Re: My first batch of Kefir Question

[Guest guest]

Hi Steve,

The intensity of flavor is dictated by grains:milk ratio and by the amount of

separation that occurs. A 24 hour ferment when you just start to see little

pockets of whey is typically recommended and produces a nice balance. Try that

and if it’s still too sour for you, try reducing the amount of grains you use.

When you find the flavor you like, measure your grains so you know how much you

want to use so that as they grow, you can remove some and maintain some

consistency.

My preference is about a teaspoon, give or take, of grains to 10 oz. milk,

fermented 24 hours and refrigerated 24 hours. After straining, the folate

content of kefir increases exponentially after 24 additional hours at ~40º F.

This could be because the yeast activity increases at refrigerator temperature

compared to the bacterial activity which is more dominant at room temp. For this

reason, I always keep my freshly strained kefir in the fridge for an additional

day after straining.

As the grains grow I start noticing that the ferment gets more sour, or starts

to separate more before the 24 hour mark. The ideal for a mild flavored kefir is

when it just starts forming small pockets of whey at 24 hours.

I hope that is helpful to you!

From: Mr. Steve P

Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 2:13 AM

Subject: My first batch of Kefir Question

Good Morning to all, I am new o the group and am learning so much from all the

interesting posts. My question is regarding the first batch I just made. I let

the kefir culture at room temperature using whole cows milk for 48 hours. This

was the recovery instructions that came with the fully hydrated grains. The

kefir had separated with the whey on the bottom and curds on top. Very thick and

creamy consistency. So far so good. The one big drawback was the taste. It was

much too " lemony " , tart & sour tasting while the yeasty taste was also very

pronounced. The effervescence was just beginning and I guess the combination of

all these qualities which I know are quite normal might mean letting the Keir

culture for less time In the future (maybe 12 hours). I added some Stevia and it

helped the taste, but it was still much stronger tasting than I expected. I

never tasted Kefir before this and assumed it would be more yogurt like. I would

appreciate your thoughts on the taste issue, length of ferment time etc. Quite

possibly I just might not like the taste of Kefir when it's at it's peak in

terms of nutritional value. Your thoughts/ideas please.

BTW. I only used the 1-2 tablespoons grains mailed to me for 1 cup of cows milk.

Thanks Everyone,

Steve

[Guest guest]

Steve,

Increase your milk to grains ratio. I use 1 heaping TBS with 1/2 gallon of milk

and culture for about 18 hours with the warm weather. That should reduce to

tartness. You should look for little pockets of whey all around the jar and

possibly a little at the bottom, that is the time to strain. If you see a lot

of whey at the bottom, its past perfect straining time, but the kefir is still

good.

As far as making it more palatable, try putting about 2 cups of strained kefir

( cold or just strained) in your blender with some strawberries, blueberries,

raspberries, some chocolate hemp protein powder, shredded coconut, extra raw

cacao (or any combination you choose) and you have a superfood smoothie. You

can even go a step or two further and put some greens mix or baby spinach and a

little bit of spiralina and ir chlorella. You will be surprised at how good this

tastes. I also add chia seeds and maca to the smoothie. When you add the

chocolate, you can't really taste the greens.

Al

My first batch of Kefir Question

Good Morning to all, I am new o the group and am learning so much from all

the interesting posts. My question is regarding the first batch I just made. I

let the kefir culture at room temperature using whole cows milk for 48 hours.

This was the recovery instructions that came with the fully hydrated grains. The

kefir had separated with the whey on the bottom and curds on top. Very thick

and creamy consistency. So far so good. The one big drawback was the taste. It

was much too " lemony " , tart & sour tasting while the yeasty taste was also very

pronounced. The effervescence was just beginning and I guess the combination of

all these qualities which I know are quite normal might mean letting the Keir

culture for less time In the future (maybe 12 hours). I added some Stevia and it

helped the taste, but it was still much stronger tasting than I expected. I

never tasted Kefir before this and assumed it would be more yogurt like. I

would appreciate your thoughts on the taste issue, length of ferment time etc.

Quite possibly I just might not like the taste of Kefir when it's at it's peak

in terms of nutritional value. Your thoughts/ideas please.

BTW. I only used the 1-2 tablespoons grains mailed to me for 1 cup of cows

milk.

Thanks Everyone,

Steve