¡hola! as per the title, i'm looking for milk kefir grains in madrid por favor

How long in the fridge does kefir with fruit added from a second fermentation last? I know normally kefir can last indefinitely in the fridge, but I’m not sure how the added fruit changes this.

I’ve been taking silexan with my morning kefir smoothie, and it’s just occurred to me that the lavender oil in it might be impacting any live bacteria . I’ve tried searching but could not find any info about whether taking lavender or other essential
Oils could kill the bacteria while it’s still in your stomach. Is anyone aware of any reviews around this?

I run out of ideas what to do with the fruits I use for F2 water kefir fermentation after they have done their job and I strain them out for bottling. I hate the thought of just throwing them in the bin. I do not have a compost or a worm box or a garden.

When I started out on kefir, I would just pop them in the blender along with fresh fruits when making smoothies. But there is only so much smoothie i can drink.

I had thought of using them to make ACV but that didn't end well (obviously, all the good stuff has already been extracted by the kefir)

I have tried blending it and making lavashak (fruit leather), that turned out very sad for the same reasons. Same with kimchi, jam, lokum or other desserts.

So what do you all do with your fruits after straining them out? Thank you for all ideas!

Hi! I went out of town recently and forgot about my grains, had them in the fridge in 4 cups of milk, threw out that batch, started a new batch with those same grains in a new container and they fermented SO fast, and I went to open the jar today and it smelled BAD, and I did a small taste and it was like battery acid/ rotten 🙃 did I ruin my grains? Can I just restart them and throw out the next couple of batches? No mould!! (Have had these grains for two years now)

I recently purchased my own grains and started to make kefir but more was being made than I could consume, so I decided to put about a teaspoon of the grains in a smoothie and consume them. All good, until a day or so later I noticed when I had milk (organic, pasteurised and unhomogenised) it caused a lot of pain in the stomach. If I eat full fat yoghurt it seems to ease it a little. Is this just the gut clearing out. I have no lactose allergies.

Near the end of August, a friend gave me 1 tablespoon of kefir grains. I’m so proud! Look how much they have grown.

I love my morning kefir routine. Typically, I add raspberries and blueberries. This week I added some pineapple. Yum!

We’ve had good luck with Fusion Tea grains, turning out gorgeous kefir after the first batch or two - but after a few months, it seems like something just goes bad. We aren’t changing anything, but over time it seems like the kefir gets overprocessed despite reducing grain quality; and then one day it doesn’t work anymore.

I’m not sure if it’s due to skim milk (didn’t have this issue with whole or low fat milk) or we just need to try new grains.

Hola! Quisiera saber qué hacer, me voy a ir 7 días de casa y no voy a poder tomar kéfir.

Sentiré algo distinto en el cuerpo?

Desde enero tomo ininterrumpidamente, habré estado como mucho 2 días en todo este tiempo sin tomar.

Pero nunca paré.

Dicen ustedes que de aquí a que me vaya, haga la prueba y este unos días sin tomarlo? O que piensan?

A alguno le pasó esto?

As title says. I would like to have something thicker like yoghurt. Can I make it using kefir grains? I imagine I just strain the whey. But will I lose a lot of nutritional value if I do that?

Six hours and it’s splitting already. The grains are v small and soft. What am I doing wrong?

Can milk kefir take more than 36 hours to ferment and still barely thicken?
My milk kefir has only thickened very slightly after 36 hours. I’m using one small grain, roughly the size of a chickpea, in 1.75 litres of milk.
I know that’s a small amount of grains, but this exact ratio has worked for me before.
Can kefir be fully fermented while still quite runny, or does this suggest fermentation has slowed down? Has anyone experienced this after previously successful batches?

I think I might’ve let this ferment a little too long over 1/2 day as my kefir is runny like too much whey rather than like runny cream consistency

But so many curds now

I am genuinely surprised to read that some people in this sub just drink one shot-glass or maybe 2-3 tablespoons of kefir every day and act as if their guts are going to be turned inside out or as if they're dealing with some sort of dangerous drug.

Meanwhile I am, at least, drinking 400-600ml (~2+ cups) every single day and doing just fine.

I know that everyone's body is different and that I'm exaggerating a bit, but how can there be such a huge difference in how much kefir people drink?

Can someone help me. I just take 3 tablespoons daily and it's been a month of drinking homemade kefir but turns out I can't tolerate kefir

Any remedies

Hi I am a first time kefir maker. I am in the process of rehydrating my grains on my third rehydration and noticed a thick cream/ beige yellow cap on my kefir. I used an organic cream top milk as the base . Could this be an issue

I have recently restarted making kefir after a break of over ten years. Now that I live in the Alps, I found myself wondering what techniques were historically used in the mountainous climate of the Caucasus. I have put together a few notes based on the observations of E. Podvysotsky (1884), historical reports from the Society of Caucasian Physicians, and subsequent Soviet studies. My intention was to quantify the exact historical metrics. (A quick search in this sub showed no prior posts containing quantitative data.)

1. Vessel capacity: A domestic wineskin for an average-sized family of 5-8 people had a total volume of about 8-10 litres and was filled to roughly three-quarters of its capacity.

2. Harvest size: The amount harvested for consumption in a single operation was 1.5-2 litres, which represented about 20-30% of the total liquid volume.

3. The milking cycle: Harvesting took place twice a day at milking time. The extracted kefir was immediately replaced with fresh raw milk at around 35 °C. When poured into the bulk of the cooler liquid (about 18 °C), it caused only a minimal temperature fluctuation of 2-3 °C.

4. Warm-weather placements: The skin was placed in strategic spots where the temperature never dropped below 12-14 °C, ideally a couple of metres away from the hearth. If the room grew too cold, the vessel was wrapped in thick woollen cloths.

5. Overwintering the culture: In autumn and winter, if the family still had small amounts of milk available, the cycle was reduced to a single harvest and top-up every 2-3 days. The skin was moved to the colder areas of the house, kept at around 10-12 °C.

6. Grain management: Grains were removed every 2-4 weeks. Since they tended to adhere to the inner surface of the hide, the woman would reach her hand and forearm through the narrow wooden neck of the skin. Using her fingers or a wooden spoon, she would scrape the excess grains off the inner walls, leaving the basal layer intact.

7. Daily intake: A Caucasian adult consumed, on average, 1-2 litres of kefir per day.

8. Culinary uses: Kefir accompanied almost every meal. It was consumed at breakfast with barley or millet flatbreads, used to moisten dried meat during the day, and drunk in the evening. In the warmer seasons, consumption increased as it was diluted with spring water to create refreshing drinks.

9. Cultural taboos: According to cultural and religious taboos, the grains could not be sold or openly given away. Three methods were used to manage the surplus: a ritual and mutually agreed "theft"; inclusion in a marriage dowry; or direct consumption of the grains.

10. Genetic continuity: A 2024 palaeogenetic study sequenced the DNA of kefir residues found on 3,600-year-old Chinese mummies. Comparing this ancient kefir with present-day grains from Caucasian villages and those traded privately in Europe and America revealed that the fundamental core of the symbiosis has not changed. The backbone of kefir — Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens alongside yeasts of the genera Kazachstania and Saccharomyces — has remained identical. This incredible stability is due to the microorganisms cooperating to protect one another. However, some biodiversity has been lost or has become latent: traditional high-altitude Caucasian grains still contain active, unique strains of acetic acid bacteria (Acetobacter) and bacteria resilient to harsh climates.

so I used to have really acidic kefir with fast-fermenting grains. the grains used to stay at the top with whey separated at the bottom. I liked it thay way.

I’ve put them in the fridge but it’s been a while ago. Recently I noticed, my grains sit at the very bottom, with clumps forming around it, smells cheesy and soft instead of acidic, and no whey. only some tiny bit warm yellow-ish liquid (might be oil) forms at the top. I feel like my grains work but something changed. do you have any idea why?

I have been making kefir with raw milk for the past four months now and I am not sure what is going on, or maybe it's fine. I have a milk cow who I milk every morning and every morning I strain my kefir from the previous 24 hours, add in fresh raw milk with the grains, and leave it to ferment for 24 hours on my counter. I would guess the temperature ranges from 18-21 degrees C.

My kefir smells and tastes fine, as expected. I don't have anything to compare it to but store bought and it is much nicer than any store bought kefir that I have tasted. However.

The texture. It is NEVER smooth like a drinkable yogurt, which is what I would have expected. It is always liquid, like milk would be, and with little curds of, like kefir cheese in it. Sometimes I will leave it two days and will get more of the cheese curds, and also will get some whey separating then too. But on average, it is liquid with kefir cheese curds, and my kefir grains (which grow like crazy! guessing the warm raw milk makes them happy) seem to get stuck in the cream at the top and I will have to separate them out with a spoon after straining.

I know the kefir is fine, because it tastes ok and I have had it lots on its own and in smoothies etc, it makes great bread. But what is with the texture? Is there any way to make it nicer? I started by using just a paper towel to cover the jar and it was worse then, now I am using a lid and it is slightly more cohesive, but only slightly. Thank you for reading my very long post!

I forgot about my goat milk kefir. 😭
I think it’s been 4 or 5 days.

Is this kham yeast? Are the grains salvageable?

This is the kefir grains btw. It looks like this on top but looks regular white in the rest of it. Could I just scrape off the top and salvage it or should I throw it all away?

I’ve been keeping it in the fridge for like 2 or 3 months now.

Expired store-bought kefir help! Uncomfortable stinging on tongue

Hi! My store bought kefir (with added raspberry flavor) expired 20.09. Looks okay, smells…raspberry (might mask off smells) it STINGS and feels very uncomfortable on my tongue. Can I still use this for baking?

I've been making kefir for a few months now. The problem is that the grains don't seem to be multiplying. In fact, there seem to be fewer and fewer of them, although they continue to produce kefir.

My usual process is to put the grains (I started with about 18–20 g about 4 months ago) in a glass jar and add 1 liter of milk. After 24 hours, all the milk has a consistency similar to drinkable yogurt. I strain it through a plastic strainer and store it in a glass bottle in the fridge to drink every day.

I then put the grains left in the strainer into a glass jar with about 300–400 ml of milk and keep it in the fridge for a week until I make kefir again, repeating the same cycle.

Yesterday, I made kefir and weighed the grains left: 10 g.

Even so, the kefir was ready 24 hours later.

What worries me is that if this trend continues, I won't have any grains left in a few weeks.

What should I do to encourage my kefir grains to multiply?

EDIT: Ok, understood everyones advice. I´ll keep my grains in milk out of the fridge more time and update how it works

I’ve been making kefir for a couple of months now, and I won’t say I’ve been enjoying it because I found the taste quite strong and strange. Regardless, I’ve been drinking it for the benefit.

I would add around 15g of grains with around 400g of milk in a loosely capped jar, and wait until I saw visible signs of the kefir splitting because i couldn’t really tell from the texture otherwise. What would happen is that all the whey would drain out easily, but the curds were quite thick and cheese like, and I didn’t find them very easy to strain. I’d mix the whey and curds and end up with something quite liquidy despite fermentation being completed.

More recently, my kefir completely transformed into something else. The ratio of grains to milk is the same, the only thing I really changed was using a piece of cling film instead of the jar lid. My kefir suddenly started giving me really soft and creamy curds, and it tastes extremely pleasant which really surprised me. Even when it splits quite a bit, it’s very easy to strain. It tastes like a mild yogurt and it smells pleasant.

I haven’t changed much after this transformation happed, but I noticed today that it started smelling and tasting a little bit yeasty which I’m not a fan of and I’m afraid that they’ll revert back to the old kefir I was producing.

I want to know what influences the texture, because despite the splitting in both cases, the curds were completely different.

Thanks!

I was given kefir grains and once I put them to ferment I noticed the vinegar smell only after I put them into the jar to ferment. 12 hours later the smell has lessened but still smells vingery. Anything I could do or has it just gone bad?

Edit: they are water kefir. The previous owner uses them for fruit sodas etc.