How To Make Milk Kefir

Transfer the kefir Grains into some full cream milk. You will need approximately one teaspoon of kefir grains for one cup of milk.

Cover with a coffee filter or cloth secured by a rubber band.

Place in a warm spot approximately 20°-30°C to culture.

Culture until milk is slightly thickened and aroma is pleasant - generally 24 hours. The longer it kefirs the more tart the taste will be and the less lactose will be left. Don’t worry if your kefir separates into curds and whey. Simply stir it and it should return to a lovely creamy consistency.

After culturing is complete, separate the kefir grains from the finished kefir. The best way to do this is to strain the kefir through a plastic sieve (not metal) or remove the grains with a plastic spoon or fork. It is not recommended that you rinse the grains.

Place the kefir grains into a new batch of milk.

Store the finished kefir in a refrigerator.

You can second ferment your finished milk kefir by adding some fruit to flavour it and leaving it to ferment for approximately 12 hours. Orange rind adds a lovely flavour to milk kefir. Your grains should multiply in time. If you find that your milk is turning into kefir too quickly you should either use less grains or increase the amount of milk.

To make kefir cheese – strain milk kefir through a coffee filter or cheese cloth. The liquid that collects is whey and can be used for numerous purposes so don’t discard it.

Notes:

You can put the grains into coconut milk/cream if you wish (Ayam brand is good), however you should put them back into dairy milk at least once or twice a week to keep them happy. If you want to use alternative milks such as almond, coconut etc it is recommended that you add some form of sugar to replace the lactose i.e. date paste.

Avoid aluminium utensils when making milk kefir. Stainless steel is acceptable.

Fermented foods often have a sour but clean aroma and flavour. Never consume anything that smells or tastes unpleasant.