kefir from kefir

[vancheese]

Hi people

I'm interested in making Kefir to extend my home-made skills :) I've made yoghurt from UHT milk and I've a simple yoghurt heater. My question is do I need to use Kefir crystals or can I use a commercially sold bottle of kefir drink(we have T***o Value Kefir :) ) to kick start brewing kefir? (I've not seen the crystals/grains on sale and don't' think my Hungarian is upto it!) Can I also use UHT milk as a base?

Thanks

Andy

[dave45]

what's kefir?

[contadina]

It has to be the proper stuff. If you don't know anyone who has some, try your local health food shop.

You can get two types of kefir grains (one you add milk and the other water and whatever you want to feed the yeast and bacteria). It's really healthy stuff and keeps growing, which is why most people give it away. Allegedly, it was a gift from Mohammad to the people of the Caucasian Mountains, so selling it is frowned upon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir

[vancheese]

The stuff in the shop is the real stuff - Is the final product usually filtered so it stops fermentation?

[contadina]

You said it was sold as drink in the shops, which means the grains have been extracted. Every time you add either water or milk to kefir grains they grow and feed on bacteria to impart their goodness to the drink, which you strain before drinking, and you can them add more liquid to the grains to make some more. Kefir sold in drink form will have already been stained, so won't contain any grains (you'd notice them as they look like cauliflower florets if it's milk-based or bath crystals if it's water-based).