat all of the above steps.

Your grains are going to grow over time. I have had mine for 7 days and I already have enought for 3 or 4 different batches. You can split up your grains (make sure you have 2-3 Tablespoons for each batch) and give them to friends, sell them or pitch them.

Cultures for Health have great resources and great recipes. I am looking forward to cooking with my kefir (if the kids ever leave me any).

Look for future posts about kombucha and fermented carrots as well as my husbands mead.

 

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