1. Bicarb Of Soda 2. Kefir

ceridwen · 6 August 2007 at 11:53AM

Hi

1. BICARB OF SODA
Just decided to start experimenting with cleaning with bicarb - bought teensy (ie 200gr) container from supermarket at 33p. This is obviously a very cheap-type ingredient - probably real price is literally pennies for this amount. On googling on how to buy industrial-size quantities (as 200gr wont lasten 2 seconds!) I can only find ebay sellers (at lot dearer type price for quantity) and what appears to be the manufacturer (guess forum rules might mean not mentioning their name?) and can buy direct from them - but surely their website cant be accurate at that point can it? - as figures state £11.00 for 2.4 kg. If my maths is right (which could be debatable!) then that amount would be £3.96 from supermarket bought in teensy containers.

Any suggestions as to how to buy huge quantities at appropriately cheaper prices?

2. KEFIR
Decided to try this out - have just received some I ordered from a firm today. Its sitting there in its little plastic envelope in fridge whilst I'm wondering about exact instructions as to how to make it - as firm didnt enclose anything at all with it!!!! Have found thread on here re kefir and Australian website of guy who does this - doesnt quite fit with how I tend to like very precise instructions. "put some kefir in some milk and leave for 24 hours" - how much milk/does one have to use a glass container with lid or could it be a glass without a lid or, alternatively, a plastic container with lid. Bit puzzled as I was expecting it to look like a grainy mass - and it just looks like yogurt - is that okay? (As you can gather - I am not that pleased with a firm charging me £7 odd for a teensy bit of kefir/envelope and stamp - but nothing in way of info - where I was expecting instructions and suggestions for how to use and list of their other products.)

Hapless_2 · 6 August 2007 at 12:33PM

https://www.soapkitchenonline.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000000.pl?REFPAGE=https%3a%2f%2fwww%2esoapkitchenonline%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2findex%2ehtml&WD=bicarbonate%20soda&PN=Bath_Bomb_and_Dry_Toiletry_Ingredients%2ehtml%23a115#a115

Bicarb here would cost £20.93 for 10kg but that includes delivery. Not food grade though.

belfastgirl23 · 6 August 2007 at 12:40PM

bicarb can be bought at chinese/asian supermarkets. I think I paid about £3 for a big big bag (maybe 2kg?) you can also get white vinegar in 5l bottles there too...

larmy16 · 6 August 2007 at 1:59PM

Sounds like you bought your kefir from the same people as me. If you type Kefir into the search engine you will get up a thread all about it. Don't worry, kefir comes right in the end. I was exasperated by mine. Infact I have had mine stored in the the fridge for six months and decided to have a go at making some today!

dannahaz · 6 August 2007 at 2:37PM

Do you have a link for the websitye you got the Kefir from? Reason I ask is that there are two types of Kefir on the market. One (which I hope you have) is the self regenerating sort. The other makes a drink and that's it - when you've used it in your drink that's the end of it.

If it's the proper Kefir then your yoghurty mixture should contain some lumps - these would be the Kefir grains.

You would strain the yoghurty mixture off - normally this is what you drink, but as it's been travelling I wouldn't.

You then put the grains in a jar, and add some milk. Each day you strain, put the grains in a clean jar, add fresh milk. After a couple of days you can start drinking the stuff that you strain off. I don't really like the taste once it gets going, so I usually make mine into a smoothie with some frozen berries.

The amount of milk you add will increase as your Kefir grows.

The jar must have some sort of lid, and you need to leave a lot of room between the top of the milk and the top of the jar. This is because when the Kefir gets active it gets a bit gassy. If you fill up the jar too much then you may have problems.

I use a jar with a rubber gasket for mine.

Hope that helps.

moanymoany · 6 August 2007 at 2:59PM

Your pharmacist can order 1.5k of bicarb, it comes in at just under £5. It's a big tub full and lasts for ages. It can be used in food.

scrimperjan · 6 August 2007 at 4:43PM

I see what you mean Ceridwen - If you're paying 33p for 200g that's only £1.65 per kg so it seems would be cheaper to buy it in small tubs. Seems a shame, though - all that packaging!

ceridwen · 6 August 2007 at 5:36PM

Hi dannahaz

Well it better be self-regenerating - £7 would be rather expensive for just one drink! It is described as "organic live culture" and I bought it from

www.thekefirshop.co.uk

so I am presuming I have got what I paid for! - ie the culture that I can go on and on ad infinitum making my own kefir from.

So - any comments about what quantity of milk I add to what looks roughly like a dessertsp of kefir (again - nothing at all on the plastic packet it came in to indicate how much or anything)? I presume it might take a bit of time to "get its act together" - as I presume they kept it in a fridge their end and it hasnt been in milk for a while.

larmy16 · 6 August 2007 at 10:30PM

Hi Ceridwen. Yep that is where I got mine from. OK here is how I got mine going. Put about 200 mls of milk over the grain (I swear they only sent me one!). Just kept throwing the milk away as it tasted foul and kept going. One day I looked an the grain had turned into a blob, like frog spawn>> well after about two weeks of covering the blob, it had become spongy and a little like cottage cheese to look at but yellowy and blobby.

I reckon it took around two weeks for me to start to recognise a substance that everyone was talking about. A kind of thinner yoghurt type mixture. Many times I was tempted to throw the whole thing out. Hey I even ended up selling loads on ebay, but there was lots of competition and it was a lot of work packing it up for a quid or so.

Anyway persevere with it. Eventually I was covering about a tablespoon of these grainy things with a half pint of milk and it was kefir in around 12 - 24 hours.

HTH

PS if you got a tablespoon of blobs you did better than me! I reckon you could probably start with near half a pint. It should take off pretty well in this hot weather.

ceridwen · 7 August 2007 at 7:54AM

Thanks larmy16

Right - about to get going with the kefir. PS Have gone back to the firms website and have the feeling theres been some updating - wonder if I'm correct in this :money: :money: ??

Still very badly written website and very unclear and unable to email them - as they have taken away the link to do so.

If this works out, then fancy trying my way through other things as well - eg water kefir, kombucha, kefir d'uva - but am looking to purchase from another firm instead - ie a UK one with quick, efficient service and a good clear website.

Not sure whether people are allowed to tell me names of suitable firms on here or no under rules of forum - but would appreciate if people could do so (PM me if necessary).

Thanks all.

dannahaz · 7 August 2007 at 8:55AM

There is a Yahoo group for Kefir... let me see if I can find the link...

Here it is http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fermented-foods-UK/?yguid=277703364

They cover all sorts of fermented stuff.

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1. Bicarb Of Soda 2. Kefir

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