Making Soy Kefir

[paisleypoet]

For a few weeks now I have been making kefir in soy milk. I am using kefir grains from a friend that were grown in goats milk. I rinsed them in spring water and put them in soy milk. For two weeks it was wonderful, I had delicious kefir smoothies with the kids every day. Now things are getting weird. The grains aren't multiplying (which I suspected would happen with soy milk) and it seems the kefir is ready in much shorter time (about 12 hours and it looks ready). Last night I put some in the fridge and this morning I went to make a smoothie and the kefir was thick, like the consistency of yogurt. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? I still made a smoothie out of it and it tastes fine.

[paisleypoet]

Anyone?

The kefir looks like it should after about 12 hours. It is pretty thick, but I strain it and put it in the refrigerator. It quickly becomes the consistency of yogurt. It also smells pretty yeasty. Is there something wrong with it? Should I throw it out?

[pampered_mom]

Part of the problem is that you'll be hard pressed to find anyone here who makes kefir from soy milk - or consumes soy at all for that matter. Perhaps you might want to change your title so that it focuses more on your specific concerns with the kefir (thickness, yeasty-ness, etc). That might get you a response.

It's been a *long* time since I had any milk kefir grains. What you're describing sounds pretty normal to me, but I know there have been discussions around here in the past about the grains culturing more on the yeatsy side and what to do about it. As far as it taking a shorter amount of time to culture...since you started did the grains multiply at all? Are you then using those same grains in the same amount of liquid? The more grains the faster it's going to culture.

[paisleypoet]

Thank you.

I don't think they have multiplied at all since I started, but they are still making kefir. I am thinking about switching them over to cow's milk for a while to get them to grow again.

[dogmom327]

I've never tried making kefir with soy milk so I don't have precise info for you but generally when you use an alternative milk (like coconut milk), you want to refresh the grains every so often in regular milk (e.g. cow milk). They are also unlikely to grow in an alternative milk.

[mellifluousmama]

Dom's kefir site has a section on soy milk kefir.
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/...#Soymilk-kefir

I know he is really knowledgeable about kefir. Maybe reading his instructions will help. Or maybe you can ask him?

HTH

[Leilalu]

I would think the main problem is the make-up of soymilk. It's not something that is man made and not a traditional kefir food. I would think Dom would know about it, if anyone.