Kefir, A Love Story

So we're on a new kick for ourselves, our girls, our corgi, and so on. I recently found out about something that's been around for quite a long time but unknown to many, an item called kefir, an amazing probiotic.

I'm currenly using it to make kefir milk which I then give to our corgi, Tia, every day with her meals in place of yogurt. Something we've been doing for a couple of years now as she gets older and it helps hide her daily medicine nicely. Plus, she goes nuts over the stuff. I'm also using it to make homemade cheese which is a completely new adventure. I also plan to turn the kefir milk into gelatin squares to give to our chickens during the summer as a nice cooling treat or just plain in a bowl. Let's break this down a bit.

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About Kefir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region, who discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into an effervescent beverage.


Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars. This symbiotic matrix forms "grains" that resemble cauliflower. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Traditional kefir is fermented at ambient temperatures, generally overnight and yields a mildly sour yogurt type liquid.

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How I Make Kefir Milk

Here I started from scratch with a very health batch of kefir grains that I purchased and was shipped priority. I found my resource from our friends over at BackYardChickens.com while discussing probiotics for you and your animals.
Marilyn Kefirlady
http://kefirlady.com/
I highly suggest you check out her website and details on kefir if you're interested.

You can see they are plump and have a cauliflower type look to them. They are squishy and it's highly recommended to not press on them because you'll break the matrix formed by proteins, lipids, and sugars. Just place them into your 1qt. mason jar to begin.

Here I have approximately 1/4 cup of kefir grains that I'll begin with. Not much to look at considering what they actually do which is inoculate the milk, thus turning it into kefir milk, a very impressive probiotic. I'll detail more on that below.

Here is my starting "kit" so to speak that I put together. Since these kefir grains were raised on raw goats milk (something I do not have access to) I decided to go with whole organic milk instead. Typically we only use organic skim milk but skim and 1% milk doesn't create quite the thickness of kefir milk that I was looking for. To each his own, almost any milk will work as long as it's not ultra-pasteurized. That is essentially "dead" milk in terms of kefir inoculation. Just pour in the milk with some room at the top and that's it. I'm using a lid that doesn't seal, it is perforated to allow for air flow. If you seal the container you will pressurize the inoculated milk batch which completely changes the taste and texture. Some do this on purpose to create a more "carbonated" type kefir milk drink.

The final product pre-inoculation. This will go and sit on a dark shelf for 18 - 24 hours. The inoculated kefir milk will be thicker in texture like a slightly runny yogurt. You now have kefir milk that you will strain to retrieve your kefir gains once again. The grains can be moved to a new clean jar and the process starts over again. Once you have kefir milk you can use it as is or create many other very cool items. As I mentioned before, I'm using the kefir milk to give to our corgi, Tia, on a daily basis. I'm also making cheese with it and plan on making chicken treats with it this summer. I'm still developing a taste for it myself.

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Kefir vs. Yogurt
http://www.kefir.net/kefiryogurt.htm

Both kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products…

…but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.

Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.

It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.

Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders.

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So wow! Quite an amazing difference. I hope this information sparks your interest in kefir. Do some Google searching for some of the recipes and info related to all the things you can make with kefir milk. Keep this in mind, if it calls for milk... then you can use it.

Enjoy!