Kefir making as alternative to yoghurt making.

queen_of_string

Thanks for reviving this thread Becca, I had not heard of this before, looks like fun. I remember having a ginger beer plant as a child and this looks related/similar.

mumoftwo

Looks interesting, my insides could be doing with a boost, will have a read now..

Beccatje

mumoftwo wrote: »

Looks interesting, my insides could be doing with a boost, will have a read now..

It IS interesting. And loads of things you can do with it. I'd like to end up with a cream cheese like consistancy. If I have the patience to leave it long enough that is.

I like the taste as well but Then again I also like yoghurt, quark and buttermilk.

Not noticed a big health effect yet other than an easy toilet visit.

:rotfl:

Angelina-M

Beccatje wrote: »

I'm bringing this tread back up again.
I have just been given kefir last week and I love it!!

I added a whole litre of milk and left it to sit for 24 hours. then drained it through a cloth and left that hanging for another few hours and it came out as a lovely quark.

I totally love the stuff, and think more people should know of it.

So how did the OP get on then? Still going?

I'm the OP and yup its still going!

(I changed my name after losing my daughter to cancer. It was her name and too painful to keep using it)

I go through phases of using it a lot and then not at all for a while. I keep a bit in the freezer for when I want to start up again.

Recently I've been using it only in cooking... it makes the best bread! I use it any place I would normally use yoghurt. I use it in most bread based baking as it makes things so 'light'

However I've now got a stinking cold so for the last two days I've been drinking it again in the hope it may give me a boost.

Sorry if I've repeated myself. I haven't re-read the whole thread, just the last few posts.

Beccatje

Great to hear from you Angelina-M.
I'm so sorry to hear of your daughter. How awful. I wish you lots of strength and light to bear this loss.

About the kefir: great to see you still use it. I prefer the strained through a cloth way I think. It makes great quark. Last time I left it hanging over night and ended up with a lovely cream cheese that I spread on HM bread. Add a sprinkle of herb salt and it's the tops!

Do you know if it would stay okay for a couple of days in the post? My sister lives in Scotland and I'm in the Netherlands. I'd love to send her some but not sure if it would survive the 5 days in the post. What do you think?

Angelina-M

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

I have to say I cant stand 'straight' kefir. I have to add something sweet to it like milk shake. In cooking, well thats a different matter, I love it. In fact I have some dough proofing at the moment. I mill my own wheat and add kefir to it and it does a great job of boosting the yeast content of bread.

As for sending it on a five day journey, it will be just fine. Put it in a little milk for travelling. When it arrives it will be stinky but thats ok, put it in some fresh milk, not much, just enough to cover it and leave it for a day (keep shaking it) over the next few days it will recover and soon start thickening the milk. You will know then that its working again.

Its amazing how quickly it adapts to new surroundings and new milk supplies.

Try coating your roast spuds in kefir.... totally delish!

Beccatje

Okay, great! I will definately give it a try to send some to my sister.

I'm also going to try it in bread I think. Sounds good. Do you use the same amount of yeast then when you add Kefir or not?

Becca

mumoftwo

Angelina-M wrote: »

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

As for sending it on a five day journey, it will be just fine. Put it in a little milk for travelling. When it arrives it will be stinky but thats ok, put it in some fresh milk, not much, just enough to cover it and leave it for a day (keep shaking it) over the next few days it will recover and soon start thickening the milk. You will know then that its working again.

Its amazing how quickly it adapts to new surroundings and new milk supplies.

Try coating your roast spuds in kefir.... totally delish!

Yep, you were right, it travelled fine, my sister's (Beccatje) Kefir arrived here safe and alive, just stuck it in a little milk and it is doing well now.

Can't wait to try it all out now, will probably get sick of it quickly. It is very fine stuff though, I don't have kefir granules as such, just little specks, can't fish them out or anything.

Beccatje

mumoftwo wrote: »

Yep, you were right, it travelled fine, my sister's (Beccatje) Kefir arrived here safe and alive, just stuck it in a little milk and it is doing well now.

Can't wait to try it all out now, will probably get sick of it quickly. It is very fine stuff though, I don't have kefir granules as such, just little specks, can't fish them out or anything.

Me neither, but that's no problem for me. I just take a few spoonfulls of the mixture and stick it in fresh milk to start again. Works fine.

Serena51

Sounds interesting - where can I get the starter grains?