Thursday, October 21, 2010

Kefir - Chapter 10



Here is my kefir shelf in the kitchen.
From left to right, you can see~

1. Jar of milk kefir
2. Jar containing Milk Kefir Grains and the goat milk it is fermenting
3. Water kefir brewing (on top of the jar is this.)
4. 2 bottles of water kefir grape soda

I no longer store my kefired (is that a word?) milk in the refrigerator, and I like this system much better. I put the kefir grains into a jar, cover with fresh goat milk, cover with a coffee filter and rubber band, and let it sit for 24 hours. I strain it through a plastic colander that has small holes. Then, I pour the kefired milk into the large jar. I just pour it in every day and when I want to use some, I stir the jar and pour out what I need. I really like the creaminess and complex flavor that this milk kefir has developed. I will be interested to see what happens as we go into the colder months. This is such an easy process, and a very healthy drink! Milk kefir is also very versatile. I have used it to make "kefir cheese" (similar to sour cream or cream cheese), for making a whole wheat sourdough bread that is quite nice, as a substitute for buttermilk in baking, in smoothies, and as an acid ingredient in pre-soaking beans, brown rice, and breakfast oatmeal.

We really enjoy our water kefir soda. The only thing I feed the water kefir grains now is Sucanat. They are very happy and propagate rapidly. After brewing the kefir water, I add half again as much fruit juice and put it in flip-top bottles. Then it sits out for another 24 hours before being refrigerated. Yummy.

For more information, check out my previous Kefir Chapters over to the right..... :)

4 comments:

  1. loves2spin,

    I have enjoyed your posts. I have milk kefir grains and do make milk kefir. Do you have posted somewhere how to make cheese out of milk kefir? I see a dairy in NY is now offering different kinds of cheese commercially made with milk kefir. I would be interested in learning how to make cheese out of milk kefir.

    Thanks!

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  2. The only cheeses I have made with the milk kefir are the drained "cheese" (like yogurt cheese) and also I made a hard cheddar type cheese that I cultured with kefir instead of a mesophilic starter. It is very interesting. I have one piece of it left, in wax, and the last time I opened one, it was at least a year old and has a pleasant flavor, but never really gets "sharp" - as if the kefir just preserves the cheese. You might want to join the Kefir Making Yahoo group and ask for information there. I know that there are those that make very beautiful looking cheeses on there, but I don't have any recipes myself. Please let me know what you find out! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you have the recipe for how to make kefir?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, please look on the right side of my blog page and read the posts under "Making and Using Kefir."

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