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It is common knowledge that I have received the Kefir grains a few weeks back and with these grains I have been making Milk Kefir.  Not those Kefir cultures you buy from some manufacturer which comes in powdered form with just a few strains of live bacteria extracted from Milk Kefir. But the actual Kefir grains. This is the real deal, man! They are like those little white cauliflower like things which when you placed them in a milk medium, they convert the milk into Kefir. Yes, the probiotic and delicious milk beverage. However, it is surprising that not many people know about Kefir. I have been asking my friends whether they have heard of this Kefir and most of them looked at me like I am asking them about the theory of life. I myself had not heard of Kefir just a few months back. I guess it is some sort of a well-kept secret. But I am glad that I have discovered Kefir and I really enjoy drinking this probiotic powerhouse.

If you don’t like the taste of fresh milk, you might find the taste of milk Kefir a little more pleasant. If you drink milk once in a while, you might find this “milky” aftertaste objectionable. Kefir doesn’t have this aftertaste. That is because most of the lactose have been converted to lactic acid and the result would be a slightly sour (or if you ferment longer, very sour) but tangy beverage. It has this slight fizz at the end! If you used full cream milk like what I often use, the resulting Kefir will be very creamy. Have you drank drinking yogurt before? The texture is even thicker than that. I think it feels more like melted ice cream! The creaminess really adds to the flavour of the Kefir and makes it even more enjoyable. If you use low fat milk or non fat milk, the Kefir will of course be less creamy. The only way I can describe the overall taste of Kefir is that it is pretty neutral tasting. No sharp taste at all, unless you are very sensitive to sourness. Yes, it is tart. All cultured products are tart but if you compare yogurt and Kefir, I would say yogurt is more tart. However, you would smell a slight rotten eggs aroma during the fermentation process. From what I know, this is normal and you won’t find this taste in the Kefir itself. Perhaps it is some sort of by-product of the fermentation? Whatever it is, a lot of people once they smell this “aroma” would immediately think that their milk is rotten and they would throw the Kefir away. Don’t! Never waste the precious Kefir, it’s a crime if you do.

Anyway, I am taking the Milk Kefir primary for my health.  For the last few months, I have been down with fever, flu, cough, sore throat and all sorts of diseases. The worst was that 39.4°C fever I had that got me off my feet for nearly an entire week. I was in between shivering with cold and sweating like a pig. Never have I felt so sick in my life. I would just spend the entire day sleeping and sleeping with no sense of time. Yes, it was that bad. So, there you go. The main reason why I am taking Kefir is due to my poor health. Kefir, being a nutritious beverage and full of probiotic goodness, I hope will improve my health. And recently, I have been feeling much better. I don’t tired easily like before. And just last Tuesday, I had yet another bout of fever but it lasted only a few hours.  And although my legs ached (due to the fever), my body don’t seemed to be affected much at all. In the evening when I got back home, my fever was all but gone. Since I travel by public transport, I mus have caught the fever from someone in the bus or trains. That’s how the majority of diseases get spread in Singapore.

If you are thinking of attempting to make Kefir yourself and you are looking for a source of Kefir grains, please leave a comment. If I have any spare grains to share, I would gladly share them with you. Just leave me with your email address and I will send the grains to you. In return, you must promise to take care of these grains like they are your baby. And if you can, send me some fresh milk! I need them milk to make Kefir! Lol.

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My Kefir grains arrived about a week back and I have been meddling with it and attempting to create a good (or at least acceptable) Kefir drink for me to enjoy. It has not been easy. Although the steps to make Kefir seemed easy enough – add milk to the Kefir grains, strain after 24 hours and add more milk to the Kefir grains and so on. But we must realize that without the proper utensils, you might find it rather difficult. Your strainer must be big enough or it will take hours to properly strain the Kefir out. The container where the Kefir is fermented must be air-tight covered slightly loose (not air-tight as the grains need to breathe) or ants (or other insects) will invade your Kefir. Of course, it is recommended for the container to be glass.

Anyway, after a few tries, I managed to get a reasonably good tasting Milk Kefir. I was told that the type and quality of milk will also affect the taste of the Kefir. I am very tempted to use fresh milk to make my Kefir but it is a bother as fresh milk usually don’t keep well. UHT milk which I have been using all along seemed to be the best solution. I normally would make about 200ml of Milk Kefir per day and I drink it all. When the grains first arrived, I had to throw away the first few batches of Milk Kefir due to the grains being starved. The journey from Germany to Singapore took about 10 days, so I can understand that the Kefir grains may be stressed and may not produce the best of taste. And after the fourth batch, the resulting Milk Kefir was quite delicious. And now, the rather strong alcoholic aftertaste is very much reduced. You can hardly smell any alcohol when drinking. Yes, it is a bit sour but most fermented milk drinks are sour due to the lactic acid being created by the live cultures. Just that companies selling these drinks added sucrose or fructose to the drink, making it less tart and more appealing to consumers.Take for example Yakult. It tastes just like sugar water.

I normally ferment my Kefir for 24 hours. I like my Kefir to be more sour but due to the time contraints  of work, family and friends, I usually stick to the evening when doing the straining of the Kefir. So it is normally 24 hours or 48 hours. 48 hours would probably make a Kefir which is overly sour and tart.

The view of the milk Kefir from the top.

Milk Kefir!  Doesn’t it look delicious?

Can you see the Delta rivers? This is one of the indication that the thickness and consistency of the Milk Kefir is just right for drinking.

I can see that my Kefir grains are starting to grow. There are a few big ones which had growth quite significantly since I got them. It was very heartening to see my grains growing. All my hard work in caring for the grains seemed to pay off and soon, I can hopefully share the grains with others. If you guys are interested in Kefir, please give me a hoot and I will see whether I can spare some grains.

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Kefir – probiotic heaven drink. And it doesn’t taste that bad either. Quite a number of people I know would not have dared to taste Milk Kefir since it has this slight rotten egg smell but once you drink it, it isn’t so bad. If you have taken plain yogurt before (unflavoured), it tastes a bit like that except that you can feel a slight alcoholic twang at the end. Overall, I like the taste of yogurt better but this Milk Kefir is supposed to provide more health benefits. Well, as you guys know my health has taken a nosedive and I am trying ways and means to improve it. And thus, every morning, I have been drinking about half a cup of Milk Kefir.

However, I realized that I don’t have the necessary equipment to properly make Kefir. The strainer I have is made of stainless steel and is just too small. The curds will often choke the holes in the strainer and it will take very long for the kefir to strain out. And the food grade plastic container which I used to ferment the Kefir in seems to be a bit out of place. I was also recommended to use a glass container. Of course, I really wonder why food grade plastic containers like PET is not recommended. Beer brewers have been using PET “Better Bottles” to make their beer without the problem of chemicals leeching to their beers and they ferment their beers in these containers for weeks, even months. From what I know, food grade plastics should not be leeching significant amounts of chemicals to affect our health. But what can I say, if the experts tell you to go get glass, you should do it or else!

Okay, here comes the pictures! I purchased the Kefir equipment from Sheng Siong near my house.

Komax Tea Strainer and it cost me S$0.90. Best investment ever! This will be used to strain my Kefir and the Kefir grains. Cheap and hopefully lasting.

You cannot see from this picture but it is big and should be large enough for me to strain the Kefir grains from the Kefir. I chose the orange colour tea strainer because that is the only colour available there. Don’t envy me and don’t laugh.

Another picture of the tea strainer. This is where the Kefir will drip down to the bowl or container. All you have to do then is to throw the Kefir grains into another container, add milk and let it ferment for another 24 hours. For the Milk Kefir, you drink it. Or let it “age” for 24-48 more hours. According to Dom the expert in Kefir, aging your Kefir provides some additional health benefits. However, due to space and time constrains, I normally just drink the Kefir immediately after straining.

Glass container. This can contain about 1.5 litres of liquid. You may wonder why I didn’t pay the strainer and the glass container together. Well, first of all I actually only wanted to buy the strainer but afterwards I saw that they have the glass containers in stock as well. So I went back and bought it. For S$6.50, the price is quite reasonable too.

Amazingly, this is how the glass container was wrapped up by the sales lady. What we have here are some Chinese female cheerleaders and what not. Look at the picture of the women on the left. Makes you forget all about the Kefir and the glass container. I like to note for the record that I never drop this wrapped glass container even once during my walk home even with smiling, happy looking cheerleaders.

Yes, that’s the glass container I purchased! Looks quite good isn’t it? It comes with a rubber seal to ensure tightness. I like the design of this container. It looks like those you will find in the high end grocery stores catering to Ang Mo like Jason’s. That’s the rubber seal in the container.

And if you look carefully at the newspaper on the background (which was the newspaper the glass container wrapped in), you can see that it is the obituaries!  Sad.

Okay now, it looks much better without the obituaries in the background. I have added the rubber seal and it is ready for use to make Kefir. Just imagine how the container will look with the Milk Kefir inside. Just heavenly! The major problem I foresee is regarding the seal. Will it be able to last, especially after it is soaked it water and/or Kefir for some time? The last thing I wanted is ants attacking my Kefir grains and they can get through small cracks or leaks in the seal easily.

By the way, this glass container is made in Italy! I love Italy.

There, it confirms that the glass container is made by Fido, Bormioli Rocco in Italy. Oh, the correct term for this glass container is Hermetic Jar. I shall remember it.

And the rubber seal is actually called rubber gaskets and it meets alimentary standards. What mean alimentary standards huh?

Well, that’s all I have for today. Now I will go make some more yogurt. Wish me luck.

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Hooray, finally the Kefir grains I bought online have arrived. Well, it came all the way from Germany so it took about 9 days for it to ship all the way to Singapore. And this means that I can make my own Kefir. No more the powdered Kefir thingy but real probiotic milk Kefir with all the live cultures and yeasts! Yes, I have tasted the Kefir made from the powdered Kefir cultures but not the real stuff. I am quite certain that the real Kefir will taste diferent. Actually I really hope that it does.

Anyway, if you guys have no idea what Kefir Grains are used for, let me enlighten you. It is used to make Kefir. So you add milk to the Kefir Grains and let it ferment at room temperatures and it a few hours you get Kefir. Kefir is sort of like yogurt but is fermented from different cultures and yeast than yogurt. We all know that yogurt contains a few live cultures which are beneficial to you, but for Kefir, it contains much much more live cultures. That’s why I say that kefir is a probiotic food. The health benefits to Kefir is too numerous to list down here but you can never go wrong with Kefir. The milk Kefir is supposed to have a drinkable yogurt texture so just think of it as a morning cup of creamy milk. I supposed that a lot of people may be turned off by the fact that there is something like a grain fermenting sourish milk. If I didn’t know about Kefir, I would have never tried any sort of fermented milk. Heck, I only knew that Yakult or yogurt are actually fermented milk products recently! And Kim Chi which a lot of Singaporeans now like, they are also fermented products. Yes, these fermented produce are healthy stuff!

That’s the milk Kefir grains that was sent to me. Don’t look like grains to me. More like cotton wool being soaked with alcohol. And for god’s sake, look at the poor thing, been starving and was squashed for over 9 days now. Do remember that it is a living thing and like all living things, it will need food. It will also need some tender loving care like fresh milk to make it healthy again. The seller recommends me to give it a few days in milk for it to start getting active. I am not in a rush to drink milk Kefir, the most important thing now is to get the Kefir grains healthy. Without healthy grains, it is all for nothing right? I just hope that the Kefir grains are not dead from the transit. Anyway, I will be putting this in milk and letting it do it’s work for 3 days and see what is the result. I read that the first few batches would taste a little weird and unpleasant, which I need to avoid by NOT drinking the Kefir that is produced.

Well, in about 4 days time, I will report back with the taste of the Kefir. Wish me luck.If you are thinking of buying Kefir grain, please visit Mr Michael-Paul Patterson’s website – Timeless Health.

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So I finally took the plunge and bought myself the Kefir grains. No, not the Kefir starter but the real Kefir grains. For those who don’t know the difference between the commercial Kefir starter and the Kefir grains, let me enlighten you. Kefir starters are actually made from cultures extracted from the Kefir grains and made into a powdered form. However, the process to extract all the cultures and yeast is very difficult and thus most (if not all) Kefir starters do NOT have all the cultures and yeast that the Kefir grains have. Kefir grains are the authentic mother culture to produce Kefir and they don’t come in powdered from. They are sort of like a mess of cultures and yeast combined together into something that resemble grains, thus the name Kefir grains.

Okay, I purchased the Kefir grains online from someone in Germany. His name is Michael-Paul Patterson and his website is Timeless Health. The main reason why I purchased from this website is because the owner seemed very knowledgeable about Kefir and Kefir grains. He has tons of video on his website talking about Kefir and the health benefits it provides to the consumer. And his pricing is pretty reasonable. I actually wanted to purchase the Kefir grains from Kefir Dom, but his pricing is a bit on the high side. So, to save some money, I bought from Michael. Anyhow, I think both of them should be suitable sources of Kefir grains but checking out Dom’s website, I am guessing that Dom is the God of the Kefirs. His site has tons of information on making Kefir, growing Kefir grains and well, everything about Kefir and other fermented products. This guy must be bathing in Milk Kefir everyday of his life! If you want to know more about this probiotic cultured milk, you can do no wrong by visiting Dom’s website. The information he has on his site is just mind boogling and might be just a little too much for someone who doesn’t know much about Kefir. And if you are thinking about making Kefir, you should spend a few minutes or maybe an hour browsing through Dom’s website to help you get started. I read nearly the entirely website already and I read it once again. Hey, I need all the information to make the perfect Milk Kefir.

I think it should take about 7 to 10 days for the Kefir grains to arrive. Once it does, I will take a few photos of it. I will, of course take photo of the Kefir making process for you guys to enjoy. I read from Dom’s website that I might need to rehydrate the Kefir grains because it took so long for the grains to arrive. The process is pretty simple – just add milk to it. Then after 24 hours or so, strain the “milk Kefir” and change another batch of milk till the taste and the smell of the Milk Kefir is aromatic instead of stale smelling. It should be producing good tasting Milk Kefir in just about 7 days. I might be also making some Grape Juice Kefir as well. I read that you can use the Milk Kefir grains (spare grains) to make Juice Kefir from most types of juices, isn’t that just amazing?

PS: I came back late today and  thus left the yogurt to ferment for more than 24 hours. When I came home, I checked the yogurt I made the day before and found that it was a bit too sour. I guess what they say is right, the longer you ferment the yogurt, the more sour it gets. The trick is the find the right mix of sourness and firmness for the yogurt. The longer you ferment, the more sour and thick the yogurt will be.

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Well, my kefir is done and I am quite impressed with it, both taste wise and looks. I had expected it to become some gooey milky curds which looks disgusting but surprisingly it looks quite decent. It looks a bit like thicken milk which can be easily poured. Well, if you have no idea what kefir is, then let me give you a little more information about milk kefir. It is a fermented milk product, something like yogurt but not exactly. Just like yogurt, it is made from milk and you will need to allow lactic bacteria to convert the milk to lactic acid. However, kefir has a number of different lactic bacteria from yogurt and it contains yeast as well. So, the resulting milk beverage is slightly alcoholic. Please note that real kefir is made from kefir grains. I do not have kefir grains, so I purchased the kefir starter from the Internet and this kefir starter is not the real thing. It has some of the bacteria and yeasts from the real kefir grains, but not all. Hence, if you ever tasted the real thing, the kefir made from the starter will definitely be different.

Anyway, since I don’t have any sources of kefir grains, I have no choice but to use the kefir powdered starter. And 2 days ago, I made myself some milk kefir! The fermentation took about 18 hours and after the curds are formed, I placed it in the fridge for more thickening action. Please take a look at the photos I have taken of the actual kefir I made.

I poured some milk kefir to a glass and just look how thick it is. Note that when the kefir form curds, you will need to stir the curds into the rest of the kefir or it will lumpy.  What I did was use a plastic spoon and stir the kefir to ensure a smooth consistency. It is pretty easy to do here, unlike yogurt which tends to forms lumps, especially if you ferment yogurt for too long.

Yes, it is thick! Reminds you guys of the MacDonald’s Milk Shake right? Well, of course there is no sweetness in the kefir. You can add sugar or sweeteners yourself if you so desire. I think it tastes best all-natural! I really like the taste of this kefir but I believe that the taste of the real kefir is very different. Yes, I have never tried real kefir before. The Yogourmet Kefir tastes and feels a bit like cream but very neutral. There isn’t exactly a very sharp sour taste which I had expected. The sourness is rather subtle and not overwhelming, unlike natural yogurt. It feels more like a smoothie than a drink anyway. The curds which is formed in the kefir actually makes the overall drinking experience….well….interesting. And just imagine all the live cultures (bacteria) helping your intestines stay healthy.

I will be adding this to my diet. I think maybe 1 cup per day should be alright. This plus yogurt, I am eager to get healthy again!

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Yup, finally the Kefir starter I bought from ebay has arrived. It took all but 8 days of waiting and here it is! And the best thing about buying from ebay, some of the items are free shipping! Yes, even worldwide as well. So all I have to do is pay for the item itself. You might find the price of the items sold on ebay stores a little more expensive but with free shipping, it is worth it. I believe that the shipping price is about US$5 to ship from the US to Singapore. But with free shipping, we do not have to pay for shipping. So overall it is actually cheaper.

Okay, I shall start with the pictures of the Yogourmet Freeze-dried Kefir Starter that just arrived in the mail.

Ahhh….for the best home made kefir! From what I read, you can’t make real kefir from this starter as it is not the real kefir grains. But I would expect some very delicious kefir milk to come out of this and of course, quite a number of health benefits from this fake kefir.  Oh, 1 envelope can produce 1 litre of kefir which can be used up to 7 times before it lose it’s potency. That alone tells you that this is NOT the real kefir grains. Kefir grains can be used continuously to make keifr if properly handled and stored.

Hmmm….it is made up of lactic bacteria and yeast plus some skim milk powder! Come on, call it lactic cultures as bacteria will scare the jeppies of everyone. And looking at the instructions, it seems simply enough. Much like yogurt except that you ferment at room temperature. What you need is milk which has been heated up and then allowed to cool and then add the kefir starter to the milk when it has been cooled down to room temperature.  Then ferment at room temperature for 24hours and you get kefir! Hopefully.

Yup, the packaging is that not exciting. In fact, it is just plain dull but hey, we are more interested in the milk kefir it will produce right? lol. From the above, you can see the culture kefir packs. You get 2 envelopes which allows you to make two batches of 1 litre kefir. Do not waste. You can reuse the kefir up to 7 times before you start to lose the kefir taste, so start with one envelope and reuse the kefir for 7 times before using the next envelope. If you store it in fridge, it should last up to 2 years or more.

Well, I think tomorrow I will be making some kefir. I will also be buying some stuff needed to make the Wheat beer. Wish me luck guys!

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From intensive reading about Kefir, I discovered that those commercial Kefir starters are not the real thing. Kefir starters are actually live cultures and yeasts they have extracted from the the Kefir grains to make into a freezed dried powder for sale. However, due to the complex nature of the actual Kefir grains, a large number of cultures and yeast are not easily extracted and thus, only a few strains of bacteria and yeast are in those commercial Kefir starters. Thus, the Kefir made by these Kefir starters do not have the full health benefits of the real thing. You will also discover that the kefir made by the commercial starters are less aromatic and do not taste as nice as the ones made by the Kefir grains. Furthermore from what I read, those commercial starters are not able to continuous grow and need to be replaced by another batch of powdered starter after a few batches. The real Kefir grains will be able to continuously grow if kept in a clean environment. This means that the Kefir grains can be used continuously to make kefir and will not lose it’s potency after a few batches. Yes, real Kefir grains is that strong and resilent. That’s the beauty of real Kefir grains. They will grow and grow and after a few batches of kefir, you will have more than enough Kefir grains to share with your friends.

However, the main problem I have now is to get the Kefir grains itself. I can’t find any local sources of kefir grains at all. I have asked in local forums about getting access to Kefir grains but nobody seems to know how or where.  It seems that Kefir is not popular in Singapore. Worst, I can’t find any stores in Singapore selling the actual Kefir as a drink. And surprisingly, a lot of Singaporeans once they see the actual Kefir grains itself, they get scared of drinking it. Imagine the look on one of my friend when I told her that yogurt is actually made from bacteria. I think I probably made her stop taking yogurt for life. But that is the truth. Just like Yogurt, Kefir is also made from bacteria and yeast eating the milk sugars from the milk to produce lactic acid. Nothing gross about it at all. Kimchee (which is reported to be one of the healthiest food) is also made from bacteria fermenting on cabbages and other vegetables. Nowadays everyone in Singapore love Korean food and they seem to love Kimchee too. If they don’t find Kimchee gross, they shouldn’t find Kefir or even Yogurt for that matter, gross at all.

For more information on Kefir Grains, please take a look at Dom’s Kefir Site.

Anyway, I have just made a batch of yogurt from bottled milk. It is UHT, so I guess it doesn’t taste really great. But, this is just an experiment only. I wanted to know why my yogurt always has this whey yogurt separation which looks rather ugly. Is it because I added too much milk powder or is it because I did not stir the starter yogurt in properly. Will give you guys an update tomorrow.

Oh and my Kefir starter I bought from ebay should be arriving this week. Once it arrives I will take a few photos for you guys to enjoy and make some kefir for me to enjoy.

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Well, I couldn’t find Kefir grains in Singapore. No health store in Singapore seems to be selling the Kefir grains to make Kefir. Apparently, not everyone thinks that Kefir is very healthy. Most health stores only stock yogurt and yogurt cultures. Heck, even some health stores don’t stock yogurt starters. I guess it could be due to the fact that Singaporeans are just too busy to make yogurt. They would rather just go into a store and get some yogurt to eat. For me, I am a bit more adventurous. I like to make stuff myself. As you know, I make my own yogurt. And I brew my own beer. Now I am going to make myself Kefir. Yes, I have never tasted Kefir before but from what I read on the Internet, a lot of people are saying that not only is it healthy stuff, it tastes great as well. Something like a mix between yogurt and milk with some alcohol in it.

From what basic knowledge I have about Kefir, it is a fermented milk drink made from fermenting milk with the kefir grains. The grains are actually a colony of yeast and cultures (bacteria!) which ferments milk into kefir at room temperature. There are many health benefits to drinking kefir since the bacteria in the grains are good bacteria, something along the lines of the yogurt cultures. Just like yogurt, the bacteria in the Kefir helps digestion and makes the proteins in the kefir more easily digested by the body. It also provides a number of vitamins, calcium, phosphorus and other important stuff to our bodies. Unlike yogurt where the cultures will die in the intestines, the kefir bacteria are able to survive in that environment, helping to promote good health. Kefir is also full of enzymes, which is good for our health as well. Hmmm….looks like this kefir is so sort of health miracle food. I definitely think that drinking kefir in moderate amounts will be benefital to your health.

If you are interested in making kefir, what you need is the kefir grains. Or if you can’t find the kefir grains, you can purchase the kefir starter online. The starters are merely freezed dried kefir grains which have been carefully packed for freshness. Once you get the grains or the starter, you will need to add milk to it and let it ferment at room temperature for 12-24 hours. The longer you allow it to ferment, the thicker and more sour it is going to be, just like when you are making yogurt. In fact, it is kind of like yogurt, just with more cultures and yeast.

Anyway, I purchased the kefir starter from ebay. It cost about US$6 for 2 packs. Each pack is about to make 1 litre of kefir and can re-use up to 7 times. I think that it will arrive by next week or so and then I will be able to make myself some kefir. Hopefully, the taste of kefir will be enjoyed by my whole family.

PS: Kefir starters are not Kefir grains because the kefir starter are just some strains of bacteria and yeast extracted from the Kefir. So you would not taste the actual thing if you buy starters.

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