Dairy kefir nooblet

[GoddessKristie]

I'm fermenting dairy kefir for the first time ever this week and have some questions. My kefir grains were sent to me life and stayed in my fridge for about a month before I got them out. I put them in some cool grocery store milk and it was just a little bitty bit of grains in a cup of milk. I left it out for 24 hours and the milk separated. At this point I had trouble telling the curds from kefir and ended up with one clump of kefir, maybe a teaspoon size clump. I just sorted it out of it's 5th ferment in about 12 ounces of milk. This milk had also separated but my grain clump was right on top so I got it out easily. I stirred it up pretty well and some bubbles came up like it was a bit fizzy, I tasted it and it had a very acidic bite to it. The milk was going about 28 hours. It didn't combine smoothly, I have a watery milk with tiny curds in it. This is not the kefir I was hoping for. I was hoping for a nice smooth drink like what I buy in the store. Is this how everyone's homemade kefir turns out or am I just doing something wrong?

[tolovemercy]

No, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but here's a few thoughts:

1. It sounds like your grains are happy and hungry if the milk separated after 24 hours. This is good--to keep it from doing that, though, you might try just a little more milk (1.5 cups?) to give them a little more food.

2. Make sure you stir the grains around a bit in the jar a few times while it's fermenting.

3. I like to strain my kefir in the evening, stir it up, and let it sit in the fridge overnight so that it's cool and creamy in the morning. The kefir you make at home will probably taste stronger than the kefir you buy at the store, but this seems to yield the most creamy, thick, pudding-like kefir, IME. (And I make alot of kefir, fwiw! )

HTH!

[GoddessKristie]

I got it! I put the grains in a quart of milk yesterday and today when I checked it there was just a little bit of separation. I moved the grains over and stirred it well and it turned out just as I thought it should. I put whole milk on the grains this time and am anxious to see how the kefir comes out tomorrow! This was very good! I think I'm going to try a second ferment.
Now, to convince DS (22mos) that it's not "ew milk" lol

[quietserena]

"ew milk"

I think my DH would call it that if he knew the phrase...

[GoddessKristie]

that's what we say if there's a bite of food that falls on the floor. If it's dry food it's game, but bananas or something like that I say "ew! don't eat that." He calls all food "bites" so if something falls on the floor he'll pick it up and ask me "ew bites?" to find out if he can eat it or not. "ew milk" was all his creation
BTW he'll drink all the CLO on juice I will give him but he wont drink kefir??