Do I have the real thing (milk kefir)?

[Prairiemother]

I wondered whether any kefir experts might know the answer to this question. I purchased some freeze-dried kefir starter from my local health food store, and have been using it for about 2 years. It came as little granules in a sac with a drawstring. Well, the string got mouldy and so I dumped the little granules into the brew, whereupon they promptly disappeared, never to be seen again. So what I get now appears to be kefir; it certainly smells like it and makes the little trails on the side of the glass when we drink it. And it is prolific. But it never makes any 'grains'. I admit I haven't been straining out anything - I just refresh it by adding 3 parts milk to 1 part kefir and then leaving it out 12 to 24 hours. Should I be seeing grains at this point, if this is really kefir? Or am I just drinking them all?: Thank you for any input.

[JElaineB]

Powdered kefir starter is not "the real thing". It simulates the product made with kefir grains, but it doesn't have all the components of "real" kefir and it doesn not make grains. You can see this website for more information:
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/...ercialstarters

[xenabyte]

It's 'Kefir', but not as wide spectrum as having the 'living grains' that resemble tiny cauliflower looking, rubbery masses that grow and continue to make kefir and more of the 'granular' babies.

Actually, I'm surprised that you can still get your milk to 'kefir' by using some of the old batch, and adding in new milk. Usually powdered starters 'peter out' after about 5 uses like that, and then the strain degrades to a point where you get 'stray' yeasts/bacterias making something that is usually not as tasty!

Most starter cultures that are powdered will suggest using a new 'starter packet' after so many batches (low as 5 times), with some being able to repeat culture up to 25-30 times, but for 'true' kefiring you want to add in a refresher, unless you have the 'live' grains. This holds true for culturing yogurt, as using the same yogurt over and over to keep culturing your batch will eventually give you a bad result (ergo, stringy, slimy yogurt) as the cultures you want in the yogurt weakens and can't out compete stray strains.

What brand were you using? This is interesting!

[Prairiemother]

source of mystery kefir

I got my kefir from a health food store but the producer is at this web site:

http://www.alphahealth.ca/kefir.htm

- sorry if the link doesn't open - I don't know how to do that.

The web site differentiates it from a powdered culture, and indicates that once it is brought to life it will be a living kefir culture - but, again, there's the issue with no grains! I've tried the powdered stuff before and it's not the same. Using the whey from this kefir I can make fizzy juice drinks - rather tasty!

[Prairiemother]

bumping this in case anyone has thoughts - assuming this is the real stuff, could I get grains from it? My sister, whose family drinks it every morning, has been trying for a while by straining out the lumps, but to no avail.

If we can't get grains, I may look for someone willing to ship to Canada.

Thanks!

[xenabyte]

Well, it's not 'living grains', but a 'super starter'. It has a long life, but if you read the fine details, I think they suggest using a new batch every 6 months.

It's still probably better than just the powdered mix, where you can go only about 5 batches, before opening a new starter packet.

There are moms in canada with living kefir grains, try checking out the stickie at top of forum...

My dairy grains are finally reproducing enough to ship again, but I'm not doing so until after January and baby time....it's getting close! I just don't have the 'time' to manage my kefir grain request list atm...still getting prepared for baby.

Good luck on the grain search!

[Prairiemother]

Thank you, Xenabyte!