Kefir grains shrunk and stopped to reproduce

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Kefir grains shrunk and stopped to reproduce

Postby dries on Fri Nov 15, 2019 3:48 pm

Hi all.

I have been making milk kefir for a few months now and it started of very well. After a couple of weeks I was throwing out about a tablespoon of the grains every week as they were reproducing rapidly.
Then when summer happened, raising the room temperature, I moved to leaving the grains in milk in the fridge to ferment slowly which produced good kefir, but very suddenly, over the course of a week or so, the grains started shrinking until I only had about a teaspoon left (from about a tablespoon).
I have since gone back to fermenting at room temperature, and the grains continue to make good kefir, but the grains stay tiny and aren’t reproducing, which is now starting to become an issue that the room temperature is lower and it is taking longer for even a small amount of milk to ferment, making me worried the milk will go off before fermenting.

Sorry for the long ramble ;)
Does any have any ideas?
dries
 
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Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 4:07 am

Re: Kefir grains shrunk and stopped to reproduce

Postby living the dream on Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:18 pm

I know this is a late reply, but hope it helps. When the grains are in the fridge, they still need fresh milk to feed on even though it is a slowed down process because they get sleepy in the cold. I also give mine a 'rest' once in a while in the fridge. When I bring them out, it takes several days, sometimes a week or more to get them strong again. I give them fresh milk and strain every day and use a quart jar. I use fresh goat milk. Keep them in fresh milk on the counter and they should come back. I have also noticed different grains from different sources produce their own special tastes. I hope it helps.
living the dream
 
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Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:33 am


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