I have been giving my family ( two legged and four legged members) probiotics since I discovered its health benefits five years ago. I wasnt sure how I stumbled upon kefir, but I was looking for a cheaper alternative since yakult or yogurt can be quite expensive if taken daily. My dogs' lactose free probiotic capsules ( they use to be lactose intolerant) cost about P1000 and last for only a month.
Once I bought kefir starter mix at a health store, but after preparing it, I realized it was not the authentic kefir grains I read about in the internet- one that multiplies and live for as long you do ( assuming you care for it). It took me one whole year before I found someone kind enough to give me my starter kefir grain. One should be wary about this so called "eyeballs" with people you just meet online, but N turned out to be a nice person and she gave me a lifetime gift I will always be grateful for.
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| My kefir grains after a month |
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| After two months, look at my grains! I can hardly keep up with them! |
I started with a single grain that N gave me. I would innoculate it in a glass of fresh milk and allow the mixture to ferment in 12 to 14 hours at room temperature. You can tell fermentation is complete when the mixture has separated into curds and whey ( watery portion). I'd strain the mixture to separate the liquid from the solids ( kefir grains). The liquid, or what you may call, kefir drink, can already be consumed or stored in the fridge for 3 days ( in my case). I'd add fresh milk into the kefir grains and start another round of fermentation. Over time, Id need to increase the milk and adjust my fermentation time in response to the increasing number of kefir grains.
Much of what I learned about kefir making, I got from Dom ( just google for his site in the intenet, he's what you may call a kefir guru)
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| This is the resulting brew, thick and creamy, and a bit sour just like yogurt |
Lately, I have been producing kefir that is too sour even my dogs are rejecting it. This is because my kefir grains underwent a population explosion and I just could not keep up!
My friend A, who adopted one of my grains, inspired me with his kefir updates. So tonight my passion for kefir fermentation was renewed. To stick to three cups milk without affecting the taste of the resulting brew, I had to give up my excess grains ( I used to let half of them " sleep" in the fridge, but tonight I gave some to the dogs).
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| I decided to stick with 1 tsp kefir grains... |
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| ...to this amount of milk. |
