Guest guest Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 I just made my first quart of kefir...only it isn't kefir. It's thicker than yogurt. How can I find my grains? What should I do now? Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? I left it a little longer than 24 hrs as I had to go out. ;-< ie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 What kind of milk did you use? You might have used more kefir grains than needed for the amount of milk. Cream has a tendency to thicken the kefir more. I facebooked a friend on making kefir cheese, only she decided to make sure it was thick enough that it wouldn't all go through the cheesecloth so she used cream instead of milk. Had to find her grains by Braille; but she really liked the cheese. From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of frances.anderson15 Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 7:17 PM Subject: what have I done? I just made my first quart of kefir...only it isn't kefir. It's thicker than yogurt. How can I find my grains? What should I do now? Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? I left it a little longer than 24 hrs as I had to go out. ;-< ie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 You could find your grains by washing in milk. Thin the whole thing out. Harry From: Holladay <sandrah@...> Subject: FW: what have I done? Date: Sunday, August 7, 2011, 12:40 PM Â What kind of milk did you use? You might have used more kefir grains than needed for the amount of milk. Cream has a tendency to thicken the kefir more. I facebooked a friend on making kefir cheese, only she decided to make sure it was thick enough that it wouldn't all go through the cheesecloth so she used cream instead of milk. Had to find her grains by Braille; but she really liked the cheese. From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of frances.anderson15 Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 7:17 PM Subject: what have I done? I just made my first quart of kefir...only it isn't kefir. It's thicker than yogurt. How can I find my grains? What should I do now? Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? I left it a little longer than 24 hrs as I had to go out. ;-< ie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I just made my third batch and had the same problem. My first batch I was very eager to try it but I let it sit the required 24 hours and it was still a bit runny. I figured it was due to the grains recovering from the shipping. Second batch the grains were plump and looked happy to me, I separated them into two groups and started two quart jars of kefir. The third batch (today's) separated completely and the kefir clung to the grains. I had to strain them and use a slotted spoon to find the grains. I am using raw goats milk and our goats produce a high fat milk. So I am assuming that is what causes the grains to be coated like that. I used the resulting kefir for laban and plan to add garlic and herbs when the whey is all out. (Added the whey to a crock of fermenting veggies!) I am thinking my kefir will not be so tangy in another batch or two. Marilyn sent me the grains and they got here Thursday......they are incredibly healthy! I am amazed at how well they are doing. Deb On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Holladay <sandrah@...>wrote: > ** > > > What kind of milk did you use? You might have used more kefir grains than > needed for the amount of milk. Cream has a tendency to thicken the kefir > more. I facebooked a friend on making kefir cheese, only she decided to > make sure it was thick enough that it wouldn't all go through the > cheesecloth so she used cream instead of milk. Had to find her grains by > Braille; but she really liked the cheese. > > > > From: > [mailto: ] On Behalf Of frances.anderson15 > Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 7:17 PM > > Subject: what have I done? > > > I just made my first quart of kefir...only it isn't kefir. It's thicker > than > yogurt. How can I find my grains? What should I do now? Does anyone have > any > idea what I did wrong? I left it a little longer than 24 hrs as I had to go > out. ;-< > ie > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Holladay <sandrah@...> wrote: > > What kind of milk did you use? You might have used more kefir grains than > needed for the amount of milk. Cream has a tendency to thicken the kefir > more. I facebooked a friend on making kefir cheese, only she decided to > make sure it was thick enough that it wouldn't all go through the > cheesecloth so she used cream instead of milk. Had to find her grains by > Braille; but she really liked the cheese. (Hi, I'm new here.) I use cream for my kefir and finding the grains is easy: take an empty jar, put one of those little wire strainers you can get in the coffee section of the store into the mouth of the jar (the strainer I have fits perfectly in the opening of a wide-mouth Ball jar), and start spooning your kefir into the strainer, then running your spoon around the strainer to encourage the kefir to go through the wire. It takes a little time -- something like 2-5 minutes, I'm guessing. I've never timed it. But in my experience the kefir, no matter how thick, will go through the strainer just fine so long as you keep stirring against the mesh with your spoon between spoonfuls. The grains tend to be in the very bottom of the jar. Happy " fishing " :-) Sparrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Thanks, . I used 3 cups of raw whole cow's milk. I just made my " best guess " as to what were my KG, and strained the rest thru a cheesecloth. It tastes ok. I made my second batch of kefir too thin. Oh well, I'm learning - third batch is working right now. ie ________________________________ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: * New Members 18 Visit Your Group Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Â <You could find your grains by washing in milk. Thin the whole thing out.> Thanks, Harry. I think I should do that after my current batch finishes. ie ________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Interesting; my grains are at the top, only been on the bottom a couple of times. Does the cream make your kefir sweet, or is it still tart? From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Sparrow R Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 11:12 AM Subject: Re: FW: what have I done? I use cream for my kefir and finding the grains is easy: take an empty jar, put one of those little wire strainers you can get in the coffee section of the store into the mouth of the jar (the strainer I have fits perfectly in the opening of a wide-mouth Ball jar), and start spooning your kefir into the strainer, then running your spoon around the strainer to encourage the kefir to go through the wire. It takes a little time -- something like 2-5 minutes, I'm guessing. I've never timed it. But in my experience the kefir, no matter how thick, will go through the strainer just fine so long as you keep stirring against the mesh with your spoon between spoonfuls. The grains tend to be in the very bottom of the jar. Happy " fishing " :-) Sparrow ,_._,___ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 2:23 PM, Holladay <sandrah@...> wrote: > > Interesting; my grains are at the top, only been on the bottom a couple of > times. Yeah, mine are always at the bottom, even when I stir things up every so often (no shaking or I end up with cultured butter. Which is not a bad thing, but not what I'm after.) I've read others say that go to the top but mine never do. > Does the cream make your kefir sweet, or is it still tart? Only the faintest hint of tart. I used to use whole milk and didn't care as much for the tartness, so I'm happy about that. I switched to cream because cream kefir is an " almost free " snack for me. I'm diabetic (and massively sensitive to carbs) and a whole quart of kefir has (I've been led to understand) something along the lines of 16 grams of carbs. So I'm only getting a couple of carbs with a kefir snack but the fat content in kefired cream is huge and the fat slows down my body processing the carbs. So the 2g carbs raises my blood sugar about 12 points but over the course of hours, not immediately, so I can get away with not bolusing insulin for the snack and not having my blood sugar rise up hugely. Most times, it rises so slowly that my basal insulin can mostly take care of it. Which is sweet. The only other food with carbs in it that acts that way for me is eggs. Sparrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Sparrow, It's great to hear the kefir cream works so well for you. I may have to give it a try. Also you comments on eggs made me go look that up. I would have initially said they had no carbs, but you are correct, 0.36gm per Lg egg. Learn something here everyday. Also, if anyone needs to look up food facts like that, the most comprehensive is the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory, National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ Not the cleanest interface, but you can eventually find just about anything you need. Leo On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 9:48 PM, Sparrow R <sparrowrose@...>wrote: > ** > > > On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 2:23 PM, Holladay <sandrah@...> > wrote: > > > > Interesting; my grains are at the top, only been on the bottom a couple > of > > times. > > Yeah, mine are always at the bottom, even when I stir things up every > so often (no shaking or I end up with cultured butter. Which is not a > bad thing, but not what I'm after.) I've read others say that go to > the top but mine never do. > > > Does the cream make your kefir sweet, or is it still tart? > > Only the faintest hint of tart. I used to use whole milk and didn't > care as much for the tartness, so I'm happy about that. > > I switched to cream because cream kefir is an " almost free " snack for > me. I'm diabetic (and massively sensitive to carbs) and a whole quart > of kefir has (I've been led to understand) something along the lines > of 16 grams of carbs. So I'm only getting a couple of carbs with a > kefir snack but the fat content in kefired cream is huge and the fat > slows down my body processing the carbs. > > So the 2g carbs raises my blood sugar about 12 points but over the > course of hours, not immediately, so I can get away with not bolusing > insulin for the snack and not having my blood sugar rise up hugely. > Most times, it rises so slowly that my basal insulin can mostly take > care of it. Which is sweet. The only other food with carbs in it that > acts that way for me is eggs. > > Sparrow > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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