Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Help. I need the proper ratio. I'm burning thru my 3rd gallon of milk since Friday and it's only 3:30 pm on Saturday. Please give me teaspoons or tablespoons per quart. Thanks, Al ----Original Message----- From: Liberty Chick Sent: Nov 18, 2011 11:47 AM Subject: Re: MKG I just got my milk kefir grains from a local woman 2 days ago. There seemed to be about a 1/4 cup of sticky grains in the plastic bag. I dumped them all in one quart jar and about 11-12 hours later I strained it. It seemed to be pretty thick for only being 11-12 hours. The kefir tasted fine but not tart at all. So, I put all the grains in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. Strained it after about 12 hours and it still seemed to be a little thick but thought it was just getting used to my raw milk. This morning again after about 12 hours it's so thing and hard to strain, it's like yogurt. Are my grains growing sooo fast because they really LOVE my milk or do I have way too many grains in the jar? How many teaspoons or tablespoons of grains should I be using for 1 quart of milk? Al . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 You're having the complete opposite result as I am !! My new grains won't thicken at all .. looks more watery than milk & even looked like cloudy water and smelled musty and old yeast ! I'm guessing grains act differently depending on the weather and the type of milk they were grown vs. the type of milk they're in now. I'm just guessing because of the suggestions I had received regarding trouble shooting kefir grains. I hope you get the answers you're looking for ! Sorry I couldn't be of more help... just had to comment because I envy your grains ! ~ > > I just got my milk kefir grains from a local woman 2 days ago. There seemed to be about a 1/4 cup of sticky grains in the plastic bag. I dumped them all in one quart jar and about 11-12 hours later I strained it. It seemed to be pretty thick for only being 11-12 hours. The kefir tasted fine but not tart at all. > > So, I put all the grains in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. Strained it after about 12 hours and it still seemed to be a little thick but thought it was just getting used to my raw milk. This morning again after about 12 hours it's so thing and hard to strain, it's like yogurt. > > Are my grains growing sooo fast because they really LOVE my milk or do I have way too many grains in the jar? > > How many teaspoons or tablespoons of grains should I be using for 1 quart of milk? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Hi , If his multiplication keeps up, I'll be able to share some. I got the grains on wednesday (about 1/4 cup) and now it looks like I have about a cup. I could have less than that but it's sometimes hard to tell when your grains are in cottage cheese. Does anyone know how to separate the grains with the cottage cheese curd when it's cultured too long? Do I just need to eash my hands really good then dif in and feel for the grains? Al ----Original Message----- From: eclecticparadise Sent: Nov 19, 2011 6:56 PM Subject: Re: MKG You're having the complete opposite result as I am !! My new grains won't thicken at all .. looks more watery than milk & even looked like cloudy water and smelled musty and old yeast ! I'm guessing grains act differently depending on the weather and the type of milk they were grown vs. the type of milk they're in now. I'm just guessing because of the suggestions I had received regarding trouble shooting kefir grains. I hope you get the answers you're looking for ! Sorry I couldn't be of more help... just had to comment because I envy your grains ! ~ > > I just got my milk kefir grains from a local woman 2 days ago. There seemed to be about a 1/4 cup of sticky grains in the plastic bag. I dumped them all in one quart jar and about 11-12 hours later I strained it. It seemed to be pretty thick for only being 11-12 hours. The kefir tasted fine but not tart at all. > > So, I put all the grains in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. Strained it after about 12 hours and it still seemed to be a little thick but thought it was just getting used to my raw milk. This morning again after about 12 hours it's so thing and hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 One tablespoon per cup. Really healthy, active grains will need a whole quart of milk per tablespoon. Marilyn On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 3:39 PM, <ouched63188@...> wrote: > Help. I need the proper ratio. I'm burning thru my 3rd gallon of milk > since Friday and it's only 3:30 pm on Saturday. Please give me teaspoons > or tablespoons per quart. Thanks, > > Al > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Dilute with milk, stir well, and strain the best you can. Rinse with water if you think it is necessary. Do not handle kefir grains with bare hands. Marilyn On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 8:21 PM, <ouched63188@...> wrote: > Hi , > > If his multiplication keeps up, I'll be able to share some. I got the > grains on wednesday (about 1/4 cup) and now it looks like I have about a > cup. I could have less than that but it's sometimes hard to tell when your > grains are in cottage cheese. > > Does anyone know how to separate the grains with the cottage cheese curd > when it's cultured too long? Do I just need to eash my hands really good > then dif in and feel for the grains? > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Hi ie, Thanks for the quantity info. While I was waiting for my post to show up on the forum, I did some research on the internet and it looks like someone commented to use 2 Tsp for per quart. I had way more than that in the quart jar on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, about 14 hours later, it was like yogurt. By Thursday evening, about 12 hours later, my new batch from a 1/2 gallon mason jar, was like cottage cheese. I still didn't know the ratio. It took me forever to try to strain it. Last night, I tried to split up the grains. In 3 different qt. jars, I put 3 heaping teaspoons and in the 1/2 gallon jar, I put about 7 heaping teaspoons (the rest of the grains). Today, about 16 hours later, it was like yogurt again from 2 of the qt. jars and the other qt. jar and 1/2 gallon were a good thickness. I need to plan the time I start the kefir because it's getting too thick while I'm sleeping. The ratio was still too much. I would like to be able to culture for 2 days to make it more tart but not too thick where I can't strain it. I'll try the 1 tablespoon per 1/2 gallon and 2 tsp per qt. The quantity I received was about 1/4 cup but it seems to have multiplied a lot...will have to measure them when I take them out of the fridge in a few days. I have about about 2 1/2 gallons of kefir ready to drink. I'm going to be consuming it quickly because I'm going on the raw milk diet to detox. I remember for some reason when I had the kefir grains 2 years ago, that I read that you can leave kefir out of the fridge after you have removed the grains to allow it to ferment longer and get more tart. I think I remember doing this, but the instructions on Cultures for Health say to refrigerate the kefir after straining. Do any of you leave the kefir out to ferment longer? Al Re: Re: MKG Al, I use about 1 tblspoon MKG per half gallon of raw milk. I think the thickness and the lack of tartness is pretty typical for raw milk, at least in my experience. It seems the temperature in your home has a lot of bearing on the speed of the ferment. ie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 I'm not sure that ratio would work with my grains. I had about 3 heaping teaspoons per qt and it still barely made it the 16 hours before it was yogurt. Now I'm getting mixed up on my times, I've had to strain them so many times since Wednesday and I didn't write it down. I'm definitely going to cut down on my quantity of grains per qt. I have all my grains in the fridge right now because I didn't have that much raw milk left. That'll slow them down for a few days...hopefully. I can't afford to be making kefir at that rate for very long. Al Re: Re: MKG One tablespoon per cup. Really healthy, active grains will need a whole quart of milk per tablespoon. Marilyn On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 3:39 PM, <ouched63188@...> wrote: > Help. I need the proper ratio. I'm burning thru my 3rd gallon of milk > since Friday and it's only 3:30 pm on Saturday. Please give me teaspoons > or tablespoons per quart. Thanks, > > Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Thanks Marilyn. It was very hard to do, but I think I finally got them strained well enough. I might have had the yogurt consistency again because I had some of the grains mixed in with the cottage cheese, because I couldn't strain them, so it probably made it culture faster. Al Re: Re: MKG Dilute with milk, stir well, and strain the best you can. Rinse with water if you think it is necessary. Do not handle kefir grains with bare hands. Marilyn On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 8:21 PM, <ouched63188@...> wrote: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 What about handling WKG with Bare hands?.....oops:( Dr. Ron for President 2012 On Nov 19, 2011, at 8:27 PM, Marilyn Kefirlady <marilynjarz@...> wrote: > Dilute with milk, stir well, and strain the best you can. Rinse with water > if you think it is necessary. Do not handle kefir grains with bare hands. > > Marilyn > > On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 8:21 PM, <ouched63188@...> wrote: > > > Hi , > > > > If his multiplication keeps up, I'll be able to share some. I got the > > grains on wednesday (about 1/4 cup) and now it looks like I have about a > > cup. I could have less than that but it's sometimes hard to tell when your > > grains are in cottage cheese. > > > > Does anyone know how to separate the grains with the cottage cheese curd > > when it's cultured too long? Do I just need to eash my hands really good > > then dif in and feel for the grains? > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Yes. Remove the grains then cover the strained kefir and let ferment for another 24 hours. It should get more tart but not any thicker. It may separate, curds from whey, but you can mix back together for a drinkable consistency. Then I refrigerate. I would rather consume right after the straining for less tart, but I like the effects of less lactose from the 2nd fermentation. Ilyse From: ouched63188@... Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:42:58 -0500 Subject: Re: Re: MKG Hi ie, Thanks for the quantity info. While I was waiting for my post to show up on the forum, I did some research on the internet and it looks like someone commented to use 2 Tsp for per quart. I had way more than that in the quart jar on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, about 14 hours later, it was like yogurt. By Thursday evening, about 12 hours later, my new batch from a 1/2 gallon mason jar, was like cottage cheese. I still didn't know the ratio. It took me forever to try to strain it. Last night, I tried to split up the grains. In 3 different qt. jars, I put 3 heaping teaspoons and in the 1/2 gallon jar, I put about 7 heaping teaspoons (the rest of the grains). Today, about 16 hours later, it was like yogurt again from 2 of the qt. jars and the other qt. jar and 1/2 gallon were a good thickness. I need to plan the time I start the kefir because it's getting too thick while I'm sleeping. The ratio was still too much. I would like to be able to culture for 2 days to make it more tart but not too thick where I can't strain it. I'll try the 1 tablespoon per 1/2 gallon and 2 tsp per qt. The quantity I received was about 1/4 cup but it seems to have multiplied a lot...will have to measure them when I take them out of the fridge in a few days. I have about about 2 1/2 gallons of kefir ready to drink. I'm going to be consuming it quickly because I'm going on the raw milk diet to detox. I remember for some reason when I had the kefir grains 2 years ago, that I read that you can leave kefir out of the fridge after you have removed the grains to allow it to ferment longer and get more tart. I think I remember doing this, but the instructions on Cultures for Health say to refrigerate the kefir after straining. Do any of you leave the kefir out to ferment longer? Al Re: Re: MKG Al, I use about 1 tblspoon MKG per half gallon of raw milk. I think the thickness and the lack of tartness is pretty typical for raw milk, at least in my experience. It seems the temperature in your home has a lot of bearing on the speed of the ferment. ie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 Thank you so much ! *I'll definitely keep that in mind !!* I would love too when you have more - but for right now I'm waiting on some grains from a different ebay seller and hope it works out ! I had already previously placed the order when these grains didn't show improvement after a little over a week (and tons of wasted milk!!). ~ > > Hi , > > If his multiplication keeps up, I'll be able to share some. I got the grains on wednesday (about 1/4 cup) and now it looks like I have about a cup. I could have less than that but it's sometimes hard to tell when your grains are in cottage cheese. > > Does anyone know how to separate the grains with the cottage cheese curd when it's cultured too long? Do I just need to eash my hands really good then dif in and feel for the grains? > > Al > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I strain my MK after a 24 hour culture and then let the strained MK stand on the shelf for another 24 hours. It gets bubblier and a bit more tart, not much tho. It is thickened, but I give it a shake and it pours just fine. The second 24 hr. ferment breaks down even more lactose and builds up the B vitamins and vitamin K, or so I have read. I am not an employee in a lab so don't know for sure, but there have been no negative effects from it in my world. I also give a little stir to the MK with the grains in it before straining. Easier to strain and find the grains, when first starting with frozen or dehydrated grains. I have no problem finding that one grain now, it's HUGE! I have not worked with raw milk since Montana considers it pure evil evidently and you have to own and milk your own livestock to have raw milk, can't even go to a farm to get " pet milk. " I did use lots of raw goat milk for yogurt in Northern MN when I lived there. It didn't thicken as much, but was delicious! Happy culturing! Karin > > I remember for some reason when I had the kefir grains 2 years ago, that I read that you can leave kefir out of the fridge after you have removed the grains to allow it to ferment longer and get more tart. I think I remember doing this, but the instructions on Cultures for Health say to refrigerate the kefir after straining. Do any of you leave the kefir out to ferment longer? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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