Reply To: Sick newbie here
TheChosenOne;51902 wrote:
Ps could someone post a link to the idiots guide to DIY keifer? Lol
It’s not so difficult.
You aquire some kefir grains. They don’t sell that in a regular shop, so you’ll have to get it from someone else. (I bought mine on the internet.)
Buy some milk. Coconut milk is preferred, but I hate the taste, so I use goat milk.
coconut > goat > cow
If you buy animal milk, it HAS to be organic. Raw milk is preferred.
Put some milk together with some grains in a glass at room temperature. Cover the class, but leave some opening for some air.
Leave it like this for about 24hrs. The longer it stays, the stronger it becomes. After that, remove the grains (now you can start a new batch, etc).
You have to throw away the first batch, because for some reason it isn’t good. You can drink the second batch.
If it is very sour, it worked!
You can keep the kefir in the refrigerator.
Every month, you have to use animal milk to support the grains.
After a while the kefir culture grows. So you’ll have to much kefir grains. You can either give it away or eat the grains, of course if you don’t think that is disgusting ;).
Edit: The kefir grains will ferment the milk, so if everything goes well nearly all the lactose will be gone. Maybe that’s good to know.
Kefir is good when you have eliminated a yeast overgrowth. 24 hours fermented kefir still has almost 50% of its lactose contain. Unfortunately, candida growth factor with lactose is very high. Kefir also has a considerable amount of alcohol and casein. Many people react to the yeast present in Kefir too.
Kefir is a controversial beverage for those suffering a yeast overgrowth. I don’t advice it when the overgrowth is latent.
http:/~dna/kefir-composition.htm
Jorge.
a There is some room for debate regarding energy value of kefir, which is derived not only from the fat content [which is slightly changed and reduced especially during the initial fermentation with kefir grains, with continual reduction if kefir is ripened at room temperature for a given period], but also from protein and the carbohydrate of ready-to-drink kefir. The majority of digestible carbohydrate of kefir is milk-sugar [lactose], of which at 24 hour fermentation followed by 24 hour storage seems to be approximately 3.5%, going by the figures available. This is about 50% reduction of the original lactose content in fresh milk. We need to consider that the figures given in the table above were assessed from kefir prepared with artificially prepared commercial starter-cultures [and not prepared with kefir grains].
This needs clarification, for we also need to consider that kefir prepared with kefir grains, the grains are synthesised from lactose and milk protein by encapsulated organisms. Any portion of lactose synthesized into kefiran, which becomes part of the ever increasing culture, remains unavailable as energy, for the kefir grains are separated from the liquid-kefir before consumption. Remaining with the grains is the kefiran synthesized from a portion of lactose of the original milk. Also, any synthesised kefiran found in liquid-kefir, may have no energy value, for kefiran is not readily digestible. This is because the variety of linkage types of the kefiran molecule accounts for rather poor accessibility of kefiran to enzyme attack. The length of fermentation, and kefir grain-to-milk ratio for preparing kefir, including the growth rate of kefir grains, may play an important role in determining the amount of, and the value of carbohydrate of kefir grain-prepared kefir. More research in the carbohydrate of kefir grain-prepared kefir is needed.
b Although Pyruvic and Hippuric acids are produced during fermentation, neither was detected during storage [kefir stored for 21 days at 4°C].[1]
c Orotic acid and citric acid increase slightly during storage [kefir stored for 21 days at 4°C].[1]
d Lactic acid concentration increases during storage, reaching a maximum of 7739 parts per million [ppm] by day 21 [kefir stored at 4°C].[1] The form of lactic acid found in kefir is almost 100% of the isomer L[+] lactic acid. On the other hand yogurt contains almost equal proportion of both isomers, D[-] lactic acid and L[+] lactic acid through the fermentation of lactose. Research in the former USSR [Russia] concluded that whole milk-kefir is well tolerated and gives adequate weight gain, providing a high content of indispensable fatty acids in blood serum of premature infants.[5] It is therefore logical to conclude that toddlers born at normal gestation should tolerate kefir quite well. D[-] lactic acid can cause Lactic acidosis, in which infants are more susceptible. This is why kefir is quite suitable for infants.
e Initial ethanol alcohol content of fresh kefir can range from about .04 to .5% by volume, and kefir grain-prepared kefir usually contains more ethanol alcohol than commercial starter-prepared kefir. This is probably due to yeast content of both kefir types, where it is common to only include 1 yeast strain in commercial kefir production. Although ethanol concentration increases during storage.[1] Ethanol may reach a maximum of 2% to 3% alcohol by volume, depending on the starter, initial lactose content of the fresh milk, including culture and ripening-conditions and length of fermentation including the amount of kefir-grain culture used to inoculate milk.