Yet another new-to-kefir troubleshooting question

[mamaheart]

OK, have my lovely kefir grains, and rinsed upon arrival, put in sterilized glass quart jar in 2 cups raw milk. 24 hours later . . . perfect kefir milk. Strained the grains out - but - I forgot that I was supposed to rinse the grains, and so I popped them into the new milk and into the cupboard. 24 hours later . . . yoghurt with kefir grains in it!

I sat down with good lighting and found most of the grains. I think. Rinsed them this time, put them in the jar with new milk, and 24 hours later . . . yoghurt again!

Ack, what am I doing wrong? I mean, I turn the bottle over and there's no liquid, just *plop* into the strainer! Then it takes about a half hour to go through it and find the grains! I don't want to lose them!

Kim

[greenjenny]

I hardly ever rinse my grains, just strain them out. I do blen my kefir so it is smooth- the chunks gross me out. <Maybe you are getting yogurt becaus your milk to grains ratio is too low? I usually get really thick milk after 24 hours.

[tboroson]

The yogurt-y curds are normal. I get fewer curds with goat's milk than with cow's milk. The curds smooth out and it all become thinner if you do a secondary fermentation - search back a few pages, there is a thread here on that subject.

I rarely rinse my grains. I also don't sterilize anything. I go for cleanliness, not sterility. I only rinse my grains when the quality of my kefir changes, and I fear that some hitchhiker has joined my grains.

[mamaheart]

Originally Posted by tboroson

The yogurt-y curds are normal. I get fewer curds with goat's milk than with cow's milk. The curds smooth out and it all become thinner if you do a secondary fermentation - search back a few pages, there is a thread here on that subject.

I rarely rinse my grains. I also don't sterilize anything. I go for cleanliness, not sterility. I only rinse my grains when the quality of my kefir changes, and I fear that some hitchhiker has joined my grains.

Well, it's not yogurt-y curds really . . . it's one big thing of solid. Like if you bought some storebought yogurt of a "stiffer" brand. No curds at all, just one big jar-shaped "thunk" into the strainer.

[tboroson]

yup,that's pretty much how mine turns out. I stir it before dumping it into the strainer to break up the curds so it doesn't come out in one big thunk.

[tboroson]

oops, double post

[chloeM]

I never rinse my kefir grain and they multiply quicker.