Cultures for Health Milk Kefir Grains | DIY Frothy Dairy Non-GMO Probiotic Drink for Stronger Gut Health | Limitless Heirloom Style Starter | Easy to Flavor or Add to Recipes | Bulgaros De Leche

It is true that only a few grains can be found in the package, as the others stated. But I find that it worked out well, they do the job to produce plenty enough kefir for about two person a day. The kefir is not drinkable after the first day, but with the second milk it is already good tasting and thickened consitency.Depends on the kind of milk I use it produces different thickness of kefir.I've tried buffalo milk, and it makes much thicker kefir than with goatmilk.I keep the jar in a warm place up on a top of a cabinet, the warmth deffinietly helps to set it, it is always perfect at the 24 hr mark.I'm only making kefir for about a week now, and I've noticed that more established the grains become, thicker and sourer the kefir becomes.So I'm happy with it, I don't know if I would need more than this amount, it really does the job, nicely I must say. For those who compared it that this small amount does not make the same kefir taste and thickness as they know kefir to be: if they refering to store bought kefir,, that is not the same as this.Store bought kefir is not cultured with kefir grains, milk is injected with cultures that is found in kefir. Anybody can look this up,, for example on wikipedia. I want to add to my review because I found success with them and from reading other peoples reviews many could not succeed. Some people close the top with lids while they are culturing.Forgetting that thise are living cultures.The bacteria/yeast inhales and exhales, they need oxigen for proper functioning and proper fermentation.So one needs to make sure oxygen can get into the jar continuosly, so best to cover it with cheese cloth and rubber band.Glass jar is good, plastic and other things like metal can effect it.Keep it in warm place, like top of the cabinet. I shake mine up a few times in the 24 hr period, to ensure even fermentation.I think when the thickened milk starts to separate from the whey,that is when it's starts to be good.I shake it together, let it sit for 2-3 more hrs, shake it again and ready.

I bought these grains (Cultures for Health - CFH) during the second week of August 2016. The extremely small amount of grains you get is a joke. I had several issues getting good kefir, including poor texture and taste, and lack of growth in the grains. I made several adjustments, including different amounts of milk and different culturing times, and still had difficulty. I ended up getting another order of grains during the first week of September 2016, and after activating them, I combined both sets of grains. I have continued culturing through early October, again making several adjustments (including adjusting ambient temperature) to try to get a good batch of kefir. The grains have made very minimal growth and could barely produce 2 cups of okay kefir, still lacking in texture. I did get a few decent batches of kefir over the course of almost 2 months, but it seemed to be by chance and did not appear to be directly related to anything differently I did, because I could not reproduce the same kefir while keeping all the other factors the same. I was hopeful and really gave these grains a chance, but after almost 2 whole months of investing a lot of time and effort, I only have 1 TEASPOON of grains (a heaping teaspoon, and that is with 2 orders of grains). I then bought from a competitor, and am amazed at the superior quality of their grains. The taste and texture is excellent and significantly better than CFH—you can't even compare the two. What I achieved after about 1 week with the competitor's grains, I could not achieve after 2 months with CFH grains. The competitor's grains grew from 2 TBS (what I ordered) to 3/4 cup in ~ 2 weeks (14 batches). Now that is what I call healthy, active grains. Maybe others are having a good experience with these (CFH) grains, and if they are, good for them. But I wonder if people who gave 5 stars for CFH actually know how amazing kefir can be. Don't get me wrong, CFH grains do turn the milk into kefir, but the overall quality is poor and far inferior to at least one competitor that I tried. I did contact CFH with questions and they were prompt and helpful, and they did send me a free order when I had issues. But I am still dissatisfied with the poor quality of their product. The pictures attached show the amount I grew with TWO orders of grains after ~2 months of culturing. (one order was cultured for less than 2 months as it arrived later).

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I didn't want to order fresh grains in the midst of summer, so I went with dehydrated. I read reviews and watched videos so I knew to expect a small but mighty volume of grains and the need for patience. The heat dome came just after I ordered so I wasn't sure I'd be successful due to hot conditions during shipping. The first day I added a cup of milk - no change after 24 hours. The second day I drained and added another cup of milk - nothing. The third day - slightly thicker so I drained and added 1.5 cups of milk. Today on day four, I came home and it worked so fast the curds separated from the whey. I don't have air conditioning, so I'm sure the heat helped speed things up. I drained the grains and noticed the kefir was a little grainy - but supposedly that is normal during reactivation (thanks LLM). The kefir smelled great, like yogurt, so I drank it in a smoothie. I am still alive (first time fermenting anything so a bit wary of my lack of skills) and am culturing 2 C of milk for tomorrow. I skipped the whole cloth and rubber band shenanigans and just put a loose plastic cap on as it is easier to clean, which seems to be working so far.

Loving this. Curiosity killed the cat, they say. They also say satisfaction brought it back. And that may be. I certainly bought this out of curiosity. I have been keeping up on it rather easily. Unlike yogurt and such, this stuff really is easy, if you can keep up on the milk. I'm a minor giant, and already was a heavy milk drinker. I still drink plenty of milk (2-3 gallons a week). As well, I used that much milk again to create kefir. I generally keep three half gallon jars of the stuff in rotation, as well as kefir whey for fermenting other things (fermenting, sum total is as new as kefir to me). Plus I keep three pints of grain going on the side. My one advice is, when first using this? Begin when you will have two to three days of relative freedom. When they said cleansing? That's a female way of saying you will poop like a coffee eating minor mammal! No, you won't get paid for it. It WILL clean you out that first time, and off and on until your body fully adjusts, or when coming back to it after a few days off. We are talking baby waste sort of stuff. Not, at least for me, diarrhea sort, just soft and best to pay close attention when you get the urge. Once you get a routine, this stuff is fun. I generally eat it straight... no sugar, no fruit, no muss or other fuss. Mostly because I like it as is and I am a bit lazy. But you can do much with it. Oh, I also soak whole grain cereals, such as old-fashioned oatmeal and 9-grain cracked cereal. Soak it overnight, then it is not only easier to digest, but it also cooks much, much, faster. You could use the whey, I hear, but I just use kefir itself, since I generally have more of that. Good luck.

Disappointed. I very, very rarely write reviews and even more rarely write a bad one. I have purchased this product 3 times over the years. The previous 2 times the kefir grains made lovely, creamy, fresh-tasting kefir. The only reason I had to replace my previous set of kefir grains was because I had been traveling for longer than I had planned and so they were in hibernation in my refrigerator for too long. However, there was something very, very wrong with the most recent set of kefir grains that I purchased from Cultures for Health. Something is not quite right with this batch. I meticulously followed the Cultures for Health steps as indicated in their videos online. I used ultra-clean vessels (used to work in scientific research and know well what clean glassware is), purchased new organic whole milk, kept the vessels in the suggested temperature range, kept a daily log, etc.. The taste of this kefir is off, not just sour, but bad. Since I began drinking this kefir, I've had extreme fatigue. Needless to say, I've dumped a bunch of kefir down the drain. I honestly think this product may be a health hazard, and would like to know what standards and INDEPENDENT LABORATORY checks are done to check the microorganisms/bacteriophages that are in these grains. The care that went into "awakening" these kefir grains from their dehydrated state was considerable. It was not an inexpensive purchase for what amounted to be perhaps a half teaspoon of kefir grains. These along with thequantity of milk I needed to purchase to get the kefir grains out of their freeze-dried state was also considerable. This product is unpredictable, and quite possibly a health threat. A 66% success rate depicting my experience with this product purchased three times is not acceptable. Would you trust your child with a swim instructor who boasted a 66% success? I'll keep drinking kefir, but I will be buying STANDARDIZED bottles of it from Whole Foods.

I have a had great luck with this product. The seller has been super helpful and I had achieved success!!! (It can a day for him to reply...but like most of us...we cant be on the computer or phone all day) I started by healing my grains as instructed. I put them in fresh room temp milk every 12 hours (a cup of milk, I used organic milk from the grocery store) in a warm dark place. I removed them from the milk with a little plastic strainer from the dollar store. Rinsed them off with filtered water. It takes a few days for the grains to increase. Somedays I had what appeared to be new ones and other days they just doubled in size. I found that they can be stuck in a thick milk/yogurt type goo at the bottom of the jar. I just scooped that out into the strainer and rinsed off gently. After 6 days ( I did 6, 4 would have been enough), I strained off the milk and used the kefir (I started with about a cup and a half of milk). I let mine sit for 8 hours. It is a bit thicker than milk, not much thicker though. Mine has very little smell (warm milk/buttermilk smell) when I strained it. After I chilled it, it had a sour milk smell. This is normal. I can not drink it straight. I don't like the flavor. I put about an 1/8 of a cup in a fruit smoothie every day. The flavor does not come through. That amount of kefir last me several days (for two people) . I store my grains in a jar ,in a cup of milk, in the fridge (a sealed jar). If it sits for a week, I add a splash of fresh milk. When I go to use them, I strain and rinse them, then just put the back in room temp milk and start again. I now have about a tablespoon and a half of grains. When I have 2 tablespoons, I will divide in two and only use half and store other half in the fridge. I will give these away or just rotate using my two portions to keep all of them alive and fed. I also want to make coconut milk kefir. The seller advised that I grow them to the point of the two portions and use one for the coconut. Apparently coconut milk does not have all the components that regular milk has and the grains can not feed as well in coconut milk. So I will use my additional portion just in case they don't do well in the coconut milk. I have tried to write about the things that were not entirely clear to me in the instructions. Oh...btw...the grains don't look like much when you get them. Just empty out packet contents into milk and let it go. It will take a day or two for them to look like tiny pieces of cauliflower. No rinsing with tap water. Bottled water,I wouldn't trust for this. I used R/O filter but distilled or brita type filter would do. Be patient and follow the instructions. The seller is soooo helpful. I had may a good chat via email with him ( I think it was a "him"). First couple of days using the kefir. My digestion was a bit "rumbly" but very much improved. Rumbling has stopped. I seem to be less tolerant of fried foods. This is how my system was when I was younger. No complaints from me on that. I am glad to have a deterrent from my unhealthy eating habits. I have a dairy tolerance issue and the one day I did not have my smoothie, Ice cream upset my stomach. If I have my smoothie,it seems that my dairy intolerance is in check. I love that the kefir shows its promise so quickly. I hope that you give this a try... I have been very pleased. Good luck Jax

OLD REVIEW (update below): After brewing kombucha I wanted to try making other cultured foods instead of buying them. Kefir seemed to be a pretty easy low maintenance option. I didn't do much research and started with a box of starter from Vitamin Cottage. After I realized that wasn't the same thing as kefir grains I bought these grains on Amazon. I was skeptical since a lot of reviewers said it was very few grains and that it took forever before they could get a real batch of kefir. Still, I don't know anyone I could get fresh grains from so these seemed like my best bet. They came in the mail and it's true that there isn't a lot in the packet. But, having never made it, I can't say how many grains you need. So I mixed it like the instructions said. The instructions, by the way, were very helpful and had lots of answers to my immediate questions like "does the milk need to be a hot or cold?". I also LOVE that the packaging is so reassuring. As soon as I opened it there was the reassurance "You can do this!" staring back up at me. After putting my jar of milk and grains in the pantry I had to leave town unexpectedly for two days. You're supposed to change the milk out every 12-24 hours. Well that wasn't going to happen. So I figured if it doesn't work and kefir takes that much maintenance then maybe it wasn't for me. I'd just have to wait and see 'til I got home again. Thankfully when I got home the milk had thickened A LOT. And the grains were bouncy and seemed like they'd rehydrated. With just the first glass of milk! In fact the milk was so thick it was like yogurt. I couldn't even shake it out of the jar. I had to get a spoon and scoop it out. And then I couldn't even get the thickest of the milk to go through a strainer. I had to feel around in the thick kefir with my (clean) fingers to even find the grains and see how they looked. After using the kefir starter from Vitamin Cottage I found that I like to second ferment the kefir with fruit before eating it. So I did that with this first batch. I only tried a small lick as I straining out the grains. It tasted like plain yogurt! Just not as smooth. I'm excited to see what it will be like tomorrow after fermenting it further with orange slices and blueberry agave syrup! I gave my dog a small lick too of the plain kefir and he loved it. He kept looking at me with big eyes wanting more. I've had a lot of fun making kombucha and I have a feeling this is going to be a grand adventure too! UPDATE: I have been brewing this kefir for quite a few months now. And the brew with these grains started to get really yeasty smelling and tasting. I figured it would even itself out so I just kept changing out the milk, but it kept getting worse and worse. And it felt like I was buying milk just to throw it down the drain. Eventually my dog wouldn't even touch the stuff these grains were turning out. It was like an awful beery, bready, yeasty concoction. So after a lot of research online and getting some advice from my wonderful kefir group on FB I had a plan to try to save these poor grains. I boiled water (so it would be as clean as possible), let it cool to room temp, and washed my grains with it. Typically this is a big no-no. But I wanted to get the yeasty milk off them. I washed them really well so there was no white milk left. Just the grains. Then I mixed a super small dab (maybe 1/8 TB) of blackstrap molasses with plain store bought kefir and whole milk and added my grains. I let it sit for day. It got nice and thick and smelled good this time. I strained them and repeated, but without the molasses. I kept doing this process (half store bought kefir, half whole milk) until the store bought kefir ran out. It did seem to normalize my grains out for quite a while and the kefir is pretty good now. Although I'm starting to smell some yeast again. However, in the mean time I did go on Etsy and buy some fresh grains. They are still acclimating and have only been with me for three days. But the difference is already pretty big. As soon as I opened them I couldn't believe how big they were in comparison to my tiny freeze dried grains! I included a picture. Also the kefir they turn out is much smoother. The freeze dried grains seem to go instantly from normal milk to curds and whey. There really isn't an in between for them. And the taste is much more tart. Not that I mind that! I like tart kefir. But the Etsy grains definitely have a "smoother" taste. After a lot of reading, and a decent amount of experience with these grains, and a new experience with other grains for comparison, I would recommend looking for fresh grains from another source. If that isn't an option then these will do just fine. You just might have to work hard to get the grains brewing good balanced kefir. But just be aware going in that these grains might take some dedication to turn out kefir you'll want to drink or eat. I highly recommend joining a kefir group somewhere online. Advice from people with more experience than you can be invaluable. Searching for some of my issues on Google didn't turn up much information, but posting the question in my group gave me a lot.

I followed the directions (change milk every 12 hours) and didn't see a thickening of milk. The grains were really slow to wake up. After talking with some Amish friends, who leave their grains to ferment for 24 hours, I have Kefir, and my grains are growing. I find that the fresher the milk (I use raw cow's milk) the slower the ferment time.