It’s been a few weeks since I started making my own kefir and so far so good! At first I was a bit intimidated thinking I’d mess it up somehow but after a week of going through the routine, it’s all good! 
I had gone out in search of a plastic strainer but the only thing I could find that was plastic was this red colander. The holes in the colander is a bit bigger than I’d initially wanted but now that I’ve been using it, it seems to be a good choice. The first few days, I was using cheesecloth to strain the kefir from the grains. I read you shouldn’t use stainless steal or metal type of utensils with the grains so I’ve been careful, even with my spoons, I use a clear plastic one! :good:
My kefir grains have been a workhorse and I have noticed that they are multiplying a bit too! My grains were originally from being in raw cow’s milk but since that’s not easily gotten here in Maryland, I’ve just opted for Horizon brand of Organic Whole Milk! My kefir babies does not seem to have any problems going from raw milk to just organic pasteurized milk. I saw recently that I could join a co-op for raw milk delivery in Baltimore now but I think it’ll be awhile before I go that route. There seems to be a lot of benefits to raw milk.
I would say that around 24hrs, my grains produce nice kefir! It still amazes me how it goes from milk state to this thick creamy consistency in a day’s time…whatever biological magic that happens there is simply amazing. I’ve been giving them time off on the weekends because they simply produce more than I am able to consume. The kefir babies gets to chill out in the fridge over the weekend in some milk but as soon as I take them out and put them in a quart of milk in a mason jar, they are ready to go again…they get hungry from their time off! The end result is this thick and creamy kefir and you see some of the whey (clear liquid protein) around the bottom edges of the jar.
I’ve even gotten my brother to drink it from week two! He’s all about protein stuff, he works out a lot and is certified personal trainer. He’s amazed at how much protein kefir has and of course all the benefits of kefir too, he’s actually researched it online! The surprising thing is that I’ve got my mom to try it. She doesn’t really like the taste of it, it’s a bit sour for her. But I’ve started making yogurt/kefir parfaits! What’s interesting is that yogurt has a certain type of good bacteria and kefir has other types of good bacteria. When I eat them together, I think I’m getting the best of both worlds! I also put some fruit in with my parfait. Sometimes I use the canned mandarin oranges, sometimes canned peaches. I layer it in these clear plastic cups, the fruit add sweetness and so does the yogurt… and at serving time, I top it with some high protein cereal! The go lean crunch honey almond flax is really good in the parfait! It’s got 9g of protein and lots of fiber too! I probably could put some ground up flaxseed in there too if I really want to. This cup of parfait is like a power packed protein delight!!
I hope my mom continues to drink kefir or eat my parfait because I think it would really benefit her. It takes time to prepare the kefir but once you get your system down, it goes by quicker and less hassle…which makes me happy and the kefir babies happy too because they get proper care! :luv:
Oh btw, the larger holes in the colander…sometimes the tinier bits of kefir grains isn’t strained but that’s ok because you get more benefits from eating the grains too! It’s win win. It’s still a little weird to be chewing on the grains, it’s spongy…my brother said he had a piece the other morning and said it was like chewing on fat… :laughing: but he didn’t know he could eat it, he ended up spitting it out.
All in all, I’m really happy that I started making my own kefir!
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