Kefir Texture
Q: On Friday my friends and I placed some of the kefir grains into milk to cultivate. We followed the instructions on the packet and covered it with a piece of muslin cloth. It is now of a thick yogurt consistency and slimy but has no cultures within it. It doesn’t have a horrible smell and hasn’t separated into curds and whey.
Have we done something wrong?
A:Hello ***********
Thank you for your email and congratulations - you just made you 1st Kefir from a freeze-dried starter.
You obviously have expected something horrible according to your description, however, the freeze-dried Kefir is tasty and healthy and yes it looks like yogurt.
This is due to the similar composition. Yogurt and Kefir starters contain some lactobacteria as Kefir contains lactobacteria + Kefir yeast. Also, Kefir, unlike Yogurt, needs much lower temperature to set.
As you start growing freeze dried cultures from a very small size you will see some ‘‘grains’’ in the following re-cultivations. The so-called ‘‘grains’’ will not be too big, as we removed all those yeast types that are able to deliver side effects.
We wrote more about the differences between ‘‘grains’’ type of Kefir and freeze-dried starters on our website. Please visit the FAQ section there. Alternatively, you can find more info on the internet.
Please note that we designed our Kefir starters for first timers, so they are much more balanced and suitable for wide range of people, ages and conditions, also for everyday use, as they do not have side effects. You will feel some health benefits in the next 1-2 days after consumptions.
Once your body is prepared enough with our Kefir you might feel that you need a stronger Kefir, so you can opt out for ‘‘Grains’’ type of Kefir. Please be careful and research the matter well as the ‘‘grains’’ starters actually should not be consumed for a long and it definitely should not be consumed by first timers.
If you like more liquid Kefir texture you can shake it or blender it.
Please do not forget to keep a portion of your Kefir and reculture again with milk. This time the incubation time will be between 3-6 hours.
kefir grains composition
Q: HI, We have bought the natural kefir starter pack from you but on reading the packet we noticed that there are no yeasts in the composition. Is it correct? I thought that there should be some yeasts to make the proper kefir cultures. Could you please confirm the composition and provide any further information? Many thanks,
A:Hello **********
Thank you for your email.
We are not sure which type of Kefir you have bought, but if it’s this type shown in the attachment below, please note that composition is as follow.
Lactococcus Cremoris, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus Diacetylactis, Lactobacillus Kefir, LactobacillusBulgaricus and Streptococus Thermophilus. The yeast is Saccharomyces unisporus and Saccharomyces fragilis which amount vary.
Please note that the amount of yeast in our freeze dried starter is intentionally low because may produce alcohol during fermentation. The second reason is that too much yeast may lead to side effects.
We made our Kefir perfectly balanced and suitable for all people, ages and conditions, so you can consume it with no worries and you will feel the health benefits in the next few days. We also work with a few clinics which actually use our Kefir cultures in their gut therapies.
Surely, some people might need a more enhanced version of Kefir, so they can get so-called ‘‘Kefir Grains’’ which look like cottage cheese. However, that version of ‘‘Kefir grains’’ is not suitable for first-timers, children and people with immune conditions or just people who have never consumed any Kefir before.
How many batches can I re-culture?
Q: Hi there
All well with culture and happily making our Kefir. How many times would you recommend using the kefir itself to make new batches? I’m on my third and it’s definitely ‘losing power’?
A:Hello ********
Thank you for your email.
It depends on how quickly the kefir can be contaminated with competitive bacteria as well on the milk used.
In general, the Kefir is stronger after re-cultivation, but in a case is contaminated the quality gradually getting lower.
Please note that contamination is not something which you can see. We are surrounded by all kind of bacteria and the kefir mix as well.Those bacteria eat the same as the bacteria in the Kefir mix and this increase the incubation time or reduce the number of the good bacteria.
We have customers who can use one sachet for 6 months, others use a sachet just once. On average - you can use a sachet for a month or 5 re-cultivations.
You can increase the viability as you use whole milk and always boil the milk before use. Also please always pour boiling water over the containers and utensils before use. This simple steps will reduce the number of competitive bacteria with more than 50%, and would give you the ability to make a few more batches.
Hi! I’m experiencing a similar thing after my third batch which I’d attribute to not boiling the milk before and not using enough kefir from the previous batch. After 24h and the milk still not being yogurt-like I just put in the fridge in the meantime. Should I just let it culture longer or can I use a tablespoon or so of some older batches to help? otherwise I might just start again with a new sachet but would like to save the current one. Thanks!
Hi Egil137,
The most important factor for the texture is the milk, or the fat contains of the milk.
So first make sure that the milk is whole with no preservatives and additives, then make sure that is boiled(explained why above)
Then make sure that the temperature of inoculation is high enough. The higher temperature of between 40-45 degrees Celsius will deliver thick consistency with whole milk. Fermenting at room temperature with whole milk will deliver liquid texture, as this is the right texture of Kefir when incubating at room temperature.
So regarding your case, please note that you need to control any of the elements mentioned above and this will increase the number of the recultivations. Again they are: the fat contains of the milk, temperature of incubation, time of incubation, preparation of the milk (boiling) beforehand.
As you don’t know the reason of the issue or if there are any we suggest to start from the beginning as simply follow the suggestions above.