talk to me about kefir

[ktgrok]

I got some grains from a friend of a friend. I have some fermenting on my counter right now. How do you use it? I'm thinking I will make a smoothie, or add some vanilla and maple syrup? Any other thoughts? Oh, and how do you pronounce it?

[happypamama]

I always pronounce it keef-ur, but I'm not sure that's quite correct. :) I've seen multiple pronunciations for it.

 

Once it's fermented (for me that's about 48 hours or so in the winter, 24 or so in the summer), take the grains out and put them in a new batch of milk (assuming you're using milk, that is). It's a little tart and can take some getting used to at first, so you may need a bit of sweetener. I like to mix it with some frozen berries/peaches/mango chunks and a banana or two (which may or may not be frozen), and a little raw honey if it's still too tart. Then blend it all together into a smoothie. If you end up with too many grains, you can add some of them to the smoothie too for a great probiotic boost.

[Peela]

When I made milk kefir, I would make smoothies for everyone from it.

 

I prefer not to have dairy at the moment but I did recently dig my milk kefir grains out from the back of the fridge after a full year of not using them (they were jsut sitting in milk for the whole time), and made a batch- took 2 days, and worked perfectly.

 

I have water kefir grains too and I am enjoying water kefir at the moment.

[Amira]

I like to drink it or make smoothies. Many Americans pronounce it key-fur, but I say kuh-FEER since I discovered in a former Soviet country and that's the original pronunciation.

[HLDoll]

The correct pronunciation is keh-FEER. In the summer I'm more likely to do the smoothy thing with bananas and fresh berries. In the winter, when mine isn't sitting dormant in the fridge, I sweeten it with a tiny bit of stevia and add some frozen blueberries to it and drink it that way.

[Blueridge]

Even though the pronunciation may be keh-fer, it sounds too much like a heifer, so I say kee-fer. :) There is a nice section all about it in the Nourishing Traditions book that can give you some ideas.

[jeri]

But I like it sort of sour. I pour 1 cup in a bowl and add an unsweetened musli kind of thing to it (not sure what it would be called in the US since we are living in Germany,but it's a grain mix of raw oatmeal, flax seeds, rolled rye, etc. without any added sweetener). It's really addicting and it makes me feel full all morning!

 

Jeri

[sleepymommy]

When I use to make milk kefir (which I pronounce as ke-feer), I added mango pulp and make mango lassi.

[sleepymommy]

When I made milk kefir, I would make smoothies for everyone from it.

 

I prefer not to have dairy at the moment but I did recently dig my milk kefir grains out from the back of the fridge after a full year of not using them (they were jsut sitting in milk for the whole time), and made a batch- took 2 days, and worked perfectly.

 

I have water kefir grains too and I am enjoying water kefir at the moment.

 

That is great to hear! My milk kefir grains have been in the fridge for about a year and I've been worried about whether or not they may have died. I hope they work whenever I get around to them again.

 

I had some water kefir in the fridge for a few months and it took a couple of batches but they're still working.