Milk kefir is one of the many ways you can get your probiotics. Milk kefir is a tart, fermented milk where you use specific “grains” that eat the natural sugar in the milk. With the fermenting process of the grains in the milk at room temperature, you get a sour/tart probiotic rich drink. Probiotics are essential for good gut health, why not give this tasty drink a try?

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I have been making milk kefir off and on for a couple years now. I purchased my live grains and started making this tasty drink and we haven’t looked back. My husband is quite the fan of it, he particularly likes it in popsicles.

We like to have milk kefer during the summer the most because of the delicious popsicles that I make every summer. They are a nice cool treat on those hot summer days and a great way to get your probiotics and vitamins.

I find that making fermented food is very easy. Milk kefir is a great place to start if your wanting to get some natural probiotics. The process is very simple and all you need milk, grains and a little time.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF MILK KEFIR

As you may already know probiotics are essential for good health and good gut flora. The probiotics in all fermented food, helps to build your good gut flora. In turn your healthier and many would say they don’t get sick very often because of it.

During the fermenting process, the grains turn the lactose into lactic acid. This gives the milk a sour flavor like yogurt but a thinner consistency.

There are many nutrients in it like protein, calcium, vitamin B12 and magnesium, just to name a few.

It is actually more probiotic rich then Greek yogurt. It can contain up to 61 strains of yeast and bacteria.

Then you have calcium, which we all know that calcium can help keep our bones strong.

So, think of it a super charged milk with probiotics and nutrients.

WHAT MILK SHOULD I USE?

Most commonly, cows milk is used as well as goats milk. Goats milk is actually similar to human milk and is easy to digest.

I use raw, grass-fed cows milk. I have also used raw goats milk.

If you can source raw milk, this will be best. You want all the healthy bacteria as possible. The grains will flourish on this type of milk the best.

You can use Pasteurized and Ultra-Pasteurized. Since the milk has been heated up and killed all the beneficial bacteria your kefir grains may not grow or multiply as fast and your milk may not ferment as fast.

WHAT IS A MILK KEFIR GRAIN?

Milk kefir grains are a specific type of mesophilic symbiotic culture made up of protiens, lipids and sugars. They are similar to how wheat and barley grains are for beer.

The grains look similar to little pieces of cauliflower though they have a soft jello consistency.

They originated from the Northern Caucasus Mountain region.

WHERE CAN I PURCHASE MILK KEFIR GRAINS?

I got my grains from Amazon HERE. These are ready to go when you get them in the mail. Since they are live grains, they are shipped fast so you can get them in milk sooner to keep them from dying.

You can also get them from the brand, Cultures for Health, HERE. These are dehydrated, so when you get them you will need to place them in milk to activate them. With this route you will have to wait a while before you get good productive milk kefir. This is a great route if you are not in a hurry or like the experiment of re-hydrating the grains.

Another way is to get them from a friend that may also be making milk kefir in their home. If they are making milk kefir, I’m sure they have an abundance of grains that they would be willing to part with.

CAN I EAT KEFIR GRAINS?

Yes, you can. A lot of people will add the excess grains to the blender when they make a smoothie.

TIPS FOR MAKING MILK KEFIR

• Make sure to place your milk kefir about 5 feet away from other ferments on your counter to avoid cross contamination of different cultures.
• If you find that there is yellow liquid separating from your milk, that is fine. That is “whey” and this is perfectly normal. This will happen the longer your milk ferments.
• If your starting out with new milk kefir grains, the first couple ferments may not taste right. It will take a batch or two for the grains to get used to the new environment.
• Milk kefir grains will eventually start to multiply. The more you regularly add fresh milk to the grains, the faster they will grow.
• The grains will last years, they do not go bad unless left out for too long or in bad environmental conditions.
• The longer you let your milk ferment the more sour it will get. I wait until the whey has separated from the kefir for a little bit. I find that is the perfect level of sour for us.
• I recommend using fine weave cheese cloth or a coffee filter to the top of your ferments to keep out unwanted bugs like fruit flies. This just makes a tight seal but still allows air flow that is needed.
• When straining the grains I will place a stainless steel funnel over a wide mouth mason jar and put a plastic mesh strainer on top and strain out a little bit of the kefir at a time. I can then place the jar right in the fridge. This just reduces the amount of dishes to wash. Note: I don’t find an issue using metal for the short period of time the milk kefir is on the funnel.

EQUIPMENT YOU MAY NEED

Strainer – plastic is recommended, try not to use metal

Jars for storage – I use these Half Gallon Mason Jars

Plastic cover

HOW TO MAKE MILK KEFIR

1. To a clean jar add your grains. Add about 1/4 cup grains per 3 cups of milk.
2. Pour in the milk to the very bottom of the neck of the jar.
3. Place some fine weave cheese cloth or a coffee filter over the mouth of the jar and screw on your cover LOOSELY.
4. Place on your counter about 5 feet from any other ferments you have have going on at the same time.
5. Leave on the counter to ferment roughly 24-48 hours.
6. Once your kefir is ready, strain your kefir grains from your milk kefir. You can use a plastic mesh strainer or a plastic colander, either will work as long as they have small holes. Place it over a large bowl so you can easily catch the milk kefir.
7. Add the strained kefir to your glass storage jar and place in the fridge to stop the fermentation, for a couple hours.
8. You can add your grains to a new jar of milk and start the process over again.
9. Serve chilled and Enjoy!

WAYS TO USE MILK KEFIR

You can drink milk kefir as is.

You can add it to your smoothies.

Make popsicles with it.

Pour it over your cereal like you would with regular milk.

Make ice cream with it.

This would even make for a good salad dressing.

HOW LONG IS MILK KEFIR GOOD FOR?

In the fridge it will last about 3 weeks and a couple months in the freezer.

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY EXCESS GRAINS?

Since kefir grains constantly grow and are making more, some people have an over abundance of the grains. If you don’t want to eat them you can give them to your pets if they’ll eat them. Chickens love them as well.

You can give them to friends or family who are natural minded as you.

If you still have an over abundance of them you can compost them.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU NEED A BREAK FROM MILK KEFIR

If you find you need a break from making milk kefir, you can place the grains in a small jar of milk in your fridge. This slows down the fermentation process. I have done this for about 6 months before and I was able to restart my grains and get tasty kefir after a couple batches.

OTHER FERMENTED RECIPES TO TRY

• Homemade Sauerkraut
• Raw Milk Greek Yogurt
• Sourdough Banana Bread
• Homemade Kombucha
• Homemade Kombucha: Second Ferment

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Homemade Kombucha: second ferment is sure to wake up your taste buds! Who doesn’t like a nice cold carbonated beverage that tastes like your favorite fruit? I want to follow up on my last post and show you how you can easily turn your freshly brewed kombucha tea into a tasty and tangy fermented drink.

In my last post I went into detail on how you can make your own Homemade Fizzy Kombucha Tea with just a few ingredients and the equipment that you will need. To learn more about homemade kombucha take a look HERE.

So you’ve already gone through the first step of making kombucha, it smells sweet and a bit tangy. It tastes good but your looking for that sweet fruity flavor as well as the carbonation. Sounds like your ready to bottle this tea and make your second ferment.

What is “Second Ferment”?

This is the process of decanting your freshly brewed kombucha, putting it into a bottle and adding some sort of “sugar”, capping it tightly and letting it sit until it has created carbonation. The yeast that is present in the kombucha will eat the sugar that is in the fruit or juice. Second fermentation can take 24 to 72 hours to carbonate. It could take longer depending on how much kombucha is in the bottle, how much fruit or juice was used or the temperature in the room.

Don’t like the Fizz (carbonation)?

Not everyone likes the carbonation and that’s fine. Once you finish brewing your first ferment you can bottle it and add your flavorings as usual but skip the step of letting it sit out tightly capped.

Like a lot of people do with water, they add the fruit and let it infuse the water to give it some flavor.

Another option is to set it up for the second ferment and leave it in a warm place but only let it sit out for about 12 hours give or take. This may create a very small amount of carbonation but it won’t be a “tickle you nose” type. It will give the kombucha some time to get the flavor of what you added to it making it a bit more sweet then the last option.

What type of container can be used?

• Flip top glass bottles, these are the most popular type because the lid is held on very lightly by the metal clasp.
• Reusing your previously purchased Kombucha bottles.
• Growler bottles ranging from a half gallon to 1 gallon jars
• Mason Jars! If your like me you have dozens of mason jars in your cupboard.
• New plastic bottles are an option but recommended only to be used for one Second Ferment then recycled.

Under Pressure!

I should warn you, because we are creating carbonation in our second ferment bottles, it is creating a lot of pressure against the bottle and lid. Be sure not to leave your bottles out too long during their second ferment because it could result in some bottles exploding.

How to make the Homemade Kombucha: Second Ferment

What you need:

• 6 or 7 bottles (16 ounce)
• Filtered kombucha from your finished first ferment.
• Juice, fruit puree or whole fruit of choice (1/4 cup per bottle)
• A funnel is helpful but not necessary

Bottling the Kombucha:

1. Prepare your bottles: wash and/or sterilize and set aside to dry.
2. Remove the SCOBY from your first ferment kombucha.
3. Stir your kombucha well, this will distribute any yeast and bacteria that may have settled down at the bottom on your container. In turn will make carbonation better for all your bottles.
4. Pour your kombucha through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth. Note: Be sure to set aside at least one cup of your first ferment kombucha to use for your next batch.
5. Add about 1/4 cup of your choice of fruit ingredient to each bottle.
6. Fill completely with the kombucha leaving 1/2 to 1 inch space at the top.
7. Cap tightly so it can build up carbonation.
8. Place on a tray and store in a warm location for 25-72 hours. Note: I use the tray to catch any liquid that may leak out of the bottles during this process.
9. Once they have carbonated place the bottles in the fridge to stop the fermentation process.
10. Open your bottle slowly to release excess carbonation and Enjoy!

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How to know when your second ferment is ready

A couple ways that I can tell when my ferments are ready is there will be a lot of large bubbles at the top of the bottle. You may also see tiny bubbles floating up from the bottom of the bottle. There also may be some leaking from under the cover down the sides of the bottles.

Tasty Flavor Add-ins:

• Fresh Blueberries or Raspberries
• Frozen mixed fruit
• Elderberry Syrup (1/4 cup per 16 ounces)
• Mango’s
• Bananas

Have you ever made your own Homemade Kombucha?

Let me know in the comments what flavors you have tried. We’re always into trying out different flavors and I’d love to hear your ideas.

Continuous Brews…

Do you absolutely LOVE kombucha and want to always have some on tap? Continuous brews are great for that! I have yet to migrate into that method yet. The current method is working for us at the moment. Though as we continue to enjoy our homemade kombucha and start to drink more with the warmer months I can definitely see us making a continuous brew. I’m sure once I get to that point I’ll update you all with a post about it.

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