Re: How to save some grains just in case... Plus another question.

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan,

The gooey strands are called kefiran. It is a substance produced by healthy,

active grains. The kefiran has been studied and is believed to have health

benefits and there isn’t anything you should do to stop it from forming. Many

grains produce kefiran in smaller amounts so the stringy goo isn’t noticed as

much, but if you have the stringy goo, it’s good.

Sometimes when you get new grains, they need a few cycles to adjust to their new

home. Compare notes with DIL and see if you are using different milk, or have

very different culturing conditions. Sometimes the transit just shocks them a

bit and they just need a little time. Mine took 2 months to balance out after

receiving them through the mail.

I have some backup grains stored in the freezer. I patted them dry with clean

paper toweling and then put them in a FoodSaver bag, and vacuum sealed the bag.

I read somewhere that grains came out good after as many as 7 years of storage

this way. I did break out one pack of frozen grains after a few months’

storage like that, and they revived without missing a beat.

You can also dry the grains for storage, but I haven’t tried that. If I have

to break out my current backup batch and if it fails, I would try to find some

live, fresh grains to start over. I would prefer that to dehydrated, and only

use the dried if there were no other options.

From: jpos123

Sent: Monday, June 18, 2012 7:14 PM

Subject: How to save some grains just in case... Plus

another question.

I killed my grains and a couple of people I gave them to had let theirs go. I

finally was able to get some from my dil, but now I would like to know how I

could store some in case it happens again.

Also, hers had the gooey strands which mine had at one time, but then it went

away. What is that from and what should be done about it?

Another thing strange is the 1st batch I made the milk soured. I rinsed the

grains and put them in new milk. I can't figure out why that happened.

Thanks for any help.

jan

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info, . My 2nd attempt with her grains gave me a very thick

kefir. ) The poor grains will soon have to adjust to pasteurized milk as raw

milk is not easy to come by in NJ, but mine did just fine in it. (She brought

me a gal. of raw milk when she came. ) )

jan

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> Hi Jan,

> The gooey strands are called kefiran...

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