Raw Milk Kefir Instructions and Tips!
From time to time I have made lots of kefir. It is relatively easy and so good for you!
Basic instructions for fermenting kefir:
To start your culture:
Place your grains (squishy clearish,white clumps in the milk) with a couple cups of milk in a wide mouth jar and cover with a slightly loosened lid while leaving them at room temperature; gently shake them up once every 12 hours or so. They will multiply over time and you should be able to do bigger batches as they grow and multiply more. When you have extra grains you can, and should :) , eat them.
Where to get your grains?
www.gemcultures.com/dairy_cultures.htm
When is it ready?:
Once the fermenting milk with grains in it doesn't look, smell, or have the texture of milk anymore, you have kefir! Finished kefir will change texture somewhat and should smell tart and tangy with a hint of beerishness.
What to do once it seems to be done:
Once it is ready, you strain out your grains and pour them into a clean container then pour some fresh milk on top to start fermenting again. The finished kefir will last a long time in your fridge once fermented. It will continue to ferment, albeit much slower, in the fridge even without any grains.
Interesting side bit/distraction: traditional cultures make their kefir in leather bags hanging them in their doorways in order to bump them when they walk through the door to mix them up.
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Kefir FAQs. and more details
How best to strain:
Shake up your finished kefir before pouring it into your strainer. Plastic pasta strainers work well, but note that they are more difficult to get clean than a steel strainer as the butterfat in milk sticks to the plastic with some tenacity. Swirling your kefir and grains in the strainer will speed up the process a good bit. Some guides say never use metal anything when making kefir...I have found it makes no difference and use metal bowls to strain mine into everyday. Just don't try and ferment it in metal containers.
How long does it take:
Kefir grains are like pets, you need to feed them fresh milk with some regularity or after a long time not being fed, they will weaken and die.
The time it will take your milk with grains to ferment into kefir depends on the temperature of the room and the ratio of kefir grains to milk. The more grains to milk ratio, the faster it will ferment; the warmer the spot you keep them, the faster they will ferment. When the temp of your house is warmer, i.e. summer time without a/c, it will have more active yeast cultures and your finished product will come out to be more "beer like". This is fine and normal. If you don't like it that way, try and find a cooler place for them to ferment. About 68-70 degrees seems to be the optimal temp.
When learning to make kefir there is no better way than trial and error. If you don't think it is fermented enough, leave it for another 12 to 24 hours; if at that point, it is so sour you can't stand to drink it, you will know to use less time or a ratio of more milk to grains in your container. If it is still pretty milky, it needs a bit more time.
Making kefir is easy to do, but hard to be disciplined and set aside the time to make it in your routine. Eating it for breakfast takes no longer than making another nutritious breakfast. I recommend making a small amount for yourself each day as it is one of the most healing additions you can make to your diet.
What to do with your grains when not wanting to make any kefir:
-You can make your grains dormant if you can only make kefir occasionally. Instructions for that are in the article below. The longer you keep them dormant (in the fridge in milk) the longer they will take to come out of dormancy. Sometimes your grains won't work as well after putting them in the fridge for a while. Just ask us for some new ones if they don't seem to work as well after going dormant.
When is it done/how can I tell/is it bad/did I mess it up?!
Lastly, many folks starting out aren't sure when it is done. You won't hurt anything by drinking it when it isn't completely fermented. If you forget about it, and leave it fermenting for many days, it is still safe to drink, but it will be more tart and can get slightly alcoholic over a super long ferment. Make sure to stir or shake it at least every 24 hours on longer ferments in order to keep any mold from being able to grow in the upper portion of your container. Shaking it will bring the competing kefir cultures in contact with the upper parts of the container and the mold won't be able to grow there.
When it is not good to eat:
-Basically if it starts to mold on top, smell rotten, like poop, or rotting flesh. If it smells like this, throw out your kefir and grains. To keep your culture pure, make sure to use a clean strainer and containers and shake it up at least once a day. As long as you don't bring in competing bacteria or starve your grains for a long while, kefir bacteria families will dominate the milk and keep your milk fermenting into the good beneficial bacteria you need.
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FURTHER RESOURCES for those adventurous raw milk fans who read this far :)
Check out this podcast episode on kefir. It is helpful to understand the why, and to get some recipes for enjoying it.
For a video and article for further details on making kefir: check out this.
A couple additions/disagreements with this video in the link above:
-They say they have different guidelines for raw milk; just ignore that as their instructions are fine for raw milk. Their instructions have to do with their purchased cultures. Yours have always been grown in raw milk and will do just fine.
-They use a fine mesh strainer: I don't know how anyone would have enough time to work kefir through a strainer like this. I use a plastic pasta strainer with decent size holes and it works just fine. You may lose a tiny tiny grain or two, but it's fine.
Happy kefiring!
Robby