Question 1

What supplies will I need to make kefir?

Accepted Answer

A couple of thoughts that haven't already been mentioned: I have found that I can make excellent kefir without any grains at all, if I start with about 1:20 volume of good kefir and bring it to full volume with organic whole milk. Non-organic will work also, but I prefer organic mostly because of more humane treatment of the milk cows. I can do this for at least 2 weeks without using my grains, which are just sitting in the refrigerator in whole milk all this time. And when I do it this way, and also at a relatively cool temperature (60-65 F), I find that I am much less likely to "overcook" it and end up with lots of curds and whey, which I don't like. Meanwhile, my grains do just fine in the refrigerator. Once every week or two, I use them and the milk they were in to start a new bench, and I keep a close eye on it so it doesn't accumulate too much whey. Then I put the grains back in the fridge in fresh whole milk and start over again.
Also, I have had no problem with using a metal strainer or spoon. It seems to me that what is important is not to expose the grains to metal for long periods. Short exposures seem to be just fine.
The third point is that I don't need anywhere near one tablespoon of grains per quart. I use more like one half teaspoon of happy, healthy grains and an incubation period of 8-12 hours, occasionally more. This is after the grains have been through three to four cycles after being received in the mail. I got the advice to discard the first few batches of kefir, lest I think that all my batches will taste the way the first few do. In fact, they get much better after those first few batches.
If I only use one half teaspoon per quart, what do I do with all of the extra accumulated grains? First of all, I take a healthy amount of them and dry them in a food dehydrator, and then store them in the freezer. This is my emergency backup stock, in case I ever do something stupid and destroy the grains with which I'm working. You can also give them away to friends who have not experienced homemade milk kefir. It's also supposed to be good fertilizer for plants, although I have only used water kefir grains for that.
So what do you need? A few mason jars, something like cheesecloth or coffee filters and rubber bands to create a covering for the jar while the kefir ferments, some good lids for sealing the jars while they're in the refrigerator (I love the plastic pouring lids that I got here on Amazon), a small glass jar for storing the grains when you're not using them, a fairly fine mesh filter - metal is fine in my opinion, and plenty of whole milk. Whole milk rather than low fat is more important than organic rather than non-organic, although the better the milk, the better the kefir and the happier the grains.

I love milk kefir. Since I started making it about 6 months ago, I have had about one to two pints a day everyday. I take it with me when I travel. It has done wonders for my health, my weight, and my general sense of well-being.

Question 2

How do you get the grains to arrive in Florida without being 'baked' on the way?

Accepted Answer

Kefir grains are not as fragile as most people think. We ship them all year round. The do not begin to be compromised until 130 degrees and our packaging protects them.

Question 3

How much kefir will I Tbsp of grains make?

Accepted Answer

I find myself puzzled by the other responses. If I used anywhere near that amount of grains per one to two cups of milk I would get curds and whey within 8 hours. Once my grains were fully healthy and active, which didn't take more than a few cycles, I have used more like one half to one teaspoon of grains per quart of milk, and an incubation time that is usually no more than half a day. In fact, recently I have been reculturing my kefir from kefir itself, as you would do with yogurt, and leaving the grains in the refrigerator for at least two weeks in whole milk. I use perhaps a 1 to 20 dilution of kefir to milk. I get creamier kefir this way that seldom goes to curds and whey, and it's a much simpler process since there is no filtering involved. Every week or two, I make a batch from the grains and the milk in which they've been sitting, and this batch usually goes further than I would like, but makes excellent starter for the next batch, which is an excellent starter for the next batch, etc. The main reason that I go back to the grains every couple of weeks is to make sure that the composition of the microbiome remains the same as it originally was. I haven't actually reached the maximum time that I could reculture kefir without going back to the grains.
And FWIW, those grains that have been sitting in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, and the milk in which they have been sitting, are both in fine shape for starting a new batch. I don't have to do anything to reinvigorate them.
Enjoy your kefir adventure!

Question 4

How do you know if they work or not?

Accepted Answer

Hello Laura,Once you receive grains, place in 1 1/2 c to 2 cups of whole milk.  I use cheese cloth, folded and just sit over top of jar.  When you see the grains at the top of the jar, give the jar a swirl to cover and give nutrition back to grains.  After 24 hrs, strain and squeeze out all the extra juices out of the grains, using a spoon and strainer.  It will look like a light to thick paste.  Sometimes, After squeezing the liquid out, smashing the grains with a spoon, I put those grains in new mason jar, during straining, causes less mess.Put strained kefir in refrigerator, covered with seran wrap.  Check in an hour or two or more.  If you see natural separation in jar, it works.  I mix 4-6 cups of kefir with 1 1/2c of frozen blueberries and put in caraf in refrigerator.  When putting in glass to drink, I add tsp of sugar, taste like a smoothie.  Have fun!

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1 TBSP Milk Kefir Grains and eBook "Milk Kefir Unleashed by Thomas Egbert" - Fresh Live Active Probiotic Starter Cultures - Fusion Teas

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