Making Dairy Milk Kefir
Description
Ingredients
Instructions
Clean and assemble
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Start by properly cleaning all your utensils, including glass jars, spoons, and hands with hot, saopy water! Then measure out the ingredients and set them all out on your counter so it’s easy to see. Now you have everything ready to go.
Step 1: Fermentation
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Add 1 Tablespoon of kefir grains to your glass jar and fill with 1 cup of milk. Be sure to leave about an inch of room at the top to account for carbonization and grain growth. This 1 Tbsp of grains to 1 cup of milk ratio is effective and easy to remember, and can always be multiplied if you wish to make more.
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Cover the jar with something breathable, like a cheese cloth or paper towels, and secure it with a rubber band. Remember, airflow is important: kefir grains need an oxygen-rich environment to thrive!
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Let the jar with the kefir grains and milk sit at room temperature for approximately 24 hours.
Step 2: Straining
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Place a wide bowl under a strainer and pour the mixture into it, stirring with a wooden spoon to gently push the grains against the strainer and catch all the liquid. You’ll be left with the grains inside the strainer.
Step 3: Store fresh kefir
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Transfer the finished kefir that collected in the bowl to a sealable jar or bottle. It’s ready to be enjoyed immediately or kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Step 4: Start a new batch
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Now you can rinse out the jar you fermented the grains in, then add the grains left in the strainer back into it. Add more milk to start a new batch and you’ll always have fresh kefir!
Note
How to monitor the fermentation process
We recommend leaving kefir out to ferment for 24 hours, but as with all fermentation processes, it may vary a little. If it’s hotter in your home, the fermentation will probably be quicker. Similarly, it may take a little longer in cold weather. You’ll be able to tell the kefir is done when the consistency has thickened and smells fermented. It will also be ever so slightly bubbly.
Don’t worry if the curds and whey begin to separate, that’s fine! But if it goes from just slight swirls of white and yellow on top of the mixture to completely separated watery-looking whey, it’s probably a sign that you can either shorten the length of fermentation next time or increase the amount of milk.
Tips for achieving the desired flavor and consistency
- Proportion matters. If you add too many kefir grains to your milk it will ferment too fast.
- The longer you let it ferment, the more acidic and sour the kefir tastes. So if you’re just beginning your homemade kefir journey, and your first batch turns out slightly too tangy, don’t be discouraged. This most likely means you let it ferment for too long. Use this knowledge to adjust your next batch!
- Milk kefir thrives in an environment around room temperature to ferment well. Ideal temperatures vary between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
- You can flavor your milk kefir base with pretty much anything: honey, maple syrup, dates, fruit purees, fresh or frozen berries, ground spices… Just blend these ingredients with your finished and already fermented kefir and store in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
User Reviews
This sounds easy to do at home!