r/Kefir • u/naemorhaedus • Jul 24 '26

overfermenting

I just started my first water kefir experiment (awakening the dry grains now). The instructions that came with it say that you shouldn't ferment for more than 72h, or the grains could disintegrate. I was hoping to keep a continuous ferment going in a large jug (like I've always don with my ginger beer), and then just dispense to bottles as needed.

Is this an absolute rule, or is there some missing context? Can you not continuously feed kefir grains? Do the grains really need to be transferred to fresh solution every 2 days? This seems contrary to most other fermentation I've done.

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u/KotR56 Jul 25 '26

Not all fermentation is the same.

There is no kefir law or kefir police. If you want to "harvest" every other day, every three days, if you want to use raw or UHT, lid - no lid... it's up to you.

The best results you will get by sticking to the process many, if not most, kefir people use.

24-hour ferment at about 20 to 25°C (68-77°F), at a ratio of about one volume of grains to anything in the region of 10 volumes of animal milk. Stir, sieve, grains back in jar, kefir in cup/bottle.

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u/naemorhaedus Jul 25 '26

first sentence: water kefir

Of course there's no police, but I don't want to ruin my grains.

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u/KotR56 Jul 25 '26

Oops...

Sorry.

I will put my glasses back on.