Recipe:Kefir making manual - short workshop form
Kefir Manual - short workshop form
Based on this manual you will learn how to take care about your kefir grains and how to prepare delicious kefir milk ferment with them.
- culture/brew volume Vc = 1 l
active culture
- kefir grains (1-5% (w/v) = 10-50 g (around 2-5 small-medium grains) per litre)
ingredients
- milk (95% (v/v)) = 950 ml (unpasteurized whole milk best, pasteurized is OK too))
equipment
- 1.5 l culture container (glass, wide mouth, seal-able) for growing the culture
- 2-3 l pot for collecting the straining kefir
- strainer (should be able to hold 1-2 l of liquid) for straining the harvesting kefir
- cheesecloth or muslin for fine separation of the kefir cheese/yogurt from liquid whey
- 1x half litre sealable glass container for storing the kefir cheese/yogurt (wide mouth)
- 1x litre sealable glass container for storing the kefir whey (narrow mouth)
- funnel for transferring the whey
- 2 l bowl for easy separation of the grains
working manual
Starting new batch of kefir
- make clean and ready the 1.5 l culture container/jar
- take out the kefir grains from the previous culture and wash them gently with a lukewarm milk water (you can skip the washing step)
- transfer the grains into the fermentation jar and add 900 ml of lukewarm milk
- close the container by lid but do not seal completely and let to ferment at 20-30°C for 1-2 days (out of direct sun)
- open every day for minute or two so the air, oxygen can get in (so yeast can multiply well)
- check each 12 hours for separation of liquid phase (kefir whey) and coagulate, “kefir yogurt” and taste
- when the flavour is to you liking (12-36 hours generally) take out the kefir grains and repeat the process of washing them (or not), transferring to the new jar etc.
Harvesting old batch of kefir
- harvest residual 900 ml of cultured milk separated into kefir coagulate and liquid kefir whey
/ - if you like your ferment more liquid you can eat it directly, keep at cold to slow down the fermentation
/ - if you prefer more thick texture you can strain the kefir coagulate from kefir whey as follows
- prepare the 2-3 l pot and fix the strainer on the top laying out the cheesecloth on the top of the strainer, making sure that the cloth is well over the edge of the strainer
- transfer 900 ml of the culture on the cheesecloth and let to strain (cover the top by cheesecloth if you can to protect against fruit flies)
- mix the kefir in the cloth once in an hour or so to speed up the process
- stop straining once the texture of the “kefir coagulate/yogurt” (1-6 h) or more thick “kefir cheese” (12-24 h) is to your liking
- transfer the thicker product to the half litre container, close and keep at cold
- transfer the collected whey from the pot to the 1 l container and keep at cold before consumed or used for other purposes (preparation of lactic based sodas as honey cooler for example)
- both whey and kefir may be used for variety of fermentation, storage life at cold is easily a month or longer
- Tips: cut fruits as strawberries, raspberries, apples or bananas on smaller pieces, mix them with the kefir yogurt and add a bit of sweetener (honey, maple syrup, sugar etc.), mix it all together and enjoy (preferably with a bit of granula)! Even better, blend the kefir and fruits in the blender, transfer it into the smaller sealable jars, seal them well with a lid, let them to secondary ferment for few hours at room temperature, transfer to the cold later on and let them sit for day or two. The result are a wonderful sparkling flavoured fruit kefir cocktails, result of carbon dioxide production and capture! For improving the texture and flavour in general you can add some extra high percentage fat cream, you will receive ferment similar to a “greek style of yogurt”.