how we do kefir

it's time to make kefir!!

to start off... get your kefir grains.  here's a cute one from our bunch. 

first of all...put your grains in fresh milk.  if you have a tablespoon or so of grains, put them in about a cup of milk.  the kefir grains will eventually multiply and you'll have to add more milk.  we have a couple cups of kefir grains, and we use about 4 cups of milk everyday.  above is our kefir ready to culture!  your kefir needs to be able to breathe, so we put a little bit of cheesecloth on the top, and secure it with a jar ring.

kefir needs to culture for anywhere between 12-24 hours.  it needs to be out of direct sun, and kept at room temperature.  in the summer when it's really hot, we end up taking ours downstairs where it's cooler.

here's ours all ready to drain.  we usually drain it every 24 hours, but others like to drain it earlier.

a lot of people talk about not using metal or plastic when draining, but we've found that using both works fine and doesn't affect the keifr.  here's what we use to drain our kefir.

once poured into the strainer, we stir it and sometimes bang it until all that's left is the grains.

here's the keifr that was drained off.

and here are the grains.  be sure to not rinse your grains, because that destroys the good bacteria.

now you're ready to have fun with your kefir!!  we make kefir smoothies every morning, and i just started making kefir cheese and made some delicious dressing with it!!  there are so many things you can do with kefir!!  


WHAT EXACTLY IS KEFIR?  kefir grains are "a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids and sugars.  Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organisms."  kinda confusing, but i know that there's a lot of good stuff in kefir, and i love it!

making "kefir cheese"

i'm kinda going backwards with this... starting with dressing, going to making keifr cheese, and later i'll be posting a tutorial on how we do our keifr. so, stay tuned for that!!

to start off, drain your kefir

here's the drained kefir, about 4 cups

here's my favorite method of draining the kefir to make cheese.

 just use a dishcloth, and stick it inside a 2 quart mason jar.  

pour the kefir into the cloth,

and then rubberband the bundle to the side...

see the whey already draining out? 

stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours,

undo the rubberband every couple of hours stirring
the kefir to speed up the draining process.  

i drained mine for about 4-5 hours.
just keep checking it until it looks like softened cream cheese

and there you have it!!  kefir cheese!!
thanks to a great friend for the wonderful tips!

my first batch was drained on the counter and ended up REALLY sour.  

but this way it turns out much better!!  enjoy! :) 

"ranch" dressing

i used to love putting dressing on everything.  veggies, salad, pizza... you name it.  "ranch" is chock full of a bunch of nasty stuff... but today i succeeded in making some dressing that tastes exactly the same!!!

i started with some kefir, wrapped it up in a cloth, hung it up and drained the whey out, and ended up with kefir "cheese".  (i'll talk more about this later!)

i had a cup and a half of kefir cheese, which i put in my vita-mix,
added about a cup of  raw milk, 2 teaspoons of spike, 

a teaspoon of salt and blended it all up.

and voila!!  even my incredibly picky sister said that it tasted "just like ranch" and said she wanted to go pick some lettuce for a salad!!  enjoy!!