Now I'm a milk kefir fermentor!!! ***and some questions!!!

[Jojo F.]

So first it was water grains- very picky BTW, then it was kombucha- still going strong, and now I have my milk grains!!

I feel so cultured

My poor IL's- we live with them- they have to deal with jar after jar of weird things sitting on the counter and in the fridge. It looks like a science lab in my kitchen sometimes with all the stuff I brew, ferment, and cook!!! I it!!

[velcromom]

Heh. I know what you mean.

The funny thing is, it satisfies my desire to get another pet. I feel completely fulfilled being a steward for these weird ugly critters in jars instead.

[quietserena]

Once my MIL was helping me with something in the kitchen and she saw my kefir jar..

She thinks I'm really really weird heh. :

Congrats on joining the dairy kefir ranks!

[dogmom327]

I totally understand. Careful...it's an addicting habit! Poor DH is scared to have people over because I have cultures everywhere! The kombucha growing in the back window is particularly disturbing to him for some reason. I'm currently keeping 10 different things going (in addition to fermented veggies) and we're about to start selling sourdough cultures which will be another 8 products which will have to be fed and cared for weekly.

[Jojo F.]

Ack!!! Now I have questions!!!!

My friend said that after they shipped and got to her they smelled like a poopy diaper:Puke She said that she put them in milk and drained a few times and now they seem OK.

With the grains she gave me some already made kefir and I made a smoothie with it and it turned out pretty good A bit tart/tangy even with the honey but that's the way it's supposed to be, right?

I drianed my new grains, as they were in milk, but they seemed to be really cheesy(for lack of a better description) lots of small chunky milk with them. Is this OK/normal?

I kind of rinsed them with fresh milk so I could see the actual grains and then put them in fresh raw milk, covered lightly, and let them sit over night on the counter. (2 Tbs grains in 2 C milk per Dom's site) When I drained them the milk seemed chunky, not a smooth consistency. I went ahead and made a smoothie with it and tried it, it was not pleasant to me at all Chunky kefir with blue berries and a bit of honey, nope my pregnant self couldn't hack it.

Did I do something wrong? Is this normal?

** the raw milk was cold from the fridge and for some reason this batch of milk has an off taste to it, could this have something to do with my outcome?

Sorry for the silly questions, I know my water grains and kombucha but the milk kefir is new to me.

[Jojo F.]

OK, it HAS to be my milk. I just made another smoothie with lots of honey and strawberries, it was awful I'm so dissapointed!!!