I have been very disappointed with my freeze dried kefir starter culture as the kefir has an unpleasant stringy texture to it - to explain when it falls from the spoon, it falls in strings rather than as a whole. It makes it unpleasant to eat/use.
Has anyone else had this experience? Am I doing something wrong or is this how it is?
Thanks
Hi Sherry
You simply need to shake or stir it well as per the instructions(see the leaflet in the pack)
The texture of the kefir depends on the milk used, the temperature of incubation and time for incubation. The kefir bacteria and yeast do not have a texture.
The ‘‘stringly’’ texture in your case is due to the temperature of incubation if we assumed that you have used whole dairy milk.
When incubating at room temperature the default texture in most cases is liquid(see the leaflet inside the pack, website or youtube videos) Watch here
Incubating kefir mix with whole milk and yogurt maker(higher temperature) deliver thick texture. It seems that in your case the temperature of incubation was too low for thick texture and higher for default liquid texture. This is actually a well-considered feature of the product as some people prefer it liquid, some thick, some like it even ‘‘stringly’’. However, it is something you can/need to control.
Surely the semi-skimmed and skimmed milk delivers other texture. However, it is difficult to guess when we don’t know the source products/conditions or fat content of the milk, time for incubation, the temperature of incubation - they are all important factors in texture forming.
Please have a look at the videos to see how the fermentation work, so will know how to get the texture you wish.