I Keep Having Weak Kefir Grains

[Guest guest]

I have tried making kefir since Feb last year. Two sets of grains never grew and

each set would only give me one good ferment such as this:

www.yourkefirsource.com/kefir-video

The first set gave me this in the first ferment. My subsequent days would not do

more than thicken a bit. Yes, it got sour, but I wanted to see the separation

because I saw it happen once. So I lengthened the days to 3 until someone told

me to feed it new milk every day, so I changed this. I saw no change. She

suggested letting my new milk come to room temp from the fridge as my grains

might not like the shock of cold milk. So I did. No change. Someone said to

shake it every day, so I did. No change. I moved kefir to the opposite end of my

kitchen from my kombucha. No change.

Everything I have tried has made no change.

The second grains surprised me, tho starting out with just the same old

thickened milk, one day I was surprised to see that it gave me a ferment like

this. But not a one after that.

I put my grains in a little cotton raw-string sack so I could see if they would

grow cuddled up like that, growth would make the bag puff out. It never did.

I live just below PA in the eastern panhandle of WV, so we have 4 seasons here.

I thot the trouble was my cold house in the beginning. But my new grains in the

spring were unchanged during our mild summer. I do not have AC in my house, so

it was never cooled during the spring, summer and fall.

I don't have grains right now. I got discouraged and quite for awhile. But I

miss it. Someone local answered a freecycle want post, but he has put his in

water and put them in the fridge and I am leary of taking them. I explained to

him all the trouble I have had and he sympathized. He said he has had trouble

fermenting things, too. I talked with him and he said he would see if they will

revive and call me if they do.

Would someone be my teacher and tell me first, what they did when they started,

then what they do from one day to the next so I can compare with what I already

do and see where I am going wrong.

We are in the winter season now. It is a surprisingly mild winter. It was 50

today and we have not gone below 38 yet. And only flurries of snow. But this is

unusual. We are usually blustery and breathing visible vapor outside.

Lyn