Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby Deena on Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:48 am

I was looking at a few YouTube’s on making milk kefir which I continue to make about 3~ 4 times a week

I’ve been making my own for about 18 months

One YT I looked at, left their kefir to ferment until it had a fair bit of clear liquid at the bottom ,they then put it in the fridge overnight then drained the clear liquid ( called the whey I believe ) using a clear mini plastic tube .
I’ve done it a few times as an experiment I get a nice thick youghety type of kefir
however I’d like to know by doing this are you throwing away some the vital benefits of making the kefir in the first place ??

.....I have no idea as I’ve only looked at a few YouTube’s as well as a couple of books I have and of course any other valuable info I’ve gained from reading posts / replies to any questions I’ve asked on the forum
Thanks in advance
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby kefir_14 on Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:20 pm

Deena wrote:however I’d like to know by doing this are you throwing away some the vital benefits of making the kefir in the first place ??


You don’t need to throw out the whey (clear liquid).

You can use it for other things such as starting vegetable ferments, soaking your grains or cereal to make them more digestible, use in certain recipes or drink it for some protein.

Try searching google to see what to do with liquid whey.

Hope that helps and please let us know what you use it for.
Cheers!
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby smallblueplanet on Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:21 pm

kefir_14 wrote:...
I have started fermenting in the fridge for up to about a week at a time. It seems to work but I’m wondering if it is ok to keep doing this or whether it is detrimental to the grains or the balance of the culture?

I like the idea of fermenting once or twice a week rather than every day.


Hi, did you reach a decision about this? How's your kefir?

I keep ours in the fridge for two to three days and then bring the mason jar out to warm up and finish fermenting. I wonder what effect this has on the grains. This lot of grains is still quite a small amount but is my second version. The first batch I obtained fermented the milk to make very strongly flavoured kefir. We didn't enjoy the taste so I got another 'batch' from ebay and this has a much milder flavour (even when it separates into 'curds & whey') - so I'd hate to lose it
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby kutululu on Thu Feb 27, 2020 1:47 am

I think your way is a possible compromise. From what I've read, keeping the kefir grains in the fridge all the time can affect the microbial composition of the culture (e.g. Saccharomyces yeasts don't like cold). So when you let the mason jar out to warm up for some time, it's probably a good idea to keep the culture in balance. But then, some people keep the grains in cold all the time and they're fine.
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby smallblueplanet on Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:50 am

Thanks kutululu I guess I was a bit worried keeping it in the fridge long time might create 'a monster'! :D Where did you read your kefir info, I only really have read 'general' and anecdotal stuff about kefir.
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby kutululu on Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:47 am

I follow a blog called "Zkvašeno" (literally means "Fermented") for quite some time, but obviously it's in Czech language (my native), so that would be of no help to you. They write about fermenting all kind of food and drinks and I got a lot of info this way in my beginnings. Their articles are fun and usually combining practical experience with theory. Currently I really enjoy reading this forum as it contains a lot of helpful informations and new ideas for fermenting.

Now, I checked again the article about kefir and this is the info available:

The kefir will ferment even in the fridge only, but it's going to take a longer time and some of the bacterias won't multiply. It will be thinner than a kefir fermented at the room temperature and the grains will grow much slower. They don't recommend to keep the grains in the fridge all the time for the reason I've already written, i.e. some strains don't endure the cold and die. I guess you still get a kefir, but it's going to be different.

I prefer the way of fermenting around 24h at the room temperature, put out the grains and let the kefir ferment in the fridge for another 12-24h. This way it gets thicker.
Last edited by kutululu on Thu Feb 27, 2020 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby smallblueplanet on Thu Feb 27, 2020 1:31 pm

kutululu wrote:I follow a blog called "Zkvašeno" (literally means "Fermented") for quite some time, but obviously it's in Czech language (my native), so that would be of no help to you...

I prefer the way of fermenting around 24h at the room temperature, put out the grains and let the kefir ferment in the fridge for another 12-24h. This way it gets thicker.


True, my Czech is limited to červené víno, prosím. Which I learnt in the mid-90s when doing a couple of weeks digging (on an archaeological site!) near Velim. :D

Our kefir has no problem thickening, in the fridge it takes closer to a week (noticeable when we've been away on hols) or 2-3 days in and 8 or so hours out (temp. dependent). I guess they're all different.
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Re: Milk Kefir - Regularly fermenting in fridge

Postby alisoncc on Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:48 pm

Also live in Australia, gets very hot during the day. Take my jar of fresh milk/grains out from the fridge just before bed. Leaving out overnight. Normally fermented sufficiently to be ready by 10:00am. Once consumed replace milk and grains, and return to the fridge for the day.

Received my grains in March 2015. Still going strong.

Quick question, with this novel corona virus around, perhaps limiting my ability to get fresh milk regularly, has anyone tried using reconstituted dried full cream milk powder to make kefir. I've stockpiled half a dozen packets of dried milk powder just in case. Going give it a go, but don't want to kill off my grains.
Rev Mother Bene Gesserit.

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