Making Kefir
Helps your gut microbiome,
which affects the health of your immune system, where 70-80% of your immune system resides!
Controls inflammation throughout your body.
Also maintains your digestive health, which may help with IBS, among many other issues.
Supports the health of your nervous system, improving mental health & resistance to stress.
This is done through The Gut-Brain Axis.
Anyways, it tastes like yogurt and has so many more types and amounts of active helpful bacteria & yeasts -Colony Forming Units- than just about any other probiitic food.
Well tolerated by some Lactose Intolerant people, since the grains process the lactose when it ferments the milk.(There's also water Kefir for those who want to avoid milk).
Simple to maintain, put 'em in a glass jar, cover with milk & let them do their thing on the counter for 24 hrs.
Then strain the grains out, put them in the empty jar, & cover them with milk again.
Place your finished Kefir in the fridge.
This is what it looks like after the standard 24-hour ferment.
The curds have just begun separating from the whey, which is optimal for creamy texture & mild tart flavor.
Strain the Kefir to recover the Kefir grains.
The curds remain with the liquid having drained through.
I then wash the curds with the lstrained liquid while turning with the spatula to facilitate straining.
The Kefir grains remain, ready to be placed back in the empty jar & covered with milk for another ferment.
The grains have a protective white gel coating which should remain.
If you washed them further, you would see the grains are an opaque yellow color with a spongy texture.
These grains are a SCOBY- A Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria & Yeast, much like Kombucha.
There's commonly over 50 strains of beneficial bacteria and Yeasts.
The grains have been around for thousands of years, & the only way to grow grains is to get some from a friend or buy some.
The strained Kefir is tangy & fizzy.
finished Kefir on the right, ready for the fridge or a 2nd ferment,
The milk-covered grains on the left, ready for another 24-hour ferment.