4Real Forums: Kefir

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Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
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Topic: Kefir

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Joelle
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Posted: May 22 2008 at 10:30pm \| IP Logged

I have heard making your own is so much healthier than the store-bought kefir. Does anyone culture their own kefir? A dear friend gave me a starter and we drank it for a while, but then I let it go too long & it went bad. I worry I am not doing it right and all our little kefir smoothie drinkers will be sick

!! If you don't drink it every day, how do you keep it and how long can it sit in the fridge?
Thanks for any advice out there!!!

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Mary G
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Posted: May 23 2008 at 6:56am \| IP Logged

Joelle, I used to make it when we lived in Greenville ... it's definitely a taste that has to be acquired, but it is a nice summer drink.

Here's a thread that might help ... I know there are quite a few Kefir drinkers here and I think Elizabeth's son found it bottled?

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SusanJ
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Posted: May 23 2008 at 7:10am \| IP Logged

Elizabeth's son was drinking bottled kombucha which is also a cultured beverage though a little more finicky than kefir. We drink lots of kombucha at our house.

I also culture kefir which is about the easiest cultured product out there. How long it takes to culture depends on how many grains you have in proportion to your milk, and how warm it is. Once the kefir is where you like it, just stick it in the refrigerator. It will keep going in the fridge but very slowly. If you aren't going to drink it quickly it might be a good idea to pull it from the cupboard a little sooner.

I find that my kefir is just right in 24 hours so if our family were drinking it every day I would probably culture enough each morning for the following day. As it is, we usually have some in the fridge and we use it for smoothies and baking (in place of yogurt, sour cream, or sour milk, or sometimes regular milk). I have lots of friends who make their own kefir and they are all hard-core, Weston Price, culture everything folks and none of them likes to drink kefir plain. We all put it in smoothies under lots of fruit and sometimes some maple syrup.

Cultured foods are sort of an art form but they are very hard to screw up. Just tweak the size of your jar and the length of your culturing until you have it right. It lasts a long time in the refrigerator and you can always use it for baking if it gets too strong for you to drink.

Susan

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Joelle
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Posted: May 27 2008 at 9:55pm \| IP Logged

Thanks ladies for the info! Thanks for the link to the other thread--almost exactly what I was asking--guess the search engine would have given a heads up there!

Susan, so I don't have to drink the kefir every day or every other day? I thought we had to consume it every day or it would go bad! Clearly I am not at all knowledgeable in this area! We have purchased it in the bottle in the store, but my friend who makes her own assures me the health benefits do not compare. My concern is that bacteria would grow as I leave it out on the counter or even for longer periods of time in the fridge--but I did an internet search and couldn't find anyone who got extremely sick from drinking homemade kefir. I just don't want the kids to be the first!

Thanks again!

SusanJ
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Posted: May 28 2008 at 6:21am \| IP Logged

It's like yogurt--of course it will go bad eventually. But it has a long shelf life in the fridge and you would probably turn it solid and too tart on your counter before you turned it unsafe to eat. I think kefir is supposed to culture in the dark, though, so try to find a cupboard for it. And it will go much faster if you put it over the stove so watch out for that.

Have fun!

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