Alison's Kefir

For my recipe I used Dom's Kefir-making site: http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html

I especially liked his action Kefir photos ;-) 

To obtain kefir grains, I would recommend ordering them through Amazon or asking a friend who has already made kefir to donate some to you. If you get them through the mail, they'll take a good week or so to acclimate to your surroundings and begin to produce kefir of good consistency and flavor. So plan ahead.

Here's Dom's recipe. You, too, will soon be a "Kefir-Meister"!

RECIPE for TRADITIONAL MILK KEFIR Ingredients / Utensils For 2-cups of Milk Kefir 1 to 2 tablespoons milk Kefir-Grains. To obtain kefir grains please go here at my kefirpage3 to 4-cup clean glass jar with lid. Nylon or stainless steel mesh-type strainer and spoon. Suitable container with wide open mouth for straining kefir into, and clean sealable bottle to store kefir. 2 cups fresh milk [Suitable milk types-- Raw un-pasteurised or pasteurised whole milk, fat-reduced, non-fat milk. Goat, Cow, Sheep, Buffalo, Camel and Mare's milk. I prefer fresh, raw whole goat or cow's milk in that order]. COMMON METHOD for MAKING MILK-KEFIR
	Place fresh kefir grains in clean glass jar. It is wise to mark the out side wall of the jar with a permanent marker or an elastic rubber band, to indicate the volume of grains put in the jar. As your kefir grains increase over future batches, it shall be easy to tell the portion of grains to remove, for that portion will go above the mark. The removed portion are your excess, or spare kefir grains. These may be blended with kefir to amplify the probiotic and therapeutic value of kefir when consumed. Alternatively, use spare grains to brew other interesting, healthy culture-products, mentioned bellow and throughout this site. See Links to all my Web Pages at the bottom of this page [all my web pages have those same links to each other, so you can find a topic].
	Add fresh milk, place lid on jar, gently stir contents and let stand at room temperature for about 24 hours, or until the product thickens or sours to your liking. Designate a spot away from direct sunlight for kefir fermentation, in a cupboard e.g. Do not fill the fermenting jar more than 3/4, otherwise the milk will overflow after some hours of fermentation. If the jar is sealed airtight, a slightly carbonated kefir results. Kefir is mostly prepared with the lid ajar, so that gas produced through fermentation is allowed to escape. It is usually best not to ferment for too much longer after the kefir shows signs of thickening, or separation seen as small pockets or layers of a pale-yellow liquid [whey]. Otherwise a sourer kefir results, and quite likely with separation becoming more prominent as 2 layers consisting of a thick white curd with whey at the bottom of ther container. Note that this is not a bad thing, but it can make straining more difficult, and some folks may find it too sour for their palett.
	Pour contents into a strainer and strain the kefir into a suitable container to separate the kefir grains from the liquid-kefir.  Wash the fermenting jar and reuse the kefir grains for a new batch by repeating the whole process.
	What you've strained is kefir, also referred to as Liquid-Kefir. Store th eliquid-kefir in a clean bottle and seal the bottle airtight. Kefir may be consumed right away, or better yet, store in a sealed bottle and refrigerate for a day or two and serve chilled. Another option is to ripen liquid-kefir at room temperature for a day or more, preferably under airlock. It can then be refrigerated for longer storage or served as you wish. 1 to 2 days storage in the fridge or ripened at room temperature improves flavour and increases nutritional value. Vitamins B6, B3 and B9 [folic acid] increase during storage, due to bio-synthesis of those vitamins mostly by yeasts of kefir grain organisms. See section bellow Storing Kefir and Reducing Lactose for complete details about the ripening process, including ripening under airlock, which is by far the best method for maturing kefir.

To avoid damaging your kefir grains, never add kefir grains to a hot jar straight after washing the jar with hot water! First add fresh milk to the jar before adding any kefir grains. It's wise to make this a habbit. Now, you too are a Kefir-Meister.

Alison's Note: After you've made kefir that's the right consistency and flavor for you, let it sit in your fridge for a couple of days. Then you may add additional flavoring, if you like. I'd suggest a little maple syrup and/or blended fresh or frozen fruit (sweetened or not).

Drink and enjoy!

– Alison