Why Should you Ferment your Own Homemade Kefir?
Store-bought kefir is often not fully fermented. The supermarket kefir is also pasteurized, which all store-bought dairy products undergo, and this kills not only harmful but also the beneficial bacteria.
Homemade kefir preserves all the beneficial properties, and you can independently control the process of obtaining it. All you need for this is kefir grains. This drink, made from live kefir grains, contains 50 different types of beneficial bacteria and yeast.
The process is extremely simple and natural:
1. Take glassware. It is very important not to let kefir grains come into contact with metal – it kills them. Plastic is also not recommended for use as the kefir bacteria are capable of digesting plastic.
2. Place grains in a jar, fill with milk, cover with a paper towel or gauze.
3. We skip for a day or two.
4. After this, we strain our homemade kefir. Without washing the grains (chlorinated water also destroys kefir grains, so be careful if you decide to wash them), put them in a clean bowl and fill them with milk. And again we enjoy our kefir.
The beauty of homemade kefir is that the grains can last forever.
All kefir grains need is regular feeding: put them in milk, leave them at room temperature for one day, and they will feed you kefir in return.
Feed them every day. Once the kefir has become thick, it is ready: it usually takes a day to ferment: during this time it acquires the best taste. Afterwards, the grain can be removed and used to prepare a new batch. If fermentation continues for too long, the drink may become too sour and harsh, and may separate into whey and curds. If kefir is left at room temperature for more than a week and the grains are not fed, it can ferment and the grains die.
If you want to take a break from making kefir, the grains can be placed in the refrigerator, where they will be stored without requiring care for several months. Simply place them in a jar of fresh milk, close the lid tightly, and place them in the refrigerator. In this way, the culture can be preserved for up to three months.
When you decide to make kefir again, remove the grains from the jar, place them in milk and leave at room temperature.
The grains will be dormant, the fermentation of the first batch of kefir will be slow, and it may not turn out the way it should.
Kefir grains can be dried: in this state they can be stored for months, or even years.
When you decide to make kefir, place the dried grains in milk. And again, the first batch of kefir may not turn out exactly as it should, but all the subsequent ones will be simply great.
Do not use 2% or skimmed milk to make kefir. Fat content of the milk should be at least 5%. Firstly, fermentation will be very slow, and secondly, all products with chemically reduced fat are harmful to our body. So, prepare it from full-fledged milk, or even better from fresh, unpasteurized milk.