Guest guest Posted November 13, 2010 Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 Bev.. When you work with environmental doctors the way I have, you learn you need to clean up your indoor environment. My life is very survival oriented. I have to maintain my home fragrance and environmentally sound for me. I cannot tolerate any mold, mildew or the like. We have all ceramic floors. The bathrooms do not have cabinets underneath, we had them pulled out (they hold in moisture and mold). Replaced with pedestal sinks. I have quality air filter machines in the house and a UV light that I tolerate. I live in the south so, I have dehumidifiers. You can eradicate the mold... one step at a time. I'd be happy to help you with that, believe me I know the drill. I've learned there's no cheating the illness and the healing. You have to do what's necessary to survive. Having a healthy home is essential. I can also relate to your symptoms. I don't remember where you live but if you look up www.aaem.com you should be able to see if there are any doctors of Environmental Medicine in your area. Some are good, some aren't like anything else. You need to ask questions. Hugs, There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid. Gandhi From: bebe444girl <moodynomad@...> Sent: Fri, November 12, 2010 9:59:52 PMSubject: mold ps. i was gone staying with my mom for 3 weeks and actually started to feel a bit better toward the end. i could walk thru the store without leaning on a cart...but when i got back home i went downhill fast. my legs and arms became weak and i had muscle twiches all over. i felt like i was being shocked. so my husband had done a mold kit at home and the thing was FULL of every color mold you can imagine. so that's another stress, i can't stay in our home and we have no place to go immediately...so i'm staying with my dad but there's no room for me, my husband and 2 dogs...why is it when it rains it pours? bevhas anyone with mold toxicity had their urine tested and it be highly alkaline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 That is not mold - mold is green, brown, black - fine white powder is the milk itself - cannot think of what they call it when it does that, but it is not mold. Jaxi On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 11:09 AM, linkocool <lauramon@...> wrote: > HI, my grains seem to culture very fast (12-16 hours. When I leave it more > than a day I get a fine white mold on top. I have rinsed them and started > anew several times. I can't find very much on the subject of mold on kefir. > Thanks, > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Greetings , I have found that if I leave my milk kefir for a while uncovered, I get the same situation. I think it's that the top layer of milk tends to dry out - especially when the humidity is low and the kefir is culturing quickly. This dried milk looks a little like mold, but it's no problem. Your fast culturing can be slowed down (if desired) by decreasing the amount of grains put back into your container after straining. (I usually eat about 1/2 teaspoon every straining) When I switched to using a glass jar with sealed lid, returning about 2 tsp grains/1 cup milk, this tendency dropped in frequency. Happy kefiring, > HI, my grains seem to culture very fast (12-16 hours. When I leave it more than a day I get a fine white mold on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 HI, my grains seem to culture very fast (12-16 hours. When I leave it more than a day I get a fine white mold on top. It's more likely that it's 'flowers of kefir,' a yeast/bacteria combination. You may have too many grains in your milk if it's culturing that fast. Aim to reduce the grains so that your kefir cultures in 24 hours. I use only a tsp or less per cup of milk. Here's what Dom's kefir site (http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir-faq.html#mycoderma( says about flowers of kefir: Cheers, This film can be referred to as Mycodermia [Greek origin. Myco= fungi, Derma= skin= Fungi Skin], which is created by colonies of fungi and or bacteria. In all cases forming on the surface of the liquid such as wine and in this case, kefir. Mycodermia which forms of the surface of air exposed wine over time, is referred to as Flowers of Wine. So it was relatively simple for me to adopt this to kefir, hence why I decided to name such a film, Flowers of Kefir [FOK]. Culture-conditions including how the culture is maintained, shall influence the formation of Flowers of Kefir. It is distinguishable by a white to light-brown fuzzy carpet-like powdery film forming on the furface [surface] of kefir. Before I move on though, I should explain that in all the cases that I've seen thus far over the years, such a film found on the surface of milk-kefir is non pathogenic, or generally regarded as safe [GRAS]. It is mostly a formation by certain strains of yeasts [of kefir or from external means], which under certain conditions and specifically in the presence of air, will form pseudo-mycelium [not a true mycelium], which gives that common fuzzy appearance of common mold. This is why it can easily be mistaken for mold growth, although it is not mold, but specific yeast strains instead. What occurs is that yeasts of kefir that normally reproduce by budding or producing spores, they instead form a mold-like fuzzy growth. It only occurs on the surface where lots of freely available oxygen exists. This is why in recent time, names of many yeast strains of kefir have gone through reclassification and in most cases, the same yeast has now got two different names, determined by the method of reproduction [asexual or sexual], either teleomorph or anamorph due to culture conditions. Please see the genus group Yeasts in a table of the microflora of milk kefir at my kefirpage. At one point I thought about the possibility that the mold-like yeast strain Geotrichum candidum, was solely responsible for Flowers of Kefir. However, the mycodermia forms even in the presence of 2% sodium chloride [table salt]. G. candidum on the other hand will not grow in the presence of 1% or greater sodium chloride concentration, so it was not possible for this strain to be responsible for FOK. However, it is possible that G. candidum is present, which is also known as Galactomyces geotrichum [as a telemorph or asexual reproductive state when no freely available oxygen is present]. G. candidum is used in cheese making to produce some types of cheese, but it is also a problem mold in other varieties of cheese, because it gives the cheese an unwanted flavour, and not because it is hazardous to health in most cases, so I believe. Although FOK can be considered generally regarded as safe, it is not preferred in day-to-day traditional kefir making. There are reasons for the formation of FOK, and following are a few that come to mind-- dot Kefir grains left in the same milk for too long [causes over-fermentation]. Followed by over-fermentation over many batches [not changing the milk daily, but every 3 or so days instead, and doing so over extensive periods or over many batches, especially in warmer conditions]. dot Can indicate that there are too many kefir grains brewing in the volume of milk, cultured for that particular amount of time [24 hours fermentation is most common and preferred culture-time for milk-kefir]. dot In higher temperatures, such as during summer or in semi-tropical to tropical environment. dot All the above. With yeasts of kefir, same strains can exist as two morphologies, teleomorph and anamorph. I believe these states are mostly influenced by freely available oxygen, such as within the liquid kefir, or on the surface where ample available oxygen encourages the same yeast to form similar to mold, appearing as a fuzzy carpet due to the the yeast forming germ tubes or hyphae [forming pseudo-mycelium or not a true mycelium that gives molds a fuzzy appearance]. Greater grain-volume [more culture] increases yeast activity in kefir, which makes conditions favourable for Flowers of Kefir to form. In most cases, the most effective remedy or prevention is to reduce the amount of mother-culture, and or reduce fermentation time. Or, increase the amount of milk used for your kefir making. Usually removing 50% of culture while using the same amount of milk that you have been using, and making certain to culture for 24 hours only per each batch, should prevent or remedy the formation of FOK over proceeding batches. Flowers of Kefir forming while Ripening Kefir. Flowers of Kefir usually form on the surface of kefir ripened in a large cylinder-shaped vessel, such as a crock, where too much air is involved, especially in warm conditions. FOK need freely available oxygen to form, and to prevent it forming, air must be prevented from getting into the vessel during the ripening cycle. This is where an air trap [airlock], such as those used in beer and wine making is also useful in the process for ripening kefir. Please see this picture with self explaining details. Also see Ripening Kefir Under Airlock at my kefir making web page, which explains how to avoid FOK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 Muchos Gracias! I had found that site before and had it bookmarked. But this didn't start happening for months........ and yes, my ration is too high. Thanks again, On Feb 10, 2012, at 10:11 AM, gardengirl wrote: > HI, my grains seem to culture very fast (12-16 hours. When I leave > it more than a day I get a fine white mold on top. > > It's more likely that it's 'flowers of kefir,' a yeast/bacteria > combination. You may have too many grains in your milk if it's > culturing that fast. Aim to reduce the grains so that your kefir > cultures in 24 hours. I use only a tsp or less per cup of milk. > > Here's what Dom's kefir site (http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir-faq.html#mycoderma( > says about flowers of kefir: Cheers, > > This film can be referred to as Mycodermia [Greek origin. Myco= > fungi, Derma= skin= Fungi Skin], which is created by colonies of > fungi and or bacteria. In all cases forming on the surface of the > liquid such as wine and in this case, kefir. Mycodermia which forms > of the surface of air exposed wine over time, is referred to as > Flowers of Wine. So it was relatively simple for me to adopt this to > kefir, hence why I decided to name such a film, Flowers of Kefir > [FOK]. > > Culture-conditions including how the culture is maintained, shall > influence the formation of Flowers of Kefir. It is distinguishable > by a white to light-brown fuzzy carpet-like powdery film forming on > the furface [surface] of kefir. Before I move on though, I should > explain that in all the cases that I've seen thus far over the > years, such a film found on the surface of milk-kefir is non > pathogenic, or generally regarded as safe [GRAS]. It is mostly a > formation by certain strains of yeasts [of kefir or from external > means], which under certain conditions and specifically in the > presence of air, will form pseudo-mycelium [not a true mycelium], > which gives that common fuzzy appearance of common mold. This is why > it can easily be mistaken for mold growth, although it is not mold, > but specific yeast strains instead. > > What occurs is that yeasts of kefir that normally reproduce by > budding or producing spores, they instead form a mold-like fuzzy > growth. It only occurs on the surface where lots of freely available > oxygen exists. This is why in recent time, names of many yeast > strains of kefir have gone through reclassification and in most > cases, the same yeast has now got two different names, determined by > the method of reproduction [asexual or sexual], either teleomorph or > anamorph due to culture conditions. Please see the genus group > Yeasts in a table of the microflora of milk kefir at my kefirpage. > > At one point I thought about the possibility that the mold-like > yeast strain Geotrichum candidum, was solely responsible for Flowers > of Kefir. However, the mycodermia forms even in the presence of 2% > sodium chloride [table salt]. G. candidum on the other hand will not > grow in the presence of 1% or greater sodium chloride concentration, > so it was not possible for this strain to be responsible for FOK. > However, it is possible that G. candidum is present, which is also > known as Galactomyces geotrichum [as a telemorph or asexual > reproductive state when no freely available oxygen is present]. G. > candidum is used in cheese making to produce some types of cheese, > but it is also a problem mold in other varieties of cheese, because > it gives the cheese an unwanted flavour, and not because it is > hazardous to health in most cases, so I believe. > > Although FOK can be considered generally regarded as safe, it is not > preferred in day-to-day traditional kefir making. There are reasons > for the formation of FOK, and following are a few that come to mind-- > > dot Kefir grains left in the same milk for too long [causes over- > fermentation]. Followed by over-fermentation over many batches [not > changing the milk daily, but every 3 or so days instead, and doing > so over extensive periods or over many batches, especially in warmer > conditions]. > > dot Can indicate that there are too many kefir grains brewing in the > volume of milk, cultured for that particular amount of time [24 > hours fermentation is most common and preferred culture-time for > milk-kefir]. > > dot In higher temperatures, such as during summer or in semi- > tropical to tropical environment. > > dot All the above. > > With yeasts of kefir, same strains can exist as two morphologies, > teleomorph and anamorph. I believe these states are mostly > influenced by freely available oxygen, such as within the liquid > kefir, or on the surface where ample available oxygen encourages the > same yeast to form similar to mold, appearing as a fuzzy carpet due > to the the yeast forming germ tubes or hyphae [forming pseudo- > mycelium or not a true mycelium that gives molds a fuzzy appearance]. > > Greater grain-volume [more culture] increases yeast activity in > kefir, which makes conditions favourable for Flowers of Kefir to > form. In most cases, the most effective remedy or prevention is to > reduce the amount of mother-culture, and or reduce fermentation > time. Or, increase the amount of milk used for your kefir making. > Usually removing 50% of culture while using the same amount of milk > that you have been using, and making certain to culture for 24 hours > only per each batch, should prevent or remedy the formation of FOK > over proceeding batches. > > Flowers of Kefir forming while Ripening Kefir. Flowers of Kefir > usually form on the surface of kefir ripened in a large cylinder- > shaped vessel, such as a crock, where too much air is involved, > especially in warm conditions. FOK need freely available oxygen to > form, and to prevent it forming, air must be prevented from getting > into the vessel during the ripening cycle. This is where an air trap > [airlock], such as those used in beer and wine making is also useful > in the process for ripening kefir. Please see this picture with self > explaining details. Also see Ripening Kefir Under Airlock at my > kefir making web page, which explains how to avoid FOK. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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