Kefir by Henrietta

Let's talk about Kefir by Henrietta

Firstly do you know what it is and what the benefits are?

Our families started taking shop bought kefir about three months ago and they all love it. 

As both Humphry and myself have a very inquisitive nature we wanted to know more about it, what it is, how it's made and more importantly can we make it ourselves?!

Kefir is a cultured, fermented milk drink. It is similar to yogurt – but a drink, with a tart, sour taste and a slight ‘fizz’. This is due to carbon dioxide – the end product of the fermentation process. Kefir is a good source of calcium and is rich in probiotic bacteria.

Humphry bought me a Kefir starter kit for my birthday and it didn't take me long to make my first batch using a culture. We soon discovered that you can also make it from kefir grains so the hunt was on to find some grains. A lovely lady called Lucy sent some of her grains through the post.

Traditional milk kefir uses kefir grains and whole cow’s milk – although now you can find it made from goat’s/sheep’s milk.  Kefir grains are not actually grains at all but are small gelatinous beads that look like grains containing a variety of bacteria and yeasts. The grains are placed in a glass jar/bowl, soaked in milk, covered and left at room temperature for a minimum of 24 hours. This enables the bacteria and yeast to ferment the lactose (natural sugar in milk) into lactic acid, activating the bacteria to proliferate and grow.

After around 24 hours at room temperature, the grains are strained from the kefir and transferred to a fresh batch of milk and used again to enable them to keep reproducing - this cycle can be carried on indefinitely. The strained Kefir is now ready to drink.

We have just finished fermenting our first batch of grain Kefir and it does taste different to the shop bought and culture made Kefir. The second batch is already on the go.

Have you tried Kefir?  What did you think? Please share your comments with us.