Kefir is much easier to make than yogurt because you ferment the milk at room temperature, once you have the starter culture. I’ve made it about ten times. The most recent batch was the easiest and best because I learned two things from the woman who gave me the starter:
1. Ferment it until there is a line of separation. There eventually form a line of clear liquid between the curds (top) and the rest (bottom). This took about two days. In the past I didn’t know how long to wait.
2. After fermentation, separate the curds from the rest by putting it through a colander. This provides good separation. You drink the liquid, use the solids to make more kefir. In the past I tried to spoon out the kefir grains.
If I had to choose between kefir and yogurt I’d choose kefir. Not only is it easier to make but it is far more complex. Unlike yogurt, it’s a drink. I drink more often than I eat so there are more opportunities to consume it.
I suspect you can make kefir by putting store-bought kefir into ordinary milk. I haven’t tried this, however.
In my experience, kefir is a more powerful probiotic. Everyone is different, of course, but I’ve seen more healing of long-standing gut issues happen from consumption of kefir. And as you say, it is easy to make.
“you ferment the milk at room temperature, once you have the starter culture.”
Do you mean you don’t have to heat up the milk before adding the starter?
Mark’s Daily Apple talked about kefir a couple weeks ago.
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/homemade-coconut-milk-kefir/
right, you don’t heat the milk before you add the culture.
Yes, mixing store-bought kefir with milk works. I mix 1/2 cup kefir with a gallon of whole milk, heat to about 100 degrees, and then pour in jars and let sit on the counter for 24-48 hours.
that’s very good to know.
This works well with pasteurized milk?
yes, it works with pasteurized milk.
It works with pasteurized milk directly from the fridge. No need to heat or warm. I used store bought kefir for a few batches and then got some grains and have been using it for 14 months. But I read on the net that store kefir is prepared with starter culture which does not contain as many types of probiotics as grain fermented kefir. I asked one manufacturer about it but did not get a response. I prefer grains because of that.
Kefir helped with my hay fever. Did not clear it completely but alleviated the symptoms. I am a believer.
Fantastic. Thanks.
The best way is to use raw whole milk, kefir grains, and allow to ferment for two days or so at room temp. Heating can kill some of the valuable microorganisms, and you don’t want to do that. Also, the higher the ambient temp (to a point), the faster the fermentation process happens.
Store-bought kefir has been pasteurized, so many of the microorganisms that make up the kefir colony have been killed. The resulting kefir is then less nutritionally valuable. Making kefir from the store-bought stuff is not the best technique for this reason.
Kefir has cured my excema completely. I know because if I stop drinking it it comes back within about 1-2 weeks. It’s also helped my hay fever too. So I’m really happy to hear how easy it is to make.
Hi Seth, where do you buy your kefir at in Beijing? Thanks!
I have not seen kefir for sale in Beijing.
hi, I’ve been trying the trader joes strawberry flavored kefir, but would like to make my own
. so to get started I am looking for the starter culture/grain..could you please let me know where can buy/get the culture?. Thanks. much appreciated.
Lots of very good info about kefir here:
https://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html
Have you heard of water kefir ? It’s something I intend to try soon!
I am interested in beginning making yogurt and kefir. Where do I obtain kefir grains? Can store bought yogurt/kefir work?
Seth: You can use store-bought yogurt to make yogurt, yes. It is hard to get kefir grains. You can probably use store-bought kefir to make kefir, but I haven’t tried it.