Re: watery milk kefir ??

[Guest guest]

Sent from my LG phone

pjknust <pjknust@...> wrote:

>I love my kefir and so do my poodles!

>My kefir is usually smooth and thick. I don't like it too sour.

>Every few weeks it turns watery. I rinse it with fresh milk (store bought, its

all I can get) and try to get it back to thick and smooth, but usually it

doesn't work, so I order more grains from the Kefir Lady.

>And I have perfect kefir once again for a while.

>

>What am I doing wrong??

>

> I live in Texas where the weather changes every day. It seems to be better

in winter and summer coz the house is cold. Seems like spring and fall is when

it messes up because I am not using air cond or heat. And the temp is all over

the map.

>

>Thanks for advice,

>pam in TX

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I'm not sure what could be going wrong, but one thing I'd try is to keep your

kefir in an insulated cooler with lukewarm water during the times that the

weather varies a lot. This may help stabilize the temperature of the kefir so

it's not changing rapidly, maybe? Not sure if that'd help, but maybe it's worth

a try.

I also wanted to add...my dogs love kefir, too!!!!! I sometimes let my dogs have

a little nibble of food when I'm eating and they are always excited when I

do...but, they go CRAZY for kefir! My little chihuahua never sneaks my food. If

I leave a plate in the living room to go get something, she will sit and stare

at it, but will not take a bite. But, once, I left a glass of kefir on the end

table while I went into the kitchen for a minute...she ran to my kefir and

started drinking it, and when she saw me coming back, instead of running off to

avoid being scolded, she drank all the faster to get as much as she could before

I grabbed her to stop her!!! Ha!

I started adding a little bit to their food in the mornings and one of my dogs

gets it at morning and at night. They love it! Even better, one of my dogs has

some severe stomach issues (he produces too much bile). He used to puke at least

once a day, and he often would not want to eat. I had to put him on a medication

that alleviated his symptoms, but in the long term, increases their chances of

getting stomach cancer. I was thinking one day, I wonder if kefir would help a

dog? I read online about people giving kefir to their dogs (to make sure it was

safe to give them) and decided to give it a try and see if it would help him.

I started giving him a little kefir every morning and night. I gave it a couple

weeks and then, started weaning him off the medication to see what would happen.

Now, before giving him kefir, if I forgot to give him his medicine even ONCE,

he'd be puking that day and have a very upset tummy and it would take days for

him to recover and get back to normal. Seriously...if I missed it just once.

Now, I only have to give it to him every 3 days as long as I give him his kefir

twice daily. He does start puking after 3 days without the medicine and it

doesn't stop if I give it time (I tried). But, hey...that cut his medication

down by 2/3, which is certainly a big deal to me.

Anyway...just letting people know...kefir is good for our doggies, too and they

love it!

>

> I love my kefir and so do my poodles!

> My kefir is usually smooth and thick. I don't like it too sour.

> Every few weeks it turns watery. I rinse it with fresh milk (store bought,

its all I can get) and try to get it back to thick and smooth, but usually it

doesn't work, so I order more grains from the Kefir Lady.

> And I have perfect kefir once again for a while.

>

> What am I doing wrong??

>

> I live in Texas where the weather changes every day. It seems to be better

in winter and summer coz the house is cold. Seems like spring and fall is when

it messes up because I am not using air cond or heat. And the temp is all over

the map.

>

> Thanks for advice,

> pam in TX

>

[Guest guest]

I mix kefir in the dogs dry food every morning, except the last two mornings

because my kefir isnt making properly (

Ive taken out the bigger 'grains' and a rinsed in milk again and added it back

in. Hoping it makes in the morning.

My dogs hope it makes too!!! If not I will be ordering more grains.

pam in TX

> >

> > I love my kefir and so do my poodles!

[Guest guest]

I would say that you would do much better with raw milk. There are so many

places to get it in Texas. Did you check the www.realmilk.com website for a

location near you?

Al

watery milk kefir ??

I love my kefir and so do my poodles!

My kefir is usually smooth and thick. I don't like it too sour.

Every few weeks it turns watery. I rinse it with fresh milk (store bought, its

all I can get) and try to get it back to thick and smooth, but usually it

doesn't work, so I order more grains from the Kefir Lady.

And I have perfect kefir once again for a while.

What am I doing wrong??

I live in Texas where the weather changes every day. It seems to be better in

winter and summer coz the house is cold. Seems like spring and fall is when it

messes up because I am not using air cond or heat. And the temp is all over the

map.

Thanks for advice,

pam in TX

[Guest guest]

Whole store bought milk has always done well for me til a few months ago.

Raw goat milk is 70 miles away, one way. I dont mind paying $10 a gallon for

raw milk, but I am not going to drive 70 miles one way every 2 weeks.

pam in TX

>

> I would say that you would do much better with raw milk. There are so many

places to get it in Texas. Did you check the www.realmilk.com website for a

location near you?

> Al

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

That is great you are giving your dogs kefir...it's wonderful for dogs and cats.

I had done some research and found that our pets should be on a raw food diet

as it has all the enzymes and nutrients still in it as opposed to cooked food

which no longer has enzymes and very little nutrients.

Pets will actually live longer on raw food diets and if they are not vaccinated,

they will live twice as long as the vaccinated ones. I recently heard that from

Dr. Bob Marshall, PhD on the radio. I do not vaccinate my cat (he received his

initial vaccines before I got him from the shelter and a rabies vaccine one

other time...he got sick after he got the shot) and have recently switched his

diet to mostly raw milk and some high meat content canned food. I know I said

that dogs and cats should be on a raw food diet, but my cat absolutely refuses

to eat any raw meat. I've tried but he won't touch it. He seems to like the

kefir too. He will be 10 in June and he still uses his cat tree and runs all

over the house like it's an obstacle course.

Al

Re: watery milk kefir ??

I'm not sure what could be going wrong, but one thing I'd try is to keep

your kefir in an insulated cooler with lukewarm water during the times that the

weather varies a lot. This may help stabilize the temperature of the kefir so

it's not changing rapidly, maybe? Not sure if that'd help, but maybe it's worth

a try.

I also wanted to add...my dogs love kefir, too!!!!! I sometimes let my dogs have

a little nibble of food when I'm eating and they are always excited when I

do...but, they go CRAZY for kefir! My little chihuahua never sneaks my food. If

I leave a plate in the living room to go get something, she will sit and stare

at it, but will not take a bite. But, once, I left a glass of kefir on the end

table while I went into the kitchen for a minute...she ran to my kefir and

started drinking it, and when she saw me coming back, instead of running off to

avoid being scolded, she drank all the faster to get as much as she could before

I grabbed her to stop her!!! Ha!

I started adding a little bit to their food in the mornings and one of my dogs

gets it at morning and at night. They love it! Even better, one of my dogs has

some severe stomach issues (he produces too much bile). He used to puke at least

once a day, and he often would not want to eat. I had to put him on a medication

that alleviated his symptoms, but in the long term, increases their chances of

getting stomach cancer. I was thinking one day, I wonder if kefir would help a

dog? I read online about people giving kefir to their dogs (to make sure it was

safe to give them) and decided to give it a try and see if it would help him.

I started giving him a little kefir every morning and night. I gave it a couple

weeks and then, started weaning him off the medication to see what would happen.

Now, before giving him kefir, if I forgot to give him his medicine even ONCE,

he'd be puking that day and have a very upset tummy and it would take days for

him to recover and get back to normal. Seriously...if I missed it just once.

Now, I only have to give it to him every 3 days as long as I give him his kefir

twice daily. He does start puking after 3 days without the medicine and it

doesn't stop if I give it time (I tried). But, hey...that cut his medication

down by 2/3, which is certainly a big deal to me.

Anyway...just letting people know...kefir is good for our doggies, too and they

love it!

[Guest guest]

I don't know if you know this or not, but you can freeze milk. You just have to

take about 8 oz out of the bottle before you put it in the freezer so it doesn't

expand too much to split the bottle. Then, when you thaw it out, you can let it

thaw in your fridge for about 4 days or you can put it in your kitchen sick with

warm water, warming up the water every once in a while and you can thaw it out

in several hours. Just make sure you shake it up good before you use it. It

looks a little different, but the taste is the same.

Al

Re: watery milk kefir ??

Whole store bought milk has always done well for me til a few months ago.

Raw goat milk is 70 miles away, one way. I dont mind paying $10 a gallon for

raw milk, but I am not going to drive 70 miles one way every 2 weeks.

pam in TX

>

> I would say that you would do much better with raw milk. There are so many

places to get it in Texas. Did you check the www.realmilk.com website for a

location near you?

> Al

>

[Guest guest]

Al,

Our cat is 15 and still plays like a kitten. We put him on raw when he was

about a year old, after we dealt with bladder blockage at 6 months and a year

old. He never had another bladder blockage issue or other health problems. He

never has gone back to the vet since a year old. He has great fur and does not

shed except for the seasonal change when he looses his winter fur. It can be

hard to change a cat to raw after getting used to kibble but our Bigfoot made

the change.

Alice

Hi ,

That is great you are giving your dogs kefir...it's wonderful for dogs and

cats. I had done some research and found that our pets should be on a raw food

diet as it has all the enzymes and nutrients still in it as opposed to cooked

food which no longer has enzymes and very little nutrients.

Pets will actually live longer on raw food diets and if they are not

vaccinated, they will live twice as long as the vaccinated ones. I recently

heard that from Dr. Bob Marshall, PhD on the radio. I do not vaccinate my cat

(he received his initial vaccines before I got him from the shelter and a rabies

vaccine one other time...he got sick after he got the shot) and have recently

switched his diet to mostly raw milk and some high meat content canned food. I

know I said that dogs and cats should be on a raw food diet, but my cat

absolutely refuses to eat any raw meat. I've tried but he won't touch it. He

seems to like the kefir too. He will be 10 in June and he still uses his cat

tree and runs all over the house like it's an obstacle course.

Al

[Guest guest]

Pam:

Hi! I also live in TX; I am not sure where you are at; I live in the DFW area. I

just got my kefir grains this past Saturday from Carole here who is on this

list; my kefir is just going GANG BUSTERS! I have only had it 5 days, but its

just going great guns right now!

I bought some whole vitamin d milk at Aldi's along with our regular 2% milk

purchase, and I am using the whole milk for my kefir...maybe you need to use

whole milk; that might make a difference.

What I am doing so far is this: I have a quart container I keep it in, and I add

the milk to that container; when I strain the kefir, I not only leave the grains

in the original container, I also leave some of the previous batch of kefir in

there...and just pour the milk into the container and put it back in its spot BY

the fridge...since its been hitting the 70's here, tho, I have been sitting it

further away from the back of the fridge where I was sitting it, and it seems to

be happily doing its thing without the extra help of the warm air from the

fridge cycling.

When I started this, the first day I did it, the milk wasn't really really cold

because we had picked my grains up and then went grocery shopping and had a

couple other stops to make, so when we got home, the milk wasn't cold cold...I

grabbed my container, popped the kefir in, along with the milk they had come in,

and added the whole milk and set it over on the little cabinet between the stove

and the fridge, and checked it ever couple of hours; it was JUST starting to

really process when I went to bed; the next morning when I got up, I had kefir!

*S* I was so tickled!

So, I strained it and then thought, " Hmmm...I am not sure about using really

cold milk " (my fridge is really really cold), so I warmed the milk up on the

stove just until the chill was off of it, and put tath into my quart container,

and set it back over where I had it before...that was around 8:30 a.m., and I

was checking it every couple of hours to check prgress; we ended up watching a

movie at one point, and I lost track of time; and when I checked it as 2:00 p.m.

that day, it had started to seperate (there was some clear spots of whey in it)

and I then strained it...and this kefir was thicker and tarter than my first

batch.

The second batch processed quite a bit more quickly than the first one; part of

that was, I am sure, because the miulk was warm...and the outside temperatures

have been up around the 70's..and we live in a small, 1-bedroom apartment that

has only a front window and back patio door for air to come in through, so it

stays fairly warm in here, so I am sure that also makes a difference; the

temperature variation is not very drastic in here as it might be in a regular

home where you can open up more windows and doors, or even in an apartment that

has a different exposure to capture the breeze.

Since then, I have been just straining and adding the milk cold to the

kefir..and its been doing its business. Its taking about 12 hours for my kefir

to process; and I have to check it, because, again, it is processing to the

point of almost being too thick to strain...*S*...

So far, it seems to be very happy...in fact, so happy that I had o put some milk

on it after straining yesterday and put it in the fridge....I have PLENTY of

kefir for today, and I will get the culture out this afternoon, add more milk,

and let it sit and do its thing as the milk warms up...the ambient temperature

in the apartment seems to be conducive to my kefir grains being productive; in

fact, maybe a little TOO conducive...*S*...

The above is what I am doing..and it seems to be working. Now, since its going

to be cooler on Friday and Saturday, what I am going to do this weekend is allow

the milk I am going to put into the grains to sit out and warm to the ambient

temperature in the apartment before putting it into my quart container that has

the grains in it; it looks like a large factor in my kefir doing so well is the

ambient temperature of the surrounding environment.

I suppose that what I am suggesting is watch how warm your environment is, pick

a spot where there is a fairly consistent temperature range, maybe try warming

up your milk a little bit to help your grains to 'wake up' a bit.

Hope this helps in some way! --Kim in TX

[Guest guest]

Ive been 'doing Kefir' for a couple of years. All is fine for months, til one

day its just watery and way too tart, and wont make my creamy kefir anymore.

If I keep my kefir in my kitchen it gets red spots in it, Im assuming red mold.

I live in a small, old, cabin on the lake in West Tx near Abilene.

I have already ordered more kefir, and threw out the old to the chickens. I

tried for 3 days to get it right like I like it. When I get my new batch, it

will do great til it decides not to.

I do use cold, whole milk, was even adding more cream, now THAT is really good.

pam in TX

>

> Pam:

>

> Hi! I also live in TX; I am not sure where you are at; I live in the DFW area.

I just got my kefir grains this past Saturday from Carole here who is on this

list; my kefir is just going GANG BUSTERS! I have only had it 5 days, but its

just going great guns right now!

>

> I bought some whole vitamin d milk at Aldi's along with our regular 2% milk

purchase, and I am using the whole milk for my kefir...maybe you need to use

whole milk; that might make a difference.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I do not feed my dogs an entirely raw diet due to the fact that I cannot afford

to. However, I do make their own dog food, raw, for about 50% of their diet. Raw

diets are great. Kibble requires the company to spray vitamins onto it because

the kibble has so few nutrients in it. It's very unnatural.

I also give my dogs raw chicken wings, bone and all, for treats. People always

freak out when I say that and they say, " Gasp! You aren't supposed to give dogs

chicken bones! " That's not entirely true...you should not give them COOKED

chicken bones because they are fragile and splinter in their digestive tracts.

However, raw bones are not fragile and are safe for your dogs. It is a great

source of calcium and also very good for teeth cleaning. You don't want to do

this every day, especially if you have small dogs, like I do, because too much

calcium is bad for them and can cause a lot of health problems. My dogs get

their chicken wings twice a week. They go crazy for them. I always supervise to

ensure I am there if they do happen to choke, but I supervise if they are having

any kind of chew treat...it's not because it's a chicken bone.

That is interesting that cats can have kefir since milk can be rather upsetting

to their stomachs...I guess because the lactose is gone in kefir? At any rate,

it doesn't take much to make a big difference. I just put a tiny amount in my

dogs' food (a spoonful or so) and that has been enough to make a huge difference

for my dog with the tummy problems. I wish I had discovered kefir a long time

ago because it has made such a difference in his life. It was always so very

hard to get him to eat (even homemade raw dog food) because his stomach hurt so

often. He spent a lot of time laying in his bed or snuggled on my lap because he

just didn't want to do anything else. The medicine helped him be more functional

so he would actually play, but he still had a hard time eating. Sometimes, I

considered putting him down just because he was suffering. Since starting him on

kefir about 8 months ago, he has never struggled to eat since. He gobbles his

food up EVERY time. About once a month, he gets sick and pukes, but it doesn't

seem to bother him...he still eats after an episode with no problem. I got kefir

as part of a plan to improve my own health, and never would have dreamed it'd

change my little doggy's life! I give it to my other dog, too, just because she

loves it so much and I know it is good for her health despite her lack of

stomach issues.

Lastly, please do not refuse to vaccinate your pets! Especially those first sets

of puppy shots. After that, it is NOT necessary to vaccinate every year...vets

just do that to keep the money coming in to stay in business. I studied

immunology quite in depth, and there is absolutely no way an animal would need

vaccinated every single year against anything. However, those basic first

vaccinations are very important. I worked at a vet clinic a long time while I

was in school, and I had to watch plenty of dogs and puppies die horribly slow

and painful deaths from parvo. It is a very strong virus that can take a dog out

very fast. And it can survive for a full year after another dog leaves it on a

surface. you can touch parvo that was sitting on a door knob for 9 months and

bring it home to your dog. I have also seen puppies come in with distemper and

have to live with brain damage the rest of their lives, some that had to be put

to sleep because they could not even stand up without falling over. These

vaccinations are very important to have early in their life. If you only take

them for their early vaccination series and then, do a final round when they are

1 year old, they should be fine. But, you are taking a very big risk if you skip

that.

[Guest guest]

Greetings,

When Miss Dusty was young, we went to TSC and bought the vaccinations

and did them ourselves. It was very cheap. The only one we couldn't

buy was rabies. That is regularly advertised at various feed stores for

a few dollars. My animals get the first shots, then nothing more. All

eat raw and get kefir. The few times the vet has seen them, the vet

comments on how healthy they are. My only issues have been natural

aging and making sure that is all it was.

Bright Blessings,

Garth & Kim

www.TheRoseColoredForest.com

Bedias, Texas

On 3/11/2012 2:47 PM, wrote:

> Lastly, please do not refuse to vaccinate your pets! Especially those

> first sets of puppy shots. After that, it is NOT necessary to vaccinate

> every year...

[Guest guest]

I love my kefir and so do my poodles!

>

> My kefir is usually smooth and thick. I don't like it too sour.

>

> Every few weeks it turns watery. I rinse it with fresh milk (store bought,

its all I can get) and try to get it back to thick and smooth, but usually it

doesn't work, so I order more grains from the Kefir Lady.

>

> And I have perfect kefir once again for a while.

>

>

>

> What am I doing wrong?

Hi Pam

This is funny but my kefir today turned to water and it was a quick 8 hr

ferment. What it looks like to me is that it has turned to all whey. In

assessing my own situation, today was the first really warm day here and I

wonder if these grains couldn't adjust to the temp change. I wonder if you have

taken notice if your ferments that turn to water actually are quick ones, too,

and are on warmer days. But also, my milk was older and that could have been the

cause. It was not spoiled, just that I somehow missed that one in my fridge and

used up almost a whole other gallon before noticing this in the fridge. I make 2

qts per day or every 2 days, so there was not much lag time. (I will stretch to

2 or 3 days when my kefir gets too far ahead of me.) So that milk I used today

may have been an extra week old.

I use raw milk, so I would say the milk is not the problem. I will just have to

wait and see what the next few days produce.

Lyn

[Guest guest]

Vaccines are the cause to all sorts of horrible, debilitating diseases in both

humans and animals. Most of the vets refuse to accept the real science and

choose to believe the dogma because vaccines make them lots of money. Then the

diseases following the vaccines create yet more income from the drugs, special

diets and surgeries. Those pets you saw at the vets were not suffering from

" Vaccine Defficiency Diseases " but instead had badly damages immune systems from

the vaccines and improper diets. Do a search on the internet for pet vaccines

cause cancer and you will have an eye opening experience. Here are just 2 such

articles with lots of references.

Mainstream column admits vaccines cause cancer in

petshttp://www.naturalnews.com/035080_vaccines_cancer_pets.html#ixzz1oqlulldP

Science of Vaccine

Damagehttp://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.htmlAl

Re: watery milk kefir ??

I do not feed my dogs an entirely raw diet due to the fact that I cannot

afford to. However, I do make their own dog food, raw, for about 50% of their

diet. Raw diets are great. Kibble requires the company to spray vitamins onto it

because the kibble has so few nutrients in it. It's very unnatural.

I also give my dogs raw chicken wings, bone and all, for treats. People always

freak out when I say that and they say, " Gasp! You aren't supposed to give dogs

chicken bones! " That's not entirely true...you should not give them COOKED

chicken bones because they are fragile and splinter in their digestive tracts.

However, raw bones are not fragile and are safe for your dogs. It is a great

source of calcium and also very good for teeth cleaning. You don't want to do

this every day, especially if you have small dogs, like I do, because too much

calcium is bad for them and can cause a lot of health problems. My dogs get

their chicken wings twice a week. They go crazy for them. I always supervise to

ensure I am there if they do happen to choke, but I supervise if they are having

any kind of chew treat...it's not because it's a chicken bone.

That is interesting that cats can have kefir since milk can be rather upsetting

to their stomachs...I guess because the lactose is gone in kefir? At any rate,

it doesn't take much to make a big difference. I just put a tiny amount in my

dogs' food (a spoonful or so) and that has been enough to make a huge difference

for my dog with the tummy problems. I wish I had discovered kefir a long time

ago because it has made such a difference in his life. It was always so very

hard to get him to eat (even homemade raw dog food) because his stomach hurt so

often. He spent a lot of time laying in his bed or snuggled on my lap because he

just didn't want to do anything else. The medicine helped him be more functional

so he would actually play, but he still had a hard time eating. Sometimes, I

considered putting him down just because he was suffering. Since starting him on

kefir about 8 months ago, he has never struggled to eat since. He gobbles his

food up EVERY time. About once a month, he gets sick and pukes, but it doesn't

seem to bother him...he still eats after an episode with no problem. I got kefir

as part of a plan to improve my own health, and never would have dreamed it'd

change my little doggy's life! I give it to my other dog, too, just because she

loves it so much and I know it is good for her health despite her lack of

stomach issues.

Lastly, please do not refuse to vaccinate your pets! Especially those first sets

of puppy shots. After that, it is NOT necessary to vaccinate every year...vets

just do that to keep the money coming in to stay in business. I studied

immunology quite in depth, and there is absolutely no way an animal would need

vaccinated every single year against anything. However, those basic first

vaccinations are very important. I worked at a vet clinic a long time while I

was in school, and I had to watch plenty of dogs and puppies die horribly slow

and painful deaths from parvo. It is a very strong virus that can take a dog out

very fast. And it can survive for a full year after another dog leaves it on a

surface. you can touch parvo that was sitting on a door knob for 9 months and

bring it home to your dog. I have also seen puppies come in with distemper and

have to live with brain damage the rest of their lives, some that had to be put

to sleep because they could not even stand up without falling over. These

vaccinations are very important to have early in their life. If you only take

them for their early vaccination series and then, do a final round when they are

1 year old, they should be fine. But, you are taking a very big risk if you skip

that.

[Guest guest]

The dogs that died had not been vaccinated, which is why they got parvo and

distemper in the first place. And to be honest, I do not consider websites to be

proper science or real science, and would much rather go with a peer reviewed

journal where all of the data collected is available for me to review myself,

rather than having to trust someone to tell me what their data said. In a peer

reviewed journal, the data is available for anyone to review to decide for

themselves.

Pets ARE over vaccinated...but, initial vaccines are very important and should

not be seen as a cause for disease.

>

> Vaccines are the cause to all sorts of horrible, debilitating diseases in both

humans and animals. Most of the vets refuse to accept the real science and

choose to believe the dogma because vaccines make them lots of money. Then the

diseases following the vaccines create yet more income from the drugs, special

diets and surgeries. Those pets you saw at the vets were not suffering from

" Vaccine Defficiency Diseases " but instead had badly damages immune systems from

the vaccines and improper diets. Do a search on the internet for pet vaccines

cause cancer and you will have an eye opening experience. Here are just 2 such

articles with lots of references.

> Mainstream column admits vaccines cause cancer in

petshttp://www.naturalnews.com/035080_vaccines_cancer_pets.html#ixzz1oqlulldP

> Science of Vaccine

Damagehttp://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.htmlAl

>

> Re: watery milk kefir ??

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>

> I do not feed my dogs an entirely raw diet due to the fact that I cannot

afford to. However, I do make their own dog food, raw, for about 50% of their

diet. Raw diets are great. Kibble requires the company to spray vitamins onto it

because the kibble has so few nutrients in it. It's very unnatural.

>

>

>

> I also give my dogs raw chicken wings, bone and all, for treats. People always

freak out when I say that and they say, " Gasp! You aren't supposed to give dogs

chicken bones! " That's not entirely true...you should not give them COOKED

chicken bones because they are fragile and splinter in their digestive tracts.

However, raw bones are not fragile and are safe for your dogs. It is a great

source of calcium and also very good for teeth cleaning. You don't want to do

this every day, especially if you have small dogs, like I do, because too much

calcium is bad for them and can cause a lot of health problems. My dogs get

their chicken wings twice a week. They go crazy for them. I always supervise to

ensure I am there if they do happen to choke, but I supervise if they are having

any kind of chew treat...it's not because it's a chicken bone.

>

>

>

> That is interesting that cats can have kefir since milk can be rather

upsetting to their stomachs...I guess because the lactose is gone in kefir? At

any rate, it doesn't take much to make a big difference. I just put a tiny

amount in my dogs' food (a spoonful or so) and that has been enough to make a

huge difference for my dog with the tummy problems. I wish I had discovered

kefir a long time ago because it has made such a difference in his life. It was

always so very hard to get him to eat (even homemade raw dog food) because his

stomach hurt so often. He spent a lot of time laying in his bed or snuggled on

my lap because he just didn't want to do anything else. The medicine helped him

be more functional so he would actually play, but he still had a hard time

eating. Sometimes, I considered putting him down just because he was suffering.

Since starting him on kefir about 8 months ago, he has never struggled to eat

since. He gobbles his food up EVERY time. About once a month, he gets sick and

pukes, but it doesn't seem to bother him...he still eats after an episode with

no problem. I got kefir as part of a plan to improve my own health, and never

would have dreamed it'd change my little doggy's life! I give it to my other

dog, too, just because she loves it so much and I know it is good for her health

despite her lack of stomach issues.

>

>

>

> Lastly, please do not refuse to vaccinate your pets! Especially those first

sets of puppy shots. After that, it is NOT necessary to vaccinate every

year...vets just do that to keep the money coming in to stay in business. I

studied immunology quite in depth, and there is absolutely no way an animal

would need vaccinated every single year against anything. However, those basic

first vaccinations are very important. I worked at a vet clinic a long time

while I was in school, and I had to watch plenty of dogs and puppies die

horribly slow and painful deaths from parvo. It is a very strong virus that can

take a dog out very fast. And it can survive for a full year after another dog

leaves it on a surface. you can touch parvo that was sitting on a door knob for

9 months and bring it home to your dog. I have also seen puppies come in with

distemper and have to live with brain damage the rest of their lives, some that

had to be put to sleep because they could not even stand up without falling

over. These vaccinations are very important to have early in their life. If you

only take them for their early vaccination series and then, do a final round

when they are 1 year old, they should be fine. But, you are taking a very big

risk if you skip that.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, everyone!

Where we are in Texas, I am finding that my kefire is fermenting too quickly

because its warmer now in my apartment, so I can't leave it out for 24 hours, or

even 12, before it gets to the point of being cheese more than kefir.

To slow down the process, I am doing the following:

Kefir grains and milk in their jars, and then a couple of plastic containers;

I'm using a clean shedd's spread and a clean cool whip container; sit your jar

of kefir grains and milk into the plastic container, and then fill your plastic

container with cool tap water out of the sink, or with cool water you may have

in a jug in a cool spot if you don't drink your tap water. I'm leaving the whole

st up in my sink, since its stainless steel and its usually cooler in the sink

than the surrounding countertop.

I'm also checking the water every hour or two, and if it 'feels' warm to me,

I'll pour half of it out of the container and add more cool water.

The reason I am using a couple of plastic containers because when I put my kefir

jars into these, the level of the lip of the containers are at the level of the

milk in my jars; I can fill the containers up to that level, and not have to

worry about having me kefir jars floating around in the sink iteslf, and

possible leakage from either the kefir into the water, or water into the kefir.

I plan on picking up a small styrofoam chest today to put my kefir in to

ferment,and I will start sitting the milk I want to put into my kefir out

overnight so it is room temperature when I put it into my grains before putting

them into the cooler.

This cool water bath will slow down the frement process, and I SHOULD have

thicker kefir when the process is done.

I hope the 'cool water bath' idea is helpful to others..*S*...-- Kim in Texas

[Guest guest]

I was about to write the same for the Texas area. Mine were all curds and whey

in about 12 hours. The cool bath is the way to go in Texas heat.

 Bro. Byron Muhammad

Your Brother in the Struggle for Freedom, Justice and Equality

Strive to be a Servant

________________________________

From: Kim H <celticdragonlady2002@...>

Sent: Fri, March 16, 2012 12:29:44 PM

Subject: Re: watery milk kefir ??

 

Hi, everyone!

Where we are in Texas, I am finding that my kefire is fermenting too quickly

because its warmer now in my apartment, so I can't leave it out for 24 hours, or

even 12, before it gets to the point of being cheese more than kefir.

To slow down the process, I am doing the following:

Kefir grains and milk in their jars, and then a couple of plastic containers;

I'm using a clean shedd's spread and a clean cool whip container; sit your jar

of kefir grains and milk into the plastic container, and then fill your plastic

container with cool tap water out of the sink, or with cool water you may have

in a jug in a cool spot if you don't drink your tap water. I'm leaving the whole

st up in my sink, since its stainless steel and its usually cooler in the sink

than the surrounding countertop.

I'm also checking the water every hour or two, and if it 'feels' warm to me,

I'll pour half of it out of the container and add more cool water.

The reason I am using a couple of plastic containers because when I put my kefir

jars into these, the level of the lip of the containers are at the level of the

milk in my jars; I can fill the containers up to that level, and not have to

worry about having me kefir jars floating around in the sink iteslf, and

possible leakage from either the kefir into the water, or water into the kefir.

I plan on picking up a small styrofoam chest today to put my kefir in to

ferment,and I will start sitting the milk I want to put into my kefir out

overnight so it is room temperature when I put it into my grains before putting

them into the cooler.

This cool water bath will slow down the frement process, and I SHOULD have

thicker kefir when the process is done.

I hope the 'cool water bath' idea is helpful to others..*S*...-- Kim in Texas

[Guest guest]

I kinda figured that is what was happening to mine. But I think mine died

because I couldnt bring it back. Once I start using the Air Conditioning again

it will be fine. Just doesnt work in spring and fall. Mine do better when its

cold.

thanks for the tip, I will try it, I have new grains coming.

pam in TX

<celticdragonlady2002@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi, everyone!

>

> Where we are in Texas, I am finding that my kefire is fermenting too quickly

because its warmer now in my apartment, so I can't leave it out for 24 hours, or

even 12, before it gets to the point of being cheese more than kefir.

>

> To slow down the process, I am doing the following:

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

How much grains are you using to how much milk? You might want to reduce the

quantity of grains to quantity of milk, which will slow down the culturing

process. I myself use 1 Tbs per 1/2 gallon of milk. Do you have any glass

mason jars? I thought that it was not good to culture your kefir in plastic.

For some reason I thought that the kefir reacts to the plastic. Anyone know for

sure? I would also be cautious about using plastic as it can leach BPA and

other chemicals i to your kefir.

Al

Re: watery milk kefir ??

Hi, everyone!

Where we are in Texas, I am finding that my kefire is fermenting too quickly

because its warmer now in my apartment, so I can't leave it out for 24 hours, or

even 12, before it gets to the point of being cheese more than kefir.

To slow down the process, I am doing the following:

Kefir grains and milk in their jars, and then a couple of plastic containers;

I'm using a clean shedd's spread and a clean cool whip container; sit your jar

of kefir grains and milk into the plastic container, and then fill your plastic

container with cool tap water out of the sink, or with cool water you may have

in a jug in a cool spot if you don't drink your tap water. I'm leaving the whole

st up in my sink, since its stainless steel and its usually cooler in the sink

than the surrounding countertop.

I'm also checking the water every hour or two, and if it 'feels' warm to me,

I'll pour half of it out of the container and add more cool water.

The reason I am using a couple of plastic containers because when I put my kefir

jars into these, the level of the lip of the containers are at the level of the

milk in my jars; I can fill the containers up to that level, and not have to

worry about having me kefir jars floating around in the sink iteslf, and

possible leakage from either the kefir into the water, or water into the kefir.

I plan on picking up a small styrofoam chest today to put my kefir in to

ferment,and I will start sitting the milk I want to put into my kefir out

overnight so it is room temperature when I put it into my grains before putting

them into the cooler.

This cool water bath will slow down the frement process, and I SHOULD have

thicker kefir when the process is done.

I hope the 'cool water bath' idea is helpful to others..*S*...-- Kim in Texas

[Guest guest]

Hi, All:

Okay, the 'water bath' method slowed down the culture, but I still had clear

whey seperation at the bottom of the jars Friday morning. I put it all in the

fridge, without straining, and I picked up a styrofoam cooler at Wal-Mart on

Friday evening, and when we got home, I strained the semi-watery kefire, and

then I rinsed the culture, washed the jars I have been using to culture, and put

the rinsed kefir back into my culturing jars, added the warm milk and cream, and

then put it into the cooler; had 2 jars of nice, thick kefir yesterday evening.

I know the main reason I was having watery kefir is that the temperature in here

was over 70 degrees, even with the window and door open.

Last night, when I strained, and before I put the jars back into the cooler, I

put in one of those gel cooler packs that I had put in the fridge Friday night

to chill down just for using in the cooler to help keep the temp a bit more

stable as I knew we would be sleeping in today.

I haven't checked it today yet; thats my next thing to do, actually.

I use food grade plastic jars to culture in; so I am not certain if that affects

it or not; except for it being too warm in here and it culturing too quickly for

a couple of days, I have had no problems with my culture per se; in fact, its

grown...

As for the amont of kefir I am using per jar, I have over 2 tablespoons per jar

now, and will be splitting that up thiis week and getting that culture going in

making kefir so I am able to, at the beginning of April, to send some to a

friend in New Mexico and another in Ohio, and I SHOULD have more by the

beginning of June to share again; I guess my practice of adding heavy cream to

the milk is something that my kefir LOVES and it responds by growing as well as

culturing well for me.

Al, you asked me why I was not comfortable with adding aloe to my protocol; its

taken me several years to get my GI tract to a ppint where I am either not

continually in the bathroom all day long or dealing with the pain of

constipation; I have seen freidns who have tried it have a hard time getting

things adjusted out in their protocol to accomodate the changes the Aloe was

instituting in their GI situation...

I am just NOW at the point of having everything be calm so that I can do the

things I wish to; if and when it proves that the protocol I am on is NOT enough,

then I may consider other options. Until then, I am happy, my gut is happy, my

back is happy, my colon is happy, my liver is happy, the sciatica nerve on the

right side is happy, the pain I was in is greatly lessened and will evntually be

worked out of my system....things are going well where I am at this point in

time, so I see no need to upset the apple cart.

I have been in constanat, chronic pain for years and years and years...so this

is a time of blessing for me in that I am now able to function without the level

of pain I was in. Until you have been there, no one truly understands. I have

been looped on morphine, and still hurting so badly that they could do nothing

to stop it. And when I say 'looped' I mean cracking jokes and laughing, and

still be hurting so bad that I would just moan when the muscle spasms took over;

the only thing the morphine did was alter my state of consciousness; it did

nothing for the pain.

I hope this helps explain why I am happy where I am, and am very very cautious

about adding anything 'new' in unless I truly need it. Just becoasue someoen is

hyped something up to make it SOUND good does not mean it IS good for you.

ALWAYS take into consideration that any herbal is a medicine, and that,

sometimes, the 'all natural' aspect of it is not good for you; snakebites are

'all natural', but the poison in the bite is definitely not good for the prey

that was bitten, now is it?

Blessings to all -- its gonna rain in Texas ! YYIIPPPEEEE!!! -- Kim in Texas

[Guest guest]

There could be a lot of reasons why you have/had gut issues and the pain.

Inflammation, leaky gut, crohn's, IBS, gluten intolerance, VACCINES, etc. can

all cause gut pain. Your gut actually has a second brain. My mother in law has

crohn's and she started drinking White Tea about 3-4 weeks ago and she said it

has really helped her feel better. White Tea is extremely high in antioxitants

and reduces inflammation. Look up these health issues on naturalnews.com and

find answers. When people have done the same pharmacutical thing over and over

and over again without getting better then it's time to look to natural

therapies. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over

again and expecting a different result. I've stopped expected a different

result and went natural several years ago. I didn't do it all at once because I

didn't have the knowledge, but now I have my sources for health info and when I

have a problem, I go there first. My personal opinion is to always go natural

first. I'm glad you have reached the point where you are not in pain and your

body is working well for you. I'm in the process of using natural therapies to

repair mine and it's working.

I understand you say that natural is not always the way to go because a snake

bite is not good for you...I never said it was. But people always have to think

for themselves and not depend on the white coats to tell them what to do. Just

about anything can be toxic to the body, it's the dose that matters. If you

take too much of an herb, it will probably cause you discomfort and can make you

sick, but most likely not kill you...whereas if you take too much of a

pharmacutical drug...it can and most likely WILL kill you. You can even die

from drinking too much water. Just have to use common sense.

Al

Re: watery milk kefir ??

Hi, All:

Okay, the 'water bath' method slowed down the culture, but I still had clear

whey seperation at the bottom of the jars Friday morning. I put it all in the

fridge, without straining, and I picked up a styrofoam cooler at Wal-Mart on

Friday evening, and when we got home, I strained the semi-watery kefire, and

then I rinsed the culture, washed the jars I have been using to culture, and put

the rinsed kefir back into my culturing jars, added the warm milk and cream, and

then put it into the cooler; had 2 jars of nice, thick kefir yesterday evening.

I know the main reason I was having watery kefir is that the temperature in here

was over 70 degrees, even with the window and door open.

Last night, when I strained, and before I put the jars back into the cooler, I

put in one of those gel cooler packs that I had put in the fridge Friday night

to chill down just for using in the cooler to help keep the temp a bit more

stable as I knew we would be sleeping in today.

I haven't checked it today yet; thats my next thing to do, actually.

I use food grade plastic jars to culture in; so I am not certain if that affects

it or not; except for it being too warm in here and it culturing too quickly for

a couple of days, I have had no problems with my culture per se; in fact, its

grown...

As for the amont of kefir I am using per jar, I have over 2 tablespoons per jar

now, and will be splitting that up thiis week and getting that culture going in

making kefir so I am able to, at the beginning of April, to send some to a

friend in New Mexico and another in Ohio, and I SHOULD have more by the

beginning of June to share again; I guess my practice of adding heavy cream to

the milk is something that my kefir LOVES and it responds by growing as well as

culturing well for me.

Al, you asked me why I was not comfortable with adding aloe to my protocol; its

taken me several years to get my GI tract to a ppint where I am either not

continually in the bathroom all day long or dealing with the pain of

constipation; I have seen freidns who have tried it have a hard time getting

things adjusted out in their protocol to accomodate the changes the Aloe was

instituting in their GI situation...

I am just NOW at the point of having everything be calm so that I can do the

things I wish to; if and when it proves that the protocol I am on is NOT enough,

then I may consider other options. Until then, I am happy, my gut is happy, my

back is happy, my colon is happy, my liver is happy, the sciatica nerve on the

right side is happy, the pain I was in is greatly lessened and will evntually be

worked out of my system....things are going well where I am at this point in

time, so I see no need to upset the apple cart.

I have been in constanat, chronic pain for years and years and years...so this

is a time of blessing for me in that I am now able to function without the level

of pain I was in. Until you have been there, no one truly understands. I have

been looped on morphine, and still hurting so badly that they could do nothing

to stop it. And when I say 'looped' I mean cracking jokes and laughing, and

still be hurting so bad that I would just moan when the muscle spasms took over;

the only thing the morphine did was alter my state of consciousness; it did

nothing for the pain.

I hope this helps explain why I am happy where I am, and am very very cautious

about adding anything 'new' in unless I truly need it. Just becoasue someoen is

hyped something up to make it SOUND good does not mean it IS good for you.

ALWAYS take into consideration that any herbal is a medicine, and that,

sometimes, the 'all natural' aspect of it is not good for you; snakebites are

'all natural', but the poison in the bite is definitely not good for the prey

that was bitten, now is it?

Blessings to all -- its gonna rain in Texas ! YYIIPPPEEEE!!! -- Kim in Texas

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I apologize as my links did not post properly and you may not have been able to

access them...they didn't seem to have the spaces between the words and the

computer recognized the words before and after the link as part of the link.

Here is the links again to the article written from the scientific vet journals

and 19 references in it for your review. Do you read the peer reviewed journals

in person in a physical book form or do you have membership to the online

journals?

http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.html

Here are the 19 references, including peer reviewed journals giving credit to

the information in the article. I believe #19 is journal specific to distemper

and parvo.

19. Twark, L. and Dodds, W.J., " Clinical application of serum parvovirus and

distemper virus antibody liters for determining revaccination strategies in

healthy dogs " , J Am Vet Med Assoc 217:1021-1024,2000.

The information in the Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical

Association...if that is what it stands for...should give you the information

you are looking for about revaccinations.

Al

Re: watery milk kefir ??

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> I do not feed my dogs an entirely raw diet due to the fact that I cannot

afford to. However, I do make their own dog food, raw, for about 50% of their

diet. Raw diets are great. Kibble requires the company to spray vitamins onto it

because the kibble has so few nutrients in it. It's very unnatural.

>

>

>

> I also give my dogs raw chicken wings, bone and all, for treats. People always

freak out when I say that and they say, " Gasp! You aren't supposed to give dogs

chicken bones! " That's not entirely true...you should not give them COOKED

chicken bones because they are fragile and splinter in their digestive tracts.

However, raw bones are not fragile and are safe for your dogs. It is a great

source of calcium and also very good for teeth cleaning. You don't want to do

this every day, especially if you have small dogs, like I do, because too much

calcium is bad for them and can cause a lot of health problems. My dogs get

their chicken wings twice a week. They go crazy for them. I always supervise to

ensure I am there if they do happen to choke, but I supervise if they are having

any kind of chew treat...it's not because it's a chicken bone.

>

>

>

> That is interesting that cats can have kefir since milk can be rather

upsetting to their stomachs...I guess because the lactose is gone in kefir? At

any rate, it doesn't take much to make a big difference. I just put a tiny

amount in my dogs' food (a spoonful or so) and that has been enough to make a

huge difference for my dog with the tummy problems. I wish I had discovered

kefir a long time ago because it has made such a difference in his life. It was

always so very hard to get him to eat (even homemade raw dog food) because his

stomach hurt so often. He spent a lot of time laying in his bed or snuggled on

my lap because he just didn't want to do anything else. The medicine helped him

be more functional so he would actually play, but he still had a hard time

eating. Sometimes, I considered putting him down just because he was suffering.

Since starting him on kefir about 8 months ago, he has never struggled to eat

since. He gobbles his food up EVERY time. About once a month, he gets sick and

pukes, but it doesn't seem to bother him...he still eats after an episode with

no problem. I got kefir as part of a plan to improve my own health, and never

would have dreamed it'd change my little doggy's life! I give it to my other

dog, too, just because she loves it so much and I know it is good for her health

despite her lack of stomach issues.

>

>

>

> Lastly, please do not refuse to vaccinate your pets! Especially those first

sets of puppy shots. After that, it is NOT necessary to vaccinate every

year...vets just do that to keep the money coming in to stay in business. I

studied immunology quite in depth, and there is absolutely no way an animal

would need vaccinated every single year against anything. However, those basic

first vaccinations are very important. I worked at a vet clinic a long time

while I was in school, and I had to watch plenty of dogs and puppies die

horribly slow and painful deaths from parvo. It is a very strong virus that can

take a dog out very fast. And it can survive for a full year after another dog

leaves it on a surface. you can touch parvo that was sitting on a door knob for

9 months and bring it home to your dog. I have also seen puppies come in with

distemper and have to live with brain damage the rest of their lives, some that

had to be put to sleep because they could not even stand up without falling

over. These vaccinations are very important to have early in their life. If you

only take them for their early vaccination series and then, do a final round

when they are 1 year old, they should be fine. But, you are taking a very big

risk if you skip that.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The weather in TX is up and down somethin awful. So, I am also putting my

glass jar of kefir in a bowl of cool water in the afternoon. At night I put the

jar in the fridge and take it out in the morning. Its working. I will continue

this until I start using the AC 24/7, which looks like wont be long!

pam in TX