extra kefir grains and kombucha scobies

[momto5girls]

What is the best way to store extra water kefir and milk kefir grains for backup? Is drying them best? Freezing?

Also, is it possible to save a kombucha scoby the same way? My babies are growing right into the mother and I've just been putting the whole lump in the next batch. Is there an easy way to separate them?

I'm sure this has been covered tons of times before, but I can't spend all afternoon searching today. :

TIA

[SageR]

I don't know about kefir grains but with kombucha you can cut the baby from the mama with kitchen shears or tear it with your fingers. It's the volume that counts, not the shape. I have stored a scoby with just enough kombucha to cover in a jar in the fridge for a couple weeks for my mother and she was able to get a batch going with it.

[quietserena]

Here's info on Dom's site on storing:

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#Storing_kefir-grains

And resting:

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/...ng-kefir-gains

[momto5girls]

Thanks so much!