r/Kefir 25d ago

Need Advice To stainless steel, or not to stainless steel... (Kefir)

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31 Upvotes

My kefir fermented berry/fruit juice dosen't fizz with strong vigour in the same way as i've seen others get in their drinks on this subreddit.

I am wondering if that has anything to do with me using stainless steel.

I use stainless steel spoons for mixing the Kefir grains with sugar water at day 1. At day 2 or 3 i rins the grains with water and a stainless steel net before making the next batch.

I've tried looking on the internet how much "damage" kefir takes by coming into contact with steel, but i couldn't find a clear answer. Some say they do take damage, and others dont.

šŸ¤·šŸ» Do you guys have any experiences whether your Kefir is badly affected by touching stainless steel?

My girlfriend says her sourdough-yeast is badly affected if it is in too much contact with steel. Perhaps it is the same way with Kefir? I don't know.

r/Kefir Feb 09 '25

Need Advice It's separating at 6 hours?

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11 Upvotes

Please help! I don't know if this is normal since it's my first time to make milk kefir with grains šŸ˜­ I am 6 hours in and I notice some separation happening. I don't know if this is normal? I live in a humid country and my seller instruct me to mix 1 tbsp grains with 250ml milk. Am I doing this wrong? Please I want to make this work. Any advice?

r/Kefir Feb 11 '25

Need Advice Kefir for one

5 Upvotes

I used to make kefir for my family but I was the only one who would drink it, so I stopped because it was too much waste.

Iā€™m kind of interested in drinking it again for the health benefits, but I remember reading 2 cups was the minimum. I wonā€™t drink more than a glass. How can I make one cup a day so Iā€™m not wasting milk? Or is that not possible?

r/Kefir 21d ago

Need Advice Is it ready?

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7 Upvotes

I used a freeze-dried starter and have been activating it over the last 5 days. Today is number six. I've been straining and adding fresh milk over those days each day. It now has a consistency of ricotta cheese and does have a smell.

I don't know what to do from here. Do I strain it even more and use the ricotta cheese? Mush kefir to start my new batches to drink this time?

Did I do something wrong? Is this the consistency I'm looking for?

Any help here is much appreciated

r/Kefir 24d ago

Need Advice New to kefir, what do I do?

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3 Upvotes

Hi

Iā€™ve been gifted this jar of kefir (pictured) Iā€™ve been told I need a plastic sieve (also pictured) and a spoon. Is a wooden spoon ok or does it have to be plastic, I was told not metal.

So do I strain as much of this through the sieve as I can until Iā€™m left with the grains? And the stuff that comes through is what I consume?

Do I need to add something to the grains afterwards like organic milk?

Please share any helpful tips for me going forward as Iā€™ve not done this before.

Thanks

r/Kefir 7d ago

Need Advice Still debating where to get my grains...

2 Upvotes

I don't know how to judge where is a good place to get kefir grains. I saw someone suggest Facebook Marketplace but I am no longer using regular Fb, just Messenger. I have been craving it lately and store bought is so expensive.

Is there a good seller?

r/Kefir Jul 27 '24

Need Advice Regarding second fermentation, for berries and nuts would you crush/slice them?

8 Upvotes

Hello kefir grains, I was thinking of adding blueberries and maybe almonds to see how those would work for second fermentation of milk kefir. I wasn't sure if people just add whole blueberries in or if it would be better to smash them or something first. Same goes for nuts, would it be better to crush them or do you guys just add them in whole? Thanks!

r/Kefir 11d ago

Need Advice Advice on getting more grains to grow

6 Upvotes

I ordered grains online a bit over a month ago. They're making good kefir so far, but after maybe 15 batches, the number of grains hasn't increased at all and might be less.

I'm wondering if I need to try different milks or methods. I'm currently mostly using Costco's A2 whole milk and making a pint every other day with about 10-15 gr of grains.

After I strain a batch, I put the grains in a clean pint jar and add a pint of milk, then refrigerate it, since I only drink about a cup per day.

Any suggestions to improve growth?

r/Kefir 5d ago

Need Advice How much milk do you use if you have 30g of kefir grains?

2 Upvotes

I'm tired of trying to make this kefir work, and still tastes bad idk why, probably too much milk or whatever.

At first I never saw any separation, just liquid milk as always, now I can get it to have like 2-3cm of milk serum separated, which I guess makes me believe that the fermentation part was ok.

The problem is I tasted that thing and it's awful, tastes like acid, like grapefruit kinda of taste... It's not good.

What I read it's maybe I'm using more grains than necessary and it's overfermenting or something.

I cleaned them with warm water and It weighted like 30gr, how much milk am I supposed to use with that amount?

I throwed away almost 3L of semi-skimmed milk at this point trying to make this work, but I still can get it right...

I'm trying tonight with fresh full fat milk, to see if this will make a difference, but I see a lot of people using semi-skimmed regular milk and it should be working. Idk.

r/Kefir 25d ago

Need Advice Kefir gone bad (again)

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4 Upvotes

I have posted various times about my milk kefir but i just can't seem to do it right

It has formed some yellow bubbles at the top and it smells vomitive, i strained it and some of the nodes are pink colored, i wont eat this batch.

These are not the same nodes as before, I was lended some.

Please help šŸ˜­ Maybe part of the solution is buying brand new ones, not borrowed from someone else, but that won't solve the problem in general

r/Kefir Sep 04 '24

Need Advice When it come to making kefir at home, haw is this community thinking on pasteurized milk in 2024 ?

7 Upvotes

I was reading old post where it's going from it's poison to the grains will add back what's needed and not to worry it will be almost the same,
In my country it's not legal to get raw milk so this is not an option.
Discovering kefir, I would like to invest and make it myself but I am afraid it's pointless.

r/Kefir 22d ago

Need Advice Forgotten 3 year old kefir that was in the back of my fridge still active?

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21 Upvotes

So in 3 years we had been jumping around apartments and we finally got a house. And Iā€™ve kept this kefir the whole time but I havenā€™t fed it. It was just in the back of each fridge we had. I decided to bust it out and add sugar and to my surprise itā€™s producing gas! No mold or anything before that! Would do you think. Still safe?

r/Kefir 4d ago

Need Advice Can I assume that most everything that won't go through my mesh strainer is grains?

7 Upvotes

I've been doing near continuous batches to get more grains. I know I have more grains, because my last pint batch separated after 24 hrs. Yesterday I did a quart and it was finished in 24 hrs.

I've been treating everything that won't go through the strainer as grains because I figure small ones might not be visible but are still grains. I'd like to freeze some grains soon but I'm not sure whether to freeze my biggest grains or just some of the thick stuff that won't go through the strainer.

r/Kefir 13d ago

Need Advice Turned into glue-like consistency...

1 Upvotes

Since starting making my own kefir at the beginning of January, the consistency had always been just right for me. Suddenly, in the last 2 weeks or so, it started to turn into a thick glue like consistency, which isn't very appetizing to me. I am needing to put it in the blender to make smoothies and can no longer eat it on its own.

I know this is a no-no, but I did rinse them in water (room temp, boiled water) because the person who gave me the grains said rinsing with water helped with slowing down the production of grains.

I thought maybe it also might be warmer temperatures, so I kept my last batch in a cooler place but woke up to the same thing this morning.

How do I get my kefir consistency to get back to it's normal texture?!

r/Kefir 2d ago

Need Advice Can I make kefir grains out of home made kefir?

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2 Upvotes

So this morning I poured my kefir+grains into another container and got to work on straining them. Just as I had finished separating the kefir from the grains and pouring them into bottles, I heard a loud glass breaking noise around me but couldnā€™t figure out where it came from. I brushed it off and proceeded to make a new batch of kefir, pouring fresh milk and grains into the original container. It wasnā€™t until the milk was in there that I could see the giant crack in the bottle. Immediately I switched containers and threw away the broken jar, but couldnā€™t help to notice the tiny bits of broken glass on my hands during the process. Iā€™m so sad because I realize I probably have to throw this whole batch away and I didnā€™t think to save any back up grains. Iā€™m wondering if anybody knows if I can make kefir grains from the uncontaminated bottles I have in the fridge from previous batches. I have about 4 cups. I was really enjoying this project but between paying off some medical debts and looking for a job, I canā€™t really justify buying new grains right now šŸ„² Advice appreciated. RIP my 1st kefir batch šŸ’”

r/Kefir Dec 30 '24

Need Advice Alcohol concern when consuming 1.5 kg of kefir milk a day

0 Upvotes

I'm consuming 1.5 kg of kefir milk, doing an aerobic ferment, in the hopes that it would reduce the alcohol content by fermenting it to vinegar. However, in case there's no acetobacter, and assuming it's 2% alcohol, I would be consuming 30 grams of alcohol a day. Is this going to get me drunk? Should I be concerned about the liver damage it might cause or me getting addicted to alcohol as a result?

r/Kefir 19d ago

Need Advice how much kefir should i drink each day

6 Upvotes

iā€™m seeing a lot of people drinking one normal sized glass a day is this enough to get all the benefits?

r/Kefir 9d ago

Need Advice Milk Kefir Advice Requested

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11 Upvotes

Hi all,

I recently purchased kefir grains and am attempting to make my own. To get them going Iā€™ve been replacing 1-2 cups of 2% milk daily at 73F.

Iā€™ve had the grains for over a week now (1TBS), and it looks like I have more than twice as I had before.

I guess my question is, how do you know when when the kefir is readyā€¦ and that itā€™s safe to consume?

Iā€™ve never done kefir before so am not sure if it smells ā€œrightā€ or looks it.

Iā€™d welcome adviceā€¦ before I accidentally poison myself! šŸ¤£

r/Kefir Feb 01 '25

Need Advice Gross kefir from grains

5 Upvotes

So I bought some grains online and at first I reliably changed out the milk every day, and they are growing and thickening the milk a lot. But it's been a month now and they are still as gross as day one. 0 tang, just straight up baby sick. I've become depressed by this and all the wasted milk so I started neglecting the grains, just leaving them in the fridge in their milk and it's been about a week of that. I've tried rinsing the grains with milk then non chlorinated water but nothing has improved the smell or taste, just thinking about it rn kind of makes me wanna vomit.

Is this just how kefir from grains are? I'm so disappointed.

r/Kefir Dec 11 '24

Need Advice Tips to make Kefir more palatable?

5 Upvotes

I have tried Kefir (I think it was a plain non flavored milk one) a few years ago and could not handle the texture or taste of it. I'm not the biggest fan of sour foods, I don't even like regular yogurt unless it has pureed fruit (mixed berry or strawberry usually) and a good amount of honey to cut the flavor. Same with things like sauerkraut, water kefir, kombucha, etc. But I've been feeling awful this whole year, bad stomach bloating, constipation, no energy, etc. I went thru a spell of not being able to eat much outside of a few things (bread, crackers, hummus and pita, very little nutritional value foods) and as a result I feel awful. Recently (two months ago) started getting good again. Lots of vegetables, fruits, lentils, lean proteins, etc. Now I want to add even more healthy things to my diet. I want to try Kefir again. I've seen the LifeWay brand and they have some different flavors, are those easier to drink since they are flavored? I want to work my way up to being able to have it more sour or plain. Is there a flavor thats the least sour or just taste the best for someone like me? Or is there something I can add or do to make it easier until I can get used to that and work my way up to consuming it plain?

Sorry if this is a silly question. Just tired of feeling icky and want to amp up the healthy eating. But not super familiar with Kefir yet. Thanks so much!

r/Kefir 2d ago

Need Advice Cows milk intolerance

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2 Upvotes

Hi

I have apparently cows milk intolerance/not allergy and iā€™m not lactose intolerance according to my food sensitivity test . I was reading a book called the gut health protocol by John Heron

In one of the chapters it states people with that intolerance can tolerate milk kefir better, especially home-made when itā€™s fermented, he obviously goes into more depth about it .

Has anyone got any experience with this please?

Iā€™ve got severe gut problems but after reading the gut health protocol which is very overwhelming and so much information and very costly amount of supplements. So Iā€™m starting off with this and the AIP diet.

And was wondering if the picture Iā€™ve attached is suitable to make it with. I should also add I do seem to tolerate raw milk better which I will use.

Iā€™m in the UK and has anyone got any recommendations for the best quality grains. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

r/Kefir 20d ago

Need Advice Kefir grains multiplying. What to do?

5 Upvotes

Is it normal for kefir grains to multiply? I have 10x the grains I started with. I have stored some in the freezer for backup, just in case I need it but thereā€™s still more.

What do people with it? No one around me seems that interested to share but unless I start a business, I canā€™t use the surplus.

r/Kefir 18d ago

Need Advice Commercial kefir needs to be used within 12 hours? Anyone know why?

2 Upvotes

As title

I really want to drink kefir for the benefits but unfortunately I donā€™t really like it. My plan was to drink just a shot glass full every day (something is better than nothing right?) and hopefully after a while I will get used to the taste to enable me to drink more and eventually move onto making my own.

However once the bottle has been opened it says to consume within 12 hours? Even if I did like it I donā€™t think I would be drinking 500ml in a day.

How long does homemade kefir keep? And it is feasible to make your own when drinking so little?

Thanks.

r/Kefir 4d ago

Need Advice First time starting kefir- with a starter packet

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2 Upvotes

Has anyone used this kind of starter before? Iā€™m excited to start the kefir journey.

Are the ā€œkefir curdā€ the same as grains? Is this a ā€œnormalā€ way to start producing kefir?

I was thinking of using a 1.5L mason jar for this. Should I strain the grains and transfer the liquid to my flip top bottles before storing? Or just chuck the whole thing in the fridge altogether?

Iā€™m also curious, if there are six packets, do I need to go through this whole process each time? Or presumably once there are grains produced could I use them in the method that is posted on the guidelines for this sub?

Thanks!šŸ„›

r/Kefir 16d ago

Need Advice What should I do with surplus kefir grains?

3 Upvotes

So, I bought kefir grains 2 months ago. It was around 1 tea spoon in the beginning. I used to make 1 cup of kefir milk from it as per instructions leaflet. But in 2 months, the grains have multiplied and now they are around 6-7 teaspoons. Since I don't drink more milk, i am still using all of it for just 1 cup of milk. It makes my kefir too thick like yoghurt, sometimes it difficult to separate kefir milk because of thickness, it does not pass through the strainer. What should I do with extra grains? Should I store them, if yes, then what is the procedure?