Milk kefir - manufacturing, tips and tricks
Here, you can learn more about how to make milk kefir on your own. Making your kefir at home is remarkably easy. And now you can, too produce this delicious probiotic drink with relatively little effort.
There is no theory without practice
After we have already told you so much about what is milk kefir actually, why should you drink it - the beneficial effect on human and where does it come from now we start with the easy production of milk kefir.
Here we will show you, step by step how to make milk kefir with the help of kefir grains. It is actually very simple - even though there are a number of little things you need to consider to benefit from its powerful effect for a long time. In a best-case scenario the tibetan respectively causasian mushroom, as the grains are also called, accompany you for the rest of your live. Within our articles we talk in this context of a bond for life.
Please read the instruction about the manufacturing of milk kefir in a simple and concise form or in the detailed Variant.
Click here to download the detailed guidance for making milk kefir
All about Kombucha and Kefir @ Youtube
Valuable Tipps and frequently asked questions around the cultures kombucha and kefir you will find on our youtube channel.
Visit us on Youtube - just click here and learn more
What do I need to make 500ml of the delicious milk kefir beverage?
The short and concise description.
- 8g of the original natural-kefir-drinks.de milk kefir grains (kefir mushroom)
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
- 500ml milk (ESL milk, fresh organic milk, fresh milk - don't forget to boil it)
- 1 fermentation vessel made of glass, pottery or plastic with a suitable capacity providing the desired amount of milk kefir drink
- 1 elastic band
- 1 sheet of wrapping film (not breathable) to cover the fermentation vessel
- 1 plastic sieve/ strainer
- 1 spoon made of plastic
- 1 funnel made of plastic
- 1 bottle made of glas, pottery or plastic with a suitable capacity providing the desired amount of milk kefir drink
How to make milk kefir step by step - short and simple tutorial
1. Put the milk kefir grains (only the grains, without the milk kefir drink) in your fermentation vessel
2. Fill the vessel with the milk (room temperature)
3. Now cover the vessel with the wrapping film and the elastic band - the formed carbonic acid must be able to escape (!). If you have a jar with a glas lid, just place the lid with the sealing ring on the glas.
4. Store it at a place (light protected) at room temperature.
5. After 24 - 72 hours the fermentation process has completed and you can separate the grains from the kefir drink. Just pure the contet of the vessel through a plastic sieve and fill it into another glass or bottles.
6. Rinse the milk kefir grains thoroughly with cold to lukewarm water.
7. Clean the fermentation vessel thoroughly with washing up liquid and subsequently rinse it with hot clear water.
8. Enjoy your home made milk kefir beverage.
Milk kefir homemade - you are a newcomer?
There is a perfectly simple method to take a valuable fermented product. It is favourable, made in just a few easy steps and it requires less space. Best of all: Anyone can learn it. We are talking about making your own milk kefir at home. All you need is milk kefir grains, some milk, a fermenting tank, a plastic spoon and then you are ready to go.
The complete and easy Milk Kefir Starter Kit is available here
How to make 500ml of the delicious kefir yoghurt?
The detailed tutorial with many tips and tricks
If you compare the manufacturing of milk kefir with the help of real milk kefir grains with water kefir (Japanese water crystals) and the kombucha tee (kombucha mushroom) one understands immediately milk kefir is the easiest variant. All you need to make 500ml milk kefir is:
- At least 8g original natural-kefir-drinks.de kefir grains (kefir mushroom)
In our example it is about how to make half a liter of milk kefir. At the beginning 8g of the kefir grains are sufficient. These little guys grow and you can soon make considerably more kefir drink. The greater the number of kefir grains involved the faster the whole fermentations process is completed.
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
- 500ml Organic ESL milk
At this point even the sky is no limit. The kefir batch works with ordinary cow's milk, cheep's milk, goat's milk and even vegan soy milk. In an ideal case you should take organic milk. If you take fresh milk instead of ESL milk you should boil it.
- A fermentation vessel made of plastic, glas or pottery
Your container should be made of glas, pottey, stoneware or plastic. Under no circumstances it should be made of metal. Our experience has shown that clip top jars are very well suited to make kefir. Simply dismantle the metal clip and arrange the glas lid with the sealing on the jar. If you need to know how to dismantle the metal clip just click here. The practical and suitable clip to jar you can order her. There is a great advantage of this jar. You no longer need neither cling film nor rubber band. That saves money and conserves our environment because the jar with the sealing has a long lifetime while cling film is more a disposable item.
If you use cling film to cover the fermentation tank you can take a conventional rubber band to fix it.
At this point you can use conventional cling film.
- A sieve made from plastic
You should use a sieve made from plastic, because the kefir grains don't like to be rinsed through a metal sieve.
- A spoon made from plastic
The spoon also mustn't made from metal. Most suitable is plastic or even a wooden one.
- A funnel made from plastic
To prevent making a mess you should use a funnel to fill the kefir drink into your bottle. This item should also made from plastic.
- A glas or a bottle
To store your delicious kefir beverage we recommend a glas or a bottle made from glas. If you put the strainer in the funnel you can easily fill your jars with the finished kefir and store it in the refrigerator.
You got stressful exhausting job? Very little time? In addition you don't feel like walking through the whole city respectively explore the Internet to find the suitable equipment? If all this is true, there is a convenient and easy solution:
The all-round carefree kefir starter package - there is all you need to successfully get started making your own probiotic kefir.
The complete and easy Milk Kefir Starter Kit is available here
You just need to order the package, unpack and get started. It is perfect for your own and moreover an ideal gift for your friends. We frequently experience that customer order the grains for partner, parents and grandparents. Many elderly people are very pleased about a kefir or kombucha package because they often know it from their childhood connected wonderful memories with these tiny grains.
What procedure do I have to follow to produce the delicious probiotic kefir drink easy at home? The detailed guidance with many tips and tricks.
1. Put the milk kefir grains (only the grains, without the milk kefir drink) in fermentation vessel.
After washing the jar and removing all detergent residues you can put the grains (kefir mushroom) in the vessel. Please be aware at all times that kefir don't tolerate detergent residues.
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
2. Add 500m (1,75 cups, ca. 0,5 quarte, 0,11 gallone, 0,88 pinte) milk (at room temperature)
After you have put the grains into the jar add the 500ml of milk. The fat content of milk doesn't matter. In the ideal case the milk has room temperature.
► The tasty Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
3. Close the jar in a way that the pressure created by the kefir batch can escape.
The fermentation container must be sealed in such a way that no oxygen can penetrate the batch and simultaneously the pressure created by the milk kefir batch can escape. At this point you should know that milk kefir ferments just like water kefir. It is an anaerobic fermentation. That means that no oxygen is needed for the whole process. It's quite the opposite - The presence of oxygen can reduce the fermentation or even completely prevent it. This ' fact is decisive for successfully make your own milk kefir at home. The crucial point within the process is to don't let oxygen in the jar and simultaneously let the carbonic acid escape. At this point there are basically several solutions:
- If you use a jar with screw cap: Twist the lid slightly - but only until you feel a slight resistance.
- If you use plastic wrap with a rubber band - just fix the plastic wrap with the rubber band on the vessel.
- If you use a clip top jar - we occasionally be asked how to handle this jar. In particular, it is frequently asked how to dismantle the metal clip. We have taken this frequently asked question as an occasion to create a new article about how to dismantle the metal clip. So if you have decided to buy the high-quality 1,14L jar you can read the notes concerning dismantling the clip here. After successfully dismantling the metal clip you now have the glas cover and the rubber sealing. The usage is really very simple - just put the lid with the installed sealing on the jar. The weight of the lid and the sealing ensure that it is close.
4. Store the container at a light protected place at room temperature.
After milk and kefir grains were completely - airproof - isolated from the outside world place it at a light protected location at room temperature or alternatively in the refrigerator. The choice largely depends on your personal taste. Depending on the temperature range the kefir grains ferment differently.
You like your kefir a little bit more sour?
Kefir is served! Because milk kefir grains also can sour. To get kefir with a slightly or even intensive sour taste it is necessary to support the lactic fermentation. Because this process transforms the lactose (=milk sugar) contained in milk into lactic acid. As the term "lactic acid" already suggests, a sour aroma dominates the finished drink. But how can you support the job of the lactic acid bacteria? The little bacteria basically works in a temperature range from 10°c to 45°C (50°F to 113°C). In this case the grains like a comfortably warm surrounding. For this reason you should store the batch between 22°C and 25°C (71,6°F and 77°F).
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
Please be aware at all times that the so called kefir mushroom is a successful symbiotic relationship between living microorganisms. Therefore, it is possible that the process perhaps not immediately works as expected the first time. At this point many factors come into play. Sometimes the grains simply need a change of temperature to get onto their own feet again. Humans also like variety otherwise they feel quickly bored. Perhaps these grains are more similar to us than you think! So just store the batch for one day in the refrigerator and then again at room temperature. That will help you get the kefir culture back in shape eager producing the delicious probiotic drink.
Or do you like your kefir beverage with a pleasantly mild flavor?
Kefir grains can also do this flavor for you! Now, you need to support the yeasts. The lactic acid fermentation should remain in the background respectively the yeasts dominate the process. As already described, lactic acid bacteria feel very comfortably between 22°C and 25°C (71,6°F and 77°F). At this point that is certainly not desired. So you just need to reduce the temperature. Simply store the fermentation tank at lower temperatures of max 15°C (59°F). The colder it is, the longer take the kefir grains for the fermentation process (in frost condition the culture stops working). A cool cellar or a conventional fridge will meet those conditions. Now the grains need to work a couple of days more than at higher temperatures. In this way you can allow the grains to ferment the milk up to 6 days. The result is simply delicious.
5. After 24 to 72 hours the fermentation process has completed and you can separate the grains from the finished milk kefir beverage. Just pure the content of the vessel through a plastic sieve and fill it into another jar or into bottles made from glas, pottery or plastic.
Depending on your individual taste respectively the flavour that you prefer (sour or mild) the kefir yoghurt is finished after 1 to 6 days. Now you pour the drink with the grains through a sieve. After a while only the grains remain in the sieve and the finished kefir beverage flows through the funnel into your jar or bottle.
TIP: If you prefer the milk kefir more viscous, you should gently stir the drink with the grains after the first day of fermentation.
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
6. Now you can rinse the grains thoroughly with cold to lukewarm water.
Now you should rinse the milk kefir grains remaining in the sieve. Preferably, you make that with lukewarm water until all milk and casein residues are away from the grains.
7. Then you clean the fermentation container with hot water.
After the delicious milk kefir beverage has been consumed or stored in the refrigerator you can prepare the next batch. For this you clean the complete equipment with dishwashing detergent and rinse it with clear water after that. Please be aware at all times that kefir don't tolerate detergent residues.
Please note: Kefir grains (kefir culture) may be damaged through the contact with metal. Please use only sieves, spoons and funnels made from plastic or wood.
Attention! The kefir grain itself is just a grain, too. If it should occure that the finished probiotic drink smells very unpleasantly respectively mouldy, you better dispose it. Then you thoroughly rinse the grains through a sieve. After that you should make a new batch with new fresh milk. If you additionally add some milk sugar - a teaspoon more or less - they could recover even faster.
► Order tasty and safe Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home here.
When dealing with milk kefir grains (kefir culture) - what should be noted in general?
Cleanness and hygiene are major aspects when handling with milk kefir grains. For this reason all equipment that comes in contact with the kefir should be cleaned thoroughly. Always use dishwashing detergent. Make sure that all chemical residues are removed with clear water. Just as the grains don't like metal they react very sensitively to chemical residues. Don't forget: Wash hands thoroughly!
In order not to unnecessarily burden the kefir culutre please avoid handling the grains with your hand. Prefer using a plastic spoon.
Click here to download the detailed guidance for making milk kefir
► Milk kefir grains to make your own milk kefir beverage at home can be ordered here.
All about Kombucha and Kefir @ Youtube
Valuable Tipps and frequently asked questions around the cultures kombucha and kefir you will find on our youtube channel.
Visit us on Youtube - just click here and learn more
Please notice:
The information on this website is provided for general information purposes. Even if the information provided here has been collected and examined with utmost care, no warranty can be assumed for the correctness, completeness and relevance of the information offered. Nevertheless we assume no liability for incomplete or incorrect information.