Guest guest Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Greetings, I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool in the house. Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast off and use the rest. Bright Blessings, Garth & Kim www.TheRoseColoredForest.com Bedias, Texas On 5/24/2012 8:05 AM, pjknust wrote: > Both my jars had green mold in them this morning. I should have put them > in fridge before I went to bed last night. I just set them up yesterday > afternoon/evening, but am still only running air cond in my room at > night. It was just too hot in the house last night. Its 73 this am, but > was 95 yesterday and I do run the air during the day. I turn it on when > it gets about 83. > Luckily I had some extra grains in the fridge in milk. I sure hated > pouring all that milk and cream AND grains down the sink. > > I have been putting the kefir jars in the fridge at night, but since I > had just made them later in the day I thought they would be alright. > Apparently NOT. > > pam in TX > > > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com> > Version: 2012.0.2176 / Virus Database: 2425/5018 - Release Date: 05/23/12 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 I have read that over time, grains can get contaminated with other microbe strains. It was mentioned that the grains could be rinsed with filtered water and then reused. - On 5/24/2012 1:05 PM, Garth & Kim wrote: > Greetings, > I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My > kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes > the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool > in the house. > > Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get > sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast > off and use the rest. > > Bright Blessings, > Garth & Kim > www.TheRoseColoredForest.com > Bedias, Texas > > On 5/24/2012 8:05 AM, pjknust wrote: >> Both my jars had green mold in them this morning. I should have put them >> in fridge before I went to bed last night. I just set them up yesterday >> afternoon/evening, but am still only running air cond in my room at >> night. It was just too hot in the house last night. Its 73 this am, but >> was 95 yesterday and I do run the air during the day. I turn it on when >> it gets about 83. >> Luckily I had some extra grains in the fridge in milk. I sure hated >> pouring all that milk and cream AND grains down the sink. >> >> I have been putting the kefir jars in the fridge at night, but since I >> had just made them later in the day I thought they would be alright. >> Apparently NOT. >> >> pam in TX >> >> >> >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> >> Version: 2012.0.2176 / Virus Database: 2425/5018 - Release Date: 05/23/12 >> > > ------------------------------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 I think I live in a moldy cabin. I live on the lake. If I keep my kefir in my kitchen, it gets red dots in it, which I assume is red mold. So I keep it way across the room from my kitchen area. It was light green colored on top on the side. Ive already thrown it all out, and my spare in the fridge is making just fine. I cant imagine living here with NO air. We would all (me and my dogs) die of heat stroke. I keep my kefir in the fridge at least half the time or it separates and dies. I make my kefir in quart jars, so my ratio of grains to milk may be off somewhat, but I just keep a goin the way Im goin and it works out. Next time I see mold, I may just scrape it out and keep it. I have been making kefir for about 3 yrs now and never seen green mold, just the red. thanks, pam in TX > > Greetings, > I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My > kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes > the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool > in the house. > > Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get > sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast > off and use the rest. > > Bright Blessings, > Garth & Kim > www.TheRoseColoredForest.com > Bedias, Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Pam,  If you live in a moldy cabin then culturing in a Pickl-It may be a consideration for you. This will keep the outside air out of your ferments and allow carbon dioxide to escape. It is not totally necessary; but, since I have been using them I have had much more consistent batches and there are a lot of benefits to using this system over other types of air-lock jars. You can read more about them here: http://www.pickl-it.com/ and there is some very good information for the science behind it: http://www.cookingtf.com/video-blog-pickl-it-qa/ --KerryAnn has been doing a lot of research on this and knows her stuff...she has made multiple posts on the issue.  I am not trying to say you cannot culture without an airlock...just that this might help in your situation. They are a bit expensive; but, I love mine.  -   From: pjknust Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 12:58 PM Subject: [!! SPAM] Re: Green Mold in Kefir I think I live in a moldy cabin. I live on the lake. If I keep my kefir in my kitchen, it gets red dots in it, which I assume is red mold. So I keep it way across the room from my kitchen area. It was light green colored on top on the side. Ive already thrown it all out, and my spare in the fridge is making just fine. I cant imagine living here with NO air. We would all (me and my dogs) die of heat stroke. I keep my kefir in the fridge at least half the time or it separates and dies. I make my kefir in quart jars, so my ratio of grains to milk may be off somewhat, but I just keep a goin the way Im goin and it works out. Next time I see mold, I may just scrape it out and keep it. I have been making kefir for about 3 yrs now and never seen green mold, just the red. thanks, pam in TX > > Greetings, > I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My > kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes > the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool > in the house. > > Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get > sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast > off and use the rest. > > Bright Blessings, > Garth & Kim > www.TheRoseColoredForest.com > Bedias, Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Pam & , Instead of buying a picklit, just find a local homebrew shop (wine and beer) or look online, you can get airlocks for as little as $1.00 ( www.williamsbrewing.com), to up to $2.25 at my local shop, the grommet costs about $0.25 - $0.50 each, and just drill a 1/2 " hole in the top of a normal wide mouth metal canning jar lid. You can now put it on wide mouth pint, quart, and 1/2 gal ball canning jars. Not bad for $3.00. [i also do this for my gallon batches of fermented veggies and kraut with the gallon vlasic pickle jars from Sams (the only reason to go there, they are $3.30ea), throw the pickles away, clean and sanitize the glass jar (the jar will retain no smell), then severely clean and soak in baking soda the lid (it will retain a tiny bit of vinegar odor). You now have a closed gallon fermentor for about $6.50] Leo On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 6:53 AM, Estrello <majalove888@...>wrote: > ** > > > Pam, > > If you live in a moldy cabin then culturing in a Pickl-It may be a > consideration for you. This will keep the outside air out of your ferments > and allow carbon dioxide to escape. It is not totally necessary; but, > since I have been using them I have had much more consistent batches and > there are a lot of benefits to using this system over other types of > air-lock jars. You can read more about them here: > http://www.pickl-it.com/ and there is some very good information for the > science behind it: http://www.cookingtf.com/video-blog-pickl-it-qa/ > --KerryAnn has been doing a lot of research on this and knows her > stuff...she has made multiple posts on the issue. > > I am not trying to say you cannot culture without an airlock...just that > this might help in your situation. They are a bit expensive; but, I love > mine. > > - > > > From: pjknust > Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 12:58 PM > > Subject: [!! SPAM] Re: Green Mold in Kefir > > I think I live in a moldy cabin. I live on the lake. If I keep my kefir in > my kitchen, it gets red dots in it, which I assume is red mold. So I keep > it way across the room from my kitchen area. > It was light green colored on top on the side. Ive already thrown it all > out, and my spare in the fridge is making just fine. I cant imagine living > here with NO air. We would all (me and my dogs) die of heat stroke. > I keep my kefir in the fridge at least half the time or it separates and > dies. > I make my kefir in quart jars, so my ratio of grains to milk may be off > somewhat, but I just keep a goin the way Im goin and it works out. > Next time I see mold, I may just scrape it out and keep it. I have been > making kefir for about 3 yrs now and never seen green mold, just the red. > > thanks, > pam in TX > > > > > Greetings, > > I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My > > kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes > > the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool > > in the house. > > > > Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get > > sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast > > off and use the rest. > > > > Bright Blessings, > > Garth & Kim > > www.TheRoseColoredForest.com > > Bedias, Texas > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Actually, you can make your own airlock tops that fit mason jars. Take a 1/2 inch drill bit and drill a hole in the lid of your jar, add a rubber grommet and then pop in the airlock valve. You can get all three on ebay. Al [!! SPAM] Re: Green Mold in Kefir I think I live in a moldy cabin. I live on the lake. If I keep my kefir in my kitchen, it gets red dots in it, which I assume is red mold. So I keep it way across the room from my kitchen area. It was light green colored on top on the side. Ive already thrown it all out, and my spare in the fridge is making just fine. I cant imagine living here with NO air. We would all (me and my dogs) die of heat stroke. I keep my kefir in the fridge at least half the time or it separates and dies. I make my kefir in quart jars, so my ratio of grains to milk may be off somewhat, but I just keep a goin the way Im goin and it works out. Next time I see mold, I may just scrape it out and keep it. I have been making kefir for about 3 yrs now and never seen green mold, just the red. thanks, pam in TX > > Greetings, > I have never seen mold in my kefir, and I live without AC in Texas. My > kitchen gets very hot, by late afternoon. I love summer, my kefir likes > the heat. In winter, it takes so long to make kefir since it is so cool > in the house. > > Are you sure it was not just a yeast growth, like fermented veggies get > sometimes? If yes, then no need to throw it out, just scrape the yeast > off and use the rest. > > Bright Blessings, > Garth & Kim > www.TheRoseColoredForest.com > Bedias, Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 Leo, The homebrew shop is definetely an option where cost is concerned...I do not deny that. Very thrifty! I have looked into that and from research that I have done I want to make sure I actually have an air tight seal...that isn't always possible with canning jars. Yes, the Pickl-it is expensive; but, it is a quality product and the glass is much thicker than a canning jar as well as the lid...and the glass doesn't rust . I opted to go the Pickl-it route because I have an auto-immune condition and wanted to make sure I got an air tight seal as my immune system is still trying to recover. I'm sure you haven't had any problems; but, I am just wondering if you have come up with a good way to seal the jars other than just the lids and rings??? I wonder if a rubber seal under the rim on the rings would work??? Your thoughts? (I am really asking...not trying to be disrespectful or anything...just curious) - ________________________________ From: Leo Girardi <leo.girardi@...> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:03 AM Subject: Re: Re: Green Mold in Kefir Pam & , Instead of buying a picklit, just find a local homebrew shop (wine and beer) or look online, you can get airlocks for as little as $1.00 ( www.williamsbrewing.com), to up to $2.25 at my local shop, the grommet costs about $0.25 - $0.50 each, and just drill a 1/2 " hole in the top of a normal wide mouth metal canning jar lid. You can now put it on wide mouth pint, quart, and 1/2 gal ball canning jars. Not bad for $3.00. [i also do this for my gallon batches of fermented veggies and kraut with the gallon vlasic pickle jars from Sams (the only reason to go there, they are $3.30ea), throw the pickles away, clean and sanitize the glass jar (the jar will retain no smell), then severely clean and soak in baking soda the lid (it will retain a tiny bit of vinegar odor). You now have a closed gallon fermentor for about $6.50] Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 , All good questions. I'll try to answer. First off, I'm talking about the metal lids to the canning jar, not the white tops. The whole concept and design of canning hardware (jar rims and lids) is to be air tight. If you can foods, and there is not an air tight seal, it failed. You can check what to do next in the ball blue book or putting food by, for example. ie, the whole point is an air tight seal. Second, you can know that it is an airtight seal by the displacement (or bubbling) in the airlock. I use the three piece airlock, rather than the cutusie double chamber thing that is not possible to really clean. I'm going to try the Tattler lids for a few reasons, -they are BPA free, ball/kerr metal lids are NOT, -they should be easier to drill and smooth out the edges. - the grommets will still fit fine, and the rubber seals are thicker and replaceable, which should give a little more confidence in them being air tight. The Tattler lids are a bit more expensive though, but are reusable for normal canning stuff, so they should be more cost effective overall. I will be ordering some this week. I haven't tried these with kefir yet, but will be today with my secondary fermentation with berries mixed in. If you'd like to try/test these, I'd be happy to send you some. Leo On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 6:41 AM, Estrello <majalove888@...>wrote: > ** > > > Leo, > > The homebrew shop is definetely an option where cost is concerned...I do > not deny that. Very thrifty! > > I have looked into that and from research that I have done I want to make > sure I actually have an air tight seal...that isn't always possible with > canning jars. Yes, the Pickl-it is expensive; but, it is a quality product > and the glass is much thicker than a canning jar as well as the lid...and > the glass doesn't rust . I opted to go the Pickl-it route because I > have an auto-immune condition and wanted to make sure I got an air tight > seal as my immune system is still trying to recover. I'm sure you haven't > had any problems; but, I am just wondering if you have come up with a good > way to seal the jars other than just the lids and rings??? I wonder if a > rubber seal under the rim on the rings would work??? Your thoughts? (I am > really asking...not trying to be disrespectful or anything...just curious) > > - > > > ________________________________ > From: Leo Girardi <leo.girardi@...> > > Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:03 AM > Subject: Re: Re: Green Mold in Kefir > > > Pam & , > > Instead of buying a picklit, just find a local homebrew shop (wine and > beer) or look online, you can get airlocks for as little as $1.00 ( > www.williamsbrewing.com), to up to $2.25 at my local shop, the grommet > costs about $0.25 - $0.50 each, and just drill a 1/2 " hole in the top of a > normal wide mouth metal canning jar lid. You can now put it on wide mouth > pint, quart, and 1/2 gal ball canning jars. Not bad for $3.00. > > [i also do this for my gallon batches of fermented veggies and kraut with > the gallon vlasic pickle jars from Sams (the only reason to go there, they > are $3.30ea), throw the pickles away, clean and sanitize the glass jar (the > jar will retain no smell), then severely clean and soak in baking soda the > lid (it will retain a tiny bit of vinegar odor). You now have a closed > gallon fermentor for about $6.50] > > Leo > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.