Adventures in ... Kefir! Part 2 - Coconut Kefir FAIL.

While my milk kefir has been a very easy and successful project, I also have been trying to start a batch of coconut kefir. The process is the same, and from all my research, all I needed to do was take some of my kefir grains, and cover it with coconut milk instead of cow's milk. Apparently it can take a couple of tries before the culture "figures out" what to do with the coconut milk, so for a week I would cover the grains with a cup of coconut milk, let it sit overnight, pour out the failed kefir the next day, and add fresh coconut milk. By the end of the week I would just have sour coconut milk the next day instead of coconut kefir, so I gave up trying. My last batch smelled so bad that I dumped the culture as well, figuring it had probably gone bad.

I'm not sure what I was doing wrong. I guess when I have an abundance of kefir grains again, I will do some more research and try again. I was really looking forward to mixing up my kefir smoothies so that I wasn't always eating cow's milk each time.

Anyone out there have any experience with this?

Adventures in ... Kefir! Part 1 - Cow's Milk Kefir = Success!

Kefir Grains

Kefir "cheese"

I finally scored myself some kefir grains a couple weeks ago, and have since been healing my gut with some probiotic goodness from homemade kefir. 


The process is super simple. Literally, the hardest part of starting to make my own kefir was locating some grains. You see, the kefir culture multiplies over time, so anyone who is culturing kefir will wind up with more culture than they need. So if you know someone who is already making kefir and who has some extra grains, that's a cheap and easy way to get started. Otherwise you will need to order some online, or check your local craigslist to see if someone has some to sell or give away. 


Once you've got the grains it's an easy-peasy process. All I do each morning is put my tablespoon of grains in a glass and cover it with about a cup of milk. Then I put a towel over the glass to keep bugs out, and stick it in a cupboard for the next 24 hours. The next morning, I put the kefir in the blender for my smoothie, and scoop out the grains to repeat the process. 


If I decide that I don't want to drink the kefir right away, I can stick it in the fridge and it will keep for a couple of weeks there. I can also put the grains in the fridge with some milk if I don't want to make any more kefir for a couple of weeks. 


I've also been straining some of it to make the thicker spread and mixing it with a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast for a spread. I've also used kefir cheese in place of mayonaisse for deviled eggs (which garnered rave reviews), and I could use it for a veggie dip, too. So many options, so much healthy probiotic goodness!