I was under the impression that the 'veil like' things are used up yeast stringers....safe, harmless, but not the actual culture itself, though there can be active cultures in them still.
I have a microscope, but not sure what to look for..haha..
My kombucha is 'cloth covered', and my kefirs are sealed with solid lids. When I use a 'cloth' for the top of my dairy kefir, occasionally, it's usually sitting in the oven with light on, for a few hours to help 'ripen' and this helps it grow a bit faster too. But then it's got a solid lid on again, next to the area where my other cultures are sitting.
I know if you get actual 'pima' cultures, they can cross contaminate with kefir dairy cultures, so if you are a purist, then you would want to keep them FAR apart! Otherwise you'll end up witha nice hybrid...
I have a microscope, but not sure what to look for..haha..
My kombucha is 'cloth covered', and my kefirs are sealed with solid lids. When I use a 'cloth' for the top of my dairy kefir, occasionally, it's usually sitting in the oven with light on, for a few hours to help 'ripen' and this helps it grow a bit faster too. But then it's got a solid lid on again, next to the area where my other cultures are sitting.
I know if you get actual 'pima' cultures, they can cross contaminate with kefir dairy cultures, so if you are a purist, then you would want to keep them FAR apart! Otherwise you'll end up witha nice hybrid...
