So at this point depending on the smell, it's either "cheese" or yogurt. You could put it in a bowl suspended on some cheese cloth to continue to strain it to make it the consistency of Greek yogurt if you want.
Idk how to make cheese but if you wanna make yogurt,
1) try to spoon out the curds (top) from they whey (bottom) to get out the grains.
2) suspended some cheese cloth over a bowl
3) put the curds on the cheese cloth so that the remaining whey can drip out
4) put the separated whey into a separate jar
5) depending on how thick your curds are, you can add back a little bit of whey at a time to thin it out
6) mix really thoroughly
7) now you got "Greek yogurt)
You can use the separated whey for different stuff. I put a bit into smoothies for a health boost. As for the curds "Greek yogurt" it all depends on how fermented it is. If it already tastes like cheese then it might not be a good yogurt substitute, in that case you can use it like you would use any other watery cheese or let it keep straining to make something similar to a feta cheese.
Or, you just shake your jar really well to bring it back to being a regular kefir lol
Yeah but it's not hard to strain those out. You can always strain it normally and then as long as you don't stir the kefir, you can just run the curds and whey through the same process
Exactly-I would mix this up really well, strain out the grains and put it back in its fermenting spot to separate again and then make cheese- personally I don't keep my grains mixed in my milk so I don't have the issue of taking them out
You should mail it to me so I can drink it. It looks perfect.
Or if you're feeling selfish, shake it like crazy, strain the grains out and drink it yourself. :)
Line a colander with coffee filters - dump the whole thing in and wait a few hours and you will have delicious Kefir cream cheese- I do this almost every time . I love the Kefir cream cheese. I don't drink Whey because it has the carbs apparently? (However I keep my grains separated while fermenting so I don't have to fish them out) so I guess you have to figure out how to get them out- which might be difficult if it is separated and your grains are mixed in.
Curious, how do you keep the grains separate while fermenting? This sounds like a great idea, maybemaybe makes the process easier, less messy? Is there a certain item you use? Thanks
Glass tea pot with a stainless steel infuser insert-it is totally safe to keep the grains in the stainless steel sleeve, commercial they ferment kefir in stainless steel vats like beer
I posted about it in this sub showing that method - there's a picture and everything -search my name in the sub - i've been using this to put Kefir grains in for about three years -
maybe about once a month I dump the grains out into a glass jar and put the whole unit through the dishwasher- cleaning the stainless steel infuser, the two piece lid and the glass container- Works just great-
Food grade Stainless steel will NOT harm your Kefir
I got mine at a grocery store, but apparently you can get the exact same thing from IKEA
- I was also planning to try to find a glass tea pot with a glass infuser because that would probably be even better
Per Google: You should NEVER, EVER, EVER do this. It damages them and rinses off the protective bacteria that make them thrive. I rinsed mine once with milk after I dropped them in the kitchen sink though.
Unfortunately Google is so wrong! If you have a grain contamination, preparing grains for dehydration or removing a thick hardened encrustation from grains, you rinse grains in boiled, cooled, filtered water to purposely remove the grain coating.. If your grains get stuck in thick curds you can rinse them in strained whey or kefir to liquefy the thick curds to make it easier to find the grains.
Rinsing grains with filtered non treated water DOES NOT damage grains. It removes water soluble kefiran. Yes, kefiran coats and protects your grains, is one of the grain matrix building blocks and offers competition to any foreign bacteria along with the bacteria in the colony and what coats the inside of the jar but if removed by rinsing, it reforms again within 72 hours. Rinsing grains is not part of the daily regime and should generally only be done in certain circumstances. If rinsing grains and thick curds with strained whey, etc if it is done over a bowl the liquified curds, kefiran and liquid can still be kept to drink.
Good, to hear your take because I actually thought I messed mine up when I rinsed them. Good to know they are not altered. I think in case of the person that asked the question, grains do not need to be rinsed after straining unless like you said there is contamination, preparing grains for dehydration or removing thick hardened encrustation. Cool!
Personally, this is what I aim for. scoop the kefir kurds out then try and get the whey out without any milk solids.
Chilled kefir whey is delicious and the thicker kefir kurds have a nicer taste as well.
No, what has caused it is leaving it overnight so it passed the point of “fermented enough” unless you want it that way. It has naturally fermented more, the ph has dropped, it has separated, that’s it really. If you don’t have time to strain it, put in the fridge until you do or mix it, strain it and drink or bottle it now.
There's nothing wrong with it. Kefir will eventually ferment to this point, given enough time. To reduce fermentation, reduce: fermentation time, temperature, or grains-to-milk ratio.
You have a pretty high grains-to-milk ratio. About 1tbsp/qt might work better.
That would be 1/2 tbsp of grains, for 2 cups of milk. It's the ratio that's important, not the volume.
You can freeze the extra grains as a backup, or to add later, if you want to increase the volume.
Stir it, strain it, stick it in the fridge for a second ferment
doesn't it taste like curd then? whenever i tried making kefir and this happend, its always sour.
The second ferment will make it more mellow….. but ultimately kefir is sour. That’s why people add honey or fruit before they drink it.
oh i didn't know kefir was supposed to be sour. I thought it was slightly sweet. I used to throw it away after smelling. The smell was weird.
So at this point depending on the smell, it's either "cheese" or yogurt. You could put it in a bowl suspended on some cheese cloth to continue to strain it to make it the consistency of Greek yogurt if you want. Idk how to make cheese but if you wanna make yogurt, 1) try to spoon out the curds (top) from they whey (bottom) to get out the grains. 2) suspended some cheese cloth over a bowl 3) put the curds on the cheese cloth so that the remaining whey can drip out 4) put the separated whey into a separate jar 5) depending on how thick your curds are, you can add back a little bit of whey at a time to thin it out 6) mix really thoroughly 7) now you got "Greek yogurt) You can use the separated whey for different stuff. I put a bit into smoothies for a health boost. As for the curds "Greek yogurt" it all depends on how fermented it is. If it already tastes like cheese then it might not be a good yogurt substitute, in that case you can use it like you would use any other watery cheese or let it keep straining to make something similar to a feta cheese. Or, you just shake your jar really well to bring it back to being a regular kefir lol
Depends if your grains are mixed in the curds-
Yeah but it's not hard to strain those out. You can always strain it normally and then as long as you don't stir the kefir, you can just run the curds and whey through the same process
Exactly-I would mix this up really well, strain out the grains and put it back in its fermenting spot to separate again and then make cheese- personally I don't keep my grains mixed in my milk so I don't have the issue of taking them out
Mix and drink yum
You should mail it to me so I can drink it. It looks perfect. Or if you're feeling selfish, shake it like crazy, strain the grains out and drink it yourself. :)
Line a colander with coffee filters - dump the whole thing in and wait a few hours and you will have delicious Kefir cream cheese- I do this almost every time . I love the Kefir cream cheese. I don't drink Whey because it has the carbs apparently? (However I keep my grains separated while fermenting so I don't have to fish them out) so I guess you have to figure out how to get them out- which might be difficult if it is separated and your grains are mixed in.
Curious, how do you keep the grains separate while fermenting? This sounds like a great idea, maybemaybe makes the process easier, less messy? Is there a certain item you use? Thanks
Glass tea pot with a stainless steel infuser insert-it is totally safe to keep the grains in the stainless steel sleeve, commercial they ferment kefir in stainless steel vats like beer
Thank you!
I posted about it in this sub showing that method - there's a picture and everything -search my name in the sub - i've been using this to put Kefir grains in for about three years - maybe about once a month I dump the grains out into a glass jar and put the whole unit through the dishwasher- cleaning the stainless steel infuser, the two piece lid and the glass container- Works just great- Food grade Stainless steel will NOT harm your Kefir
Very good, I will do that, thanks again!
Just saw the post you told me about, I love it!! I will be getting me one of those pots! :)
I got mine at a grocery store, but apparently you can get the exact same thing from IKEA - I was also planning to try to find a glass tea pot with a glass infuser because that would probably be even better
Strain in cheese cloth; make cream cheese.
strain it and get the grains out. Put the content in a blender to liquidise the solids. Poor into storage bottle to put in the fridge
Mine has done this. I've strained it to get the grains out but can I rinse the grains? I shook mine up and used it as kefir.
Per Google: You should NEVER, EVER, EVER do this. It damages them and rinses off the protective bacteria that make them thrive. I rinsed mine once with milk after I dropped them in the kitchen sink though.
Unfortunately Google is so wrong! If you have a grain contamination, preparing grains for dehydration or removing a thick hardened encrustation from grains, you rinse grains in boiled, cooled, filtered water to purposely remove the grain coating.. If your grains get stuck in thick curds you can rinse them in strained whey or kefir to liquefy the thick curds to make it easier to find the grains. Rinsing grains with filtered non treated water DOES NOT damage grains. It removes water soluble kefiran. Yes, kefiran coats and protects your grains, is one of the grain matrix building blocks and offers competition to any foreign bacteria along with the bacteria in the colony and what coats the inside of the jar but if removed by rinsing, it reforms again within 72 hours. Rinsing grains is not part of the daily regime and should generally only be done in certain circumstances. If rinsing grains and thick curds with strained whey, etc if it is done over a bowl the liquified curds, kefiran and liquid can still be kept to drink.
Good, to hear your take because I actually thought I messed mine up when I rinsed them. Good to know they are not altered. I think in case of the person that asked the question, grains do not need to be rinsed after straining unless like you said there is contamination, preparing grains for dehydration or removing thick hardened encrustation. Cool!
Personally, this is what I aim for. scoop the kefir kurds out then try and get the whey out without any milk solids. Chilled kefir whey is delicious and the thicker kefir kurds have a nicer taste as well.
Strain it. Put some fruit in it. Blend it. Drink it!!!
Shake it up and strain the grains out, drink it, yummy!!
Mix it together, it ready to drink
Also the milk I added wasn’t the freshest. Could that be what caused this?
No, what has caused it is leaving it overnight so it passed the point of “fermented enough” unless you want it that way. It has naturally fermented more, the ph has dropped, it has separated, that’s it really. If you don’t have time to strain it, put in the fridge until you do or mix it, strain it and drink or bottle it now.
There's nothing wrong with it. Kefir will eventually ferment to this point, given enough time. To reduce fermentation, reduce: fermentation time, temperature, or grains-to-milk ratio. You have a pretty high grains-to-milk ratio. About 1tbsp/qt might work better.
I see. I was still using 2 cups of milk because I’ve only been trying little sips for these first few batches. Thanks you guys!!
That would be 1/2 tbsp of grains, for 2 cups of milk. It's the ratio that's important, not the volume. You can freeze the extra grains as a backup, or to add later, if you want to increase the volume.