Kefir 1ltr

[Armanda Kicks]

1Put the funnel inside the swing-top bottle and balance the sieve atop your funnel. Slowly pour the tibicos (water kefir) through the sieve, into the funnel. The liquid will fill the bottle and the grains will be caught in the sieve.

The method I use for making water kefir is quick and lazy! Some methods call for boiling water, adding sugar and cooling it. I have found that I can skip heating water and just shake the jar to dissolve the sugar. The easier I can make it, the better, as this culture needs to be fed pretty often. This method requires that you have good quality, filtered water. Some prefer to boil the water and cool it.

You can add flavours to the jar for the initial fermentation stage, or you can add pieces of fruit to the bottles for secondary fermentation and strain them out to serve. You can use whole, fresh or dried fruit flavours such as ginger or turmeric or try adding juices or syrups to the secondary fermentation in the bottle instead. Some water kefir flavour combinations to try:

1) In a clean quart 1 liter (1 quart) jar, add sugar and water, screw the lid on tightly and shake to dissolve sugar. Add water kefir grains (and optional fruits/flavorings). Be sure to either loosen the lid; or take it off and replace with a tightly-woven cloth cover, secured with a rubber band instead.

3) Bottling (optional). If you added fruit or other flavourings, skim from the top as best you can with a clean spoon. Compost or eat the fruit. Using a sieve and a funnel, strain mixture into a bottle, placing kefir grains in a clean jar, ready for next use. Cap the bottle. Keep the bottle at room temp for another 2 days or more. Check the fizziness by letting the pressure off of the bottles, listening for that release of gas. Once you are satisfied with the fizz factor, drink right away or refrigerate for up to a few weeks.

Want to add more flavour and fizz? You can add more sugar/fruit pieces or fruit purees to the bottle, just as with kombucha. Experiment by adding some mango puree, fruit syrup or fresh berries to the bottle.

Andrea Potter is a Chef and Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Since 2009, she has owned and operated Rooted Nutrition, teaching extensively on topics from whole foods nutrition and alternative baking, to seasonal soups, and fermenting and preserving food. Andrea is passionate about supporting health-motivated cooks to make informed healthy choices that start with vibrant, delicious, practical recipes and culinary techniques. Learn more at RootedNutrition.ca.

Genuine live cultures of Kefir grains which have been cultured for hundreds of years have been shown to be far superior to commercially made kefir both in terms of probiotic diversity and superiority of flavour.

To make a mild tasting kefir, use 5-10g grains per litre of milk. Anything above this will give a stronger tasting kefir that will ferment more rapidly. Ensure your equipment is dishwasher clean, or has been washed in hot soapy water, and rinsed well before you start.

If you have a milk allergy you can substitute soya milk or coconut cream instead of dairy milk. Fermented foods can contain traces of histamine, which could be an issue if you have a severe histamine allergies.

If you are immunocompromised, have had recent gastric surgery, or have an underlying serious health condition please do check with your GP first before consuming. People with a dairy intolerance are often able to consume kefir as post-fermentation it has lower levels of lactose. IBS/IBD sufferers should try a couple of milliliters at first; it often helps with these conditions, but in some people may have the opposite effect. Trace amounts of alcohol could be present if a strong kefir is made.

Soya milk makes excellent thick kefir, and the grains will usually grow in this medium. Tinned coconut cream is a better choice than coconut milk, and gives a thick, tangy, almost yogurty consistency; choose an organic brand as these have no additives. How well they will survive a non-dairy lifestyle entirely depends on your own kefir grains and the microbes they contain. If you notice that they are not making kefir, or not growing much, try refreshing them in some dairy milk for a few days. With the exception of soya milk, which contains many short-chain peptides, health benefits of other milk alternatives have not yet been investigated.

Tropical Kefir: make a tropical blend of banana, orange, pineapple, mango, lime and kiwi (or any other combination or addition you like) or use a fresh pressed tropical juice (not from concentrate) and mix in equal parts with water kefir.

Place in a small jar with an equal volume of sugar to grains (so 1 tbsp sugar per 1 tbsp of kefir grains) and fill up with water, add a tablespoon of sugar once a week to keep alive. When you want to use them again, simply drain the storing liquid, rinse the grains and use as above.

-Cover jar with something breathable, like a tightly woven cloth or coffee filter, and secure with a rubber band. The kefir grains don't need oxygen to survive but there are bacteria strains within milk and kefir grains that thrive in oxygen-rich environments, so airflow is key.

-Return the kefir grains from the strainer back into their jar and pour fresh milk over them again, then cover and repeat the whole process. Kefir grains will double in size every two weeks or so, so make sure to add more milk to maintain the 1:1 ratio. If you have too many grains, give some to a friend or mix them into a smoothie.

Water kefir is a lightly sweet and refreshing tonic, bubbling over with healthy bacteria (You can read about the health benefits of fermented foods here) . The taste is pleasant on its own or it can be elevated with an endless combination of flavors. Spicy lemon ginger and cultured grape soda are pictured here (our current favorites!)

My family started drinking water kefir about a year ago. At the time, I was getting into home fermentation in an effort to get a wider range of probiotics into our diet. Probiotic-rich foods not only create a more favorable balance of gut flora, but amazingly, the bacteria work to physically repair the gut lining.

Several days later, I nervously strained the finished water kefir and reused the grains to make my first new batch. Within hours it started coming to life. I relaxed as the mixture bubbled away happily in a dark and formerly stagnant corner of my kitchen counter. It was fun to check in now and then, giving the mason jar a little twist to encourage bubbles to surface (I read later that this is a good thing to do if you think of it.) Plus, the taste was quite pleasant!

My children and I benefited right away. My 2-yr old daughter had recently snubbed her nourishing diet for a phase of picky eating that was starting to affect her digestion. Her digestion normalized after the first round of water kefir. I was also thrilled to be getting probiotics into my son again, who at the time did not like soured milk products or sauerkraut.

I have yet to dehydrate our grains, but here is how to do it from what I understand. Rinse the grains with filtered water and spread them out between two sheets of parchment and leave in a safe, but ventilated place to dry out at room temperature for 1-4 days. You want them to be very dry. You can also use a dehydrator. They should keep for several months.

Maybe this is one of those gray areas that can help people with troubleshooting? For instance, if you are rinsing and your grains seem to not like it, try not rinsing (and vice versa?) I appreciate you adding to the discussion!

OR, if you want to stay on the safe side, start the grains in spring water until you get to know how they act & multiply in their ultimate environment. Hopefully they will multiply and you can use the extra grains to do a few rounds of experimentation in your filtered water to see the difference.

Just made my first batch of coconut water keifer, but think I goofed up. I added 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the coconut water and the grains. Did I mess my grains up or would it be ok to use them again? Thanks!

If you did add too many minerals, you may notice your grains or your finished water kefir being slimy or gooey. It is still fine to use, just make sure to cut back on the minerals for future batches so your grains can re-balance. As long as they are not dissolving and getting fine like sand, they will be OK for more batches.

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