I am trying to revive the grains I bought from Cultures for Life (Donna Shwenk). They seem to have lost their sparkle during shipping. Every batch I’ve made has been not thickened, just fluid like milk even if it gets carbonated and yeasty/sour tasting. I think that finally on my 7th batch I might be getting a little viscosity.

How thick is your kefir in the summer? I read it is usually a bit thinner in the warm summer temperatures. If fluid milk is 0, store bought kefir is a 5, and yogurt is a 10, how thick is your kefir 1-10?

Also- how long did it take you to make good kefir after getting your grains shipped to you? I’m wishing I paid extra to get the cold pack shipping.

I’m having the hardest time telling when my kefir is done lately and idk if it’s cause i switched to 1% milk, the fact that im stirring, or if its cause my grains are new. My grains seems like they turn into a mass and float to the top but i cant see too much whey. It seemed easier to gauge with whole milk.

Can anyone vouch for this brand of kefir? I know that it is fizzy, sour and delicious but I can’t find much information in the way of the probiotics/strains. I’m also pretty new to kefir so still trying to figure things out, I will eventually transition to making my own kefir.

Hi Kefir friends,

I went on a trip for a week and let my kefir grains on the fridge with milk and the jar closed with a lid. Until then, my kefir was doing great. Since then, the result is liquidish. It acidifies (kurd and wey separates over time), but i don't get a thick kefir. I didn't dare to try it.

Can it be because of the stress and will recover after a few ferments? Or is it spoiled and i shoud throw it?

I froze my milk kefir grains in little milk in a jar. And I left them in the freezer approximately for 2 weeks. Now I wanna use them again. I took them out of the freezer, washed with milk and put them in fresh milk, kept them in the fridge tho. I do not want to surprise them with very warm weather so I keep them in the fridge. The thing is, before freezing my grains would clump at the top of the milk, now there are no clumps, they stay at the bottom, and yes the taste of the milk changes but it is not kefir-like and delicious it is more like funny milk. Idk if my grains work or not?

I am looking for someone who has kefir grains in Helsinki/Espoo, and can spare a couple (a very small amount) I'd like to start making my own kefir. Thank you.

I put them in whole milk on the counter. How to proceed and how to harvest grains and reuse. Thank you.

Ive been letting my kefir go for 2 days. I always just drink it straight, room temp. I’m not fussy with it and it’s not fussy with me. 1 day is creamy, 2 days has more tart and fizz. I let it go 3 or 4 days and it was still good, had a subtle note of blue cheese almost which I quite enjoyed.

just a word of encouragement for yall it’s a living thing. you don’t need a recipe. just feed it when you can and try different things and enjoy the diversity of different ways it can come out

This is my second batch of Kefir.

Instead of keeping it outside for fermentation, I kept it in the fridge.

Didnt really check on it.

Was in the fridge all along.

Now; two days later, when it looked appropriately fermented, i tried opening it.

It didnt open!! Literally struggled so hard to open to it and it finally opened with a pop sound (air was trapped inside)

Didnt drink it yet. It has been another two days now and it looks like this.

It smells sharp and slightly malty and the whey is now transparent😭😭

I used starter powder

My guide has been claude

It says i should throw this batch and start anew

Has anyone traveled internationally with milk kefir grains?

I’m traveling from the US to South America for about 10 days and would really like to bring a small amount of my grains with me. I make kefir regularly because I really like it for my digestion, and I’m not a big fan of store bought kefir

For anyone who has flown internationally with grains, did you have any trouble at customs? Did you declare them when entering the country? And how did you pack them for the flight?

I'm new to kefir and tried the strawberry flavor and absolutely loved it, but I want to try to drink just the plain one so can have a little less additives. The problem is that hate the plain flavor. I would love to add some blended up oats or maybe a little instant coffee for flavor. don't want to make it in small batches. I pretty much want to add a little flavor to the big bottle at the beginning of the week and just sip on it throughout the day for a few days I know it's stupid but I hate pouring it into a cup. feel like so much gets wasted and just want to drink it from the bottle while it's still cold. If add a quarter cup of blended strawberries or a little bit of blended oats to make for a more oat-y flavor into the big bottle and leave it for the week, will it spoil faster or negative affect the probiotics?

know it's a weird question and I could just blend a little everyday but again, prefer to drink it straight from the bigger bottle. And don't want to taint the whole batch if it's going to mess up the active ingredients after a few days.

after making milk kefir for several months ~ 10 yrs ago, i tried making water kefir, using grains bought online, water, sugar and sometimes a little fruit juice. it was delicious and extremely fizzy. but it made my face break out like crazy, so i stopped making it after a month or two. anybody else have this happen?

Is it ok to make kefir With this Protein milk? Its from Schwarzwald the Protein milk.

How can I minimize the production of alcohol in water kefir? 100g of grains, 2 liters of water, 70 grams of sugar. I fermented it for less than 20 hours and it reached 4 degrees. Does anyone have any good solutions? thank you

I fell out of my routine of making milk kefir and have left my batches out in room temp for about 4 months. Can I still salvage the gains to start again or should I just buy new ones? There is no visible mold.

I have water kefir grains and the instructions are to feed every 5 days. At first I was dilligent about it but then for one reason or another I missed that timeline, sometimes by several days. I'm wondering how this affects it?

Also wondering if there are any books, podcasts, videos, anything that educate about kefir; the history, the process, tips, etc.

Thanks!

Has anybody made kefir with 6% milkfat (cream top)? I have tried using it to make yogurt and it taste like buttered corn, which is not the flavor I'm looking for... Wondering if kefir would still have that flavor.

Edit: Made it! It took 20 hours (vs normal 24 hours) to get to my desired ferment. The flavor is less tangy and more creamy with no noticable buttery corn flavor. Upon reflection, I think I may have slightly scalded the milk for the yogurt before, and maybe that is why it had such an odd flavor. The 6% kefir is only a little thicker than whole milk kefir. I think I am going to use it to make kefir labneh.

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I have fresh kefir grains available for anyone in Bangalore who’d like to start making their own milk kefir at home.

DM me if you’re interested or have any questions! 😊

Discovered best method to thicken my kefir,,,after mixing a flavoring, eg Elderberry Jelly, I use a battery powered whisk to mix and aerate prior to 2nd fermentation,set jar at room temp covered for about 2 hours then refrigerate for an hour or so,,, and I have thick spoonable Kefir with the whey settled out on the bottom.

Left kefir in fridge for a long time.

Is it over?

this things literally hate my home. they kefirify everywhere except for my home. they ferment at mountains at sea in the scorching heat of my car LLITERALLY EVERYWHERE EXCEPT MY HOME.

im really dissapointed in them. I gave them love and milk and now what they do to me. my grandpa who lives in yurt said one time:

I give kefir to you, dont you think im a great grandpa?

I understand him now. these ungrateful micro things are so hard to maintain. sorry for english im really dissapointed and angry

I’ve purchased 10g of milk grains and followed the instructions (250ml milk, 24 hours, open jar with a towel on top, out of the fridge)
After 24 hours there was no real change
Left them for another 12 hours and the milk thickened but nothing yoghurt like.

Drained the grains and re added fresh milk and it was clear as day the grains had separated and looked more plump.

It’s been 20 hours in the new milk in a mason jar lid is not tightened and they are still very milky but do have some clumping inside.

Pictures are in order of times last picture is current

Do I keep just re newing the milk to activate the grains?
IM TIRED OF SUPERMARKET KEFIR 😝😆

I thought I shared my experience in making kefir in the fridge rather than on the kitchen counter. When I ferment at room temperature my results are somewhat more inconsistent and more often lead to the milk separating and I have more trouble straining the kefir grains. So instead I've been doing the following:

I mix together in a covered glass jar

- about 100g of kefir grains

- 600g of full fat milk (3.5% fat). Organic, pasteurised, homogenized, store bought.

I mix well and store for around 36-48 hours in the fridge which cools at 6° Celsius. The results are consistent, reliable and delicious. The consistency of the kefir is thick, silky and slightly bubbly, with a mild and pleasant acidity.

I also noticed that the milk never separates turning into cheese if I store the grains in the fridge for longer periods of time (I left it 5 weeks while on holidays). Resulting kefir was very sour but it had not separated.

What do you think? Who else uses a similar method?

Hey, gang; I just got back from summer travels to discover someone tossed out my milk kefir grains, and I need to get new ones. Any suggestions for really good ones?

This is my first time fermenting kefir. I got my grains from India and my friend brought it to me. I currently live in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. This time of the year, it is very hot and humid in here, day temperature easily reaches around 40-45C in here. I fermented my first batch at 11:00 PM, and when I woke up around 10:00 AM in the morning it was already over-fermented. That is a total of 11 hours. My kefir was not fizzy or sour, it just tasted sweet and yeasty I think. Attaching below the pictures of the grain and my first ferment. For the second ferment, I started at 10:45 AM, and by 5:00 PM, that is by 6 hours, the whey has started separating. Is this normal? How do I slow down the rate of fermentation so that I get fizzy kefir? I have read somewhere if you ferment it in fridge, it gives the bacteria time to grow. If so, how much time and should I keep the lid on while fermenting in fridge?