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Re: Probiotics

A friend who had promised to send me some fresh milk kefir grains came through since the weather has cooled enough to not worry about temperatures during shipping. :-()

I've been tending them for a week and a half, through cycles of 1/2 gallon of milk plus some diluted 1/2 and 1/2 and whipping cream due to running out of milk, experiencing first gamut of fermenting kefir, perfect fizzy and creamy kefir, an over-active mature kefir that overflowed the airlock, to over-ripe kefir, then back to fresh supply of milk and lovely creamy, foamy kefir... starting to get the hang of what to look for, and seeing my kefir grains starting to grow a bit, too.

DH and I have been drinking some of the wonderful home-made kefir sweetened with a tiny bit of stevia and a bit of honey, and he has been drinking them without complaint. Image We also drink it with a spoonful of home made blackberry sauce. And I had enough refrigerator matured kefir to make a pitcher of smoothie for everyone today (frozen blackberry, kale, pineapple... fresh sectioned naval orange, a banana, and local wild honey).

I've also branched out to making coconut milk kefir and goat milk kefir -- mostly started out with 2ndary fermentation of strained cow's milk kefir (gave each a tiny blob in their individual main fermentation jar to adapt and plan on continuing to add to them as the main mass of grains grow).

It turns out that one of our two kitties can't get enough goat milk kefir LOL.

At some point, I want to obtain some real water kefir grains, but -for the time being- also separated out a tiny blob of milk kefir grain to play with today, culturing a spice jar full of sugar water/ginger/raisins/bit of orange -- started this morning, it floated to the top and sank back down a little while ago. 8)

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...I'm spending way too much time on these -- my typical enthusiastic both feet in start of a new and exciting project. :D

Over the summer, I fell in love with Trader Joe's organic full-fat coconut milk that comes in a can. It tasted sooooo yummy! So I used it for my first batch of coconut milk kefir... then the weather turned cold and the kitchen temperature dropped below that magic number. 2nd time, when I opened a can after THOROUGHLY shaking it as usual, I discovered that the top 1/3 ...nearly 1/2 was SOLID coconut oil. I used the thin 1/2 can of coconut "milk" then opened another can, thinking that can might have been an older one. But 2nd can was the same so I added the liquid from the 2nd can and saved the oil from both cans for another use.

Yesterday, I had the clever idea to gently warm the can before opening in a bain-marie, shaking thoroughly THEN using it. Today, I discovered my mistake -- the oil had floated to the top and solidified, englobing the kefir grains. :shock:

This morning's activity consisted of MAKING fresh coconut milk from unsweetened dried shredded coconut. I blended 1 cup mixed with 1 cup hot spring water and 1 cup cold spring water then fine-mesh strained to make warm/tepid coconut milk.

First, fine mesh strained out the solidified oil from the strained 2nd culture airlock bottle and transferred to refrigerator culture jar. Then strained the englobed kefir grain in the regular grain strainer while pouring the grain jar kefir to the cleaned 2nd culture airlock bottle. Then gently poured small amount of the the warm freshly made coconut milk over the grains and oil through the strainer to melt the oil until the grains were exposed and rinsed. Grains went back into the grain jar with the warm coconut milk to be swirled and rinsed until they were completely free. Then I added back about 1/2 the amount of 2nd fermented coconut kefir.

1/2 of 1/2 of 1/2, so ratio of cow's milk kefir has reduced quite a bit and This latest batch must be getting close to mostly coconut milk? This is probably why the coconut oil is solidifying as well -- not enough milk fat to emulsify.

I made a 2nd extraction of basically low-fat coconut milk by adding another cup each of hot and cold water to the strained shredded coconuts -- I was prepared for this to be weak and tasteless, but it is actually very good. I added 3/4 cup sugar to the strained "must" and boiled and simmered until I ended up with a ...something. I was aiming for coconut jam kind of thing -- didn't want to do the custard with egg yolk this time. But it is tasty and will be used in baked good or something.

Coconut milk kefir has been crazy. This is the one that keeps bubbling through the airlock. I'm down to only half-filling the bottle now. The previously made coconut kefir are in the fridge for further experimentation/fermentation, tightly capped now to possibly trap the air for a bubbly beverage. If they like the home made coconut milk from shredded coconuts, I may not buy any more canned. It was super easy.

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I was advised that milk kefir grains need animal milk to sustain them -- maybe I should "supplement" the grain in the main coconut milk fermentation/culture jar with some cow's milk once in a while or let it vacation in cow's milk every so often? Or maybe I should use young coconut water as supplement if I can find unprocessed one -- I heard they can be found in the freezer section. (I'm thinking of the water from green coconuts used as IV fluid....) I wonder if water kefir grains is what should really be used to grow coconut milk kefir...? But not to worry, I'm only using "spare" grains.

The main blob of milk kefir grains have grown and at least doubled in volume since I started (and smaller blobs have been "harvested" for my conversion to water kefir experimentations and to start the goat milk kefir grain jar. Goat milk results have not been spectacular. Partly, I think it's because goat milk kefir is supposed to be thin, but I think the main issue is I started out with canned goat milk, which I didn't realize was EVAPORATED. Even "fresh" goat milk in the dairy case was ultra-pasteurized. Going to Whole Foods today to see if there are any other kind -- I tend not to look at the ones in plastic jugs because I assume they taste like plastic -- water in same soft plastic jugs taste like plastic to me.

Trader Joes sells pasteurized but not homogenized milks which are on the New England Cheese Co.'s "good milk" list for making cheese. Now, I understand kefir grains grow better in whole milk so that's what I was looking for, but for some reason, TJ's only had homogenized whole milk and highest fat unhomogenized was 2%. My DD's LOVE this 2% milk, so last time, I bought the whole homogenized for the kefir and 2% unhomogenized for DD's. But for some reason, one DD decided whole milk tasted better and drank a lot of it. So couple of nights ago, I only had 2% unhomogenized milk left.

Boy oh boy -- all yesterday I was constantly looking at the milk kefir grain pitcher -- I got this one a few days ago Image https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SX300_.jpg The thin'ish 2% milk was curdling fast, trapping the whey in the bottom and it was getting increasingly difficult to get them to move and mix by swirling the jug.

By last night the content of the jug was practically yogurt. I drained through the strainer with some difficulty. I'm using the "dome lid" of Easy Sprouter Image
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LfNsrSiDEOE/U ... tainer.jpg
which fits inside the larger Oxo funnel Image
https://media.kohlsimg.com/is/image/kohl ... _sharpen=1

I had been warned not to get cream on top unhomogenized milk -- that homogenized milk is better because the grains can get trapped in the floating milk fat (just like what happened with the coconut milk Duh!) I guess it was jut as well that this was only 2% milk.

...then I discovered that there was only about 3/4 cup of 2% milk left! (panic) -just enough to rinse thick kefir from the grains and strainer- ...So the rinsed grains went in the fridge in a jelly jar of 2% milk to chill/take a break.

I use that dome lid lined with a square piece of paper towel (approx 1/2 of the half sheet Bounty) to drain and make yogurt cheese. (It fits well in the wider 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup) That's what I did with the thick kefir last night. It should be at about Greek yogurt consistency this morning, and if I transfer the dome lid to a shorter container (1-cup deli) and let drain some more and dry out for about a week, it should turn into goat cheese consistency.

---

This: Image
https://demandware.edgesuite.net/sits_po ... t&sfrm=tif
Not this: Image
https://scene7.targetimg1.com/is/image/T ... &fmt=pjpeg

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Here it is!
Image -- looking good! :-()

...I had muesli -- soaked (not cooked) oatmeal this morning. For this one, I mixed fresh kefir with old fashioned oatmeal, put fresh grape halves and soft dried apricot pieces with chopped almonds and thinned a bit with white grape juice last night. Then this morning, added fresh sectioned oranges and juice squeezed from the segment sacs and poured some warmed rice milk over. :() Yummy!

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Today, I made a smoothie from 2nd pressing home made coconut milk, coconut milk kefir, cow's milk kefir, frozen mangoes and frozen banana, and a touch of honey. Served with a bit of freshly grated nutmeg and a spoonful of drinking dark chocolate powder for the grown-ups and marshmallow swirl cocoa mix for the teenagers.

It was a hit, but we had about 2 cups of it leftover. It seems that home made kefir is intense and more satisfying/filling than store-bought. Everyone drinks down their first serving like they were starving, but no one is asking for 2nds (except maybe me -- but I've been drinking them longer and more per day since I'm taste testing as I go, so I think my body is already conditioned to it.)

I left the remaining smoothie to culture/ferment in the blender pitcher, then poured into a container and put it away in the fridge in the evening. By bedtime, the liquid had started to foam and separate (about top 3/4 foam and bottom 1/4 liquid or whey), threatening to overflow even in the fridge, so I spooned out some of the thick foam into a shot glass for a taste.... Oh yummy! If this was a little bit thicker and richer, I would call it "fizzy mousse". As it is, the tropical-tasting foam just melts on your tongue with a tantalizing effervescence. :D ...

...I started draining a domed lid full of goat :() milk kefir for 2nd lump of soft "cheese" :-()

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I'm trying two different ways to develop the coconut kefir into a beverage.

First, is 2nd ferment on the counter with a S-airlock until it stops bubbling and pushing the water over, then strain with tea strainer into a pint-sized maple syrup flask, stoppered with vacuum pumped silicone wine stopper, which I hope acts like an airlock. I let that fizz for a while, then added sugar and securely stoppered it to hopefully make a bubbly beverage in the fridge. This morning, I had 1/2 shot of it and it was kind of like very mild version of liqueur made with coconut cream, no discernible fizz (or buzz) except tiny prickles on the tongue. I think it needs more time.

Second one was a mixture of fresh 24 hr fermented coconut milk kefir and freshly home-made first pressing coconut milk, flavored with some frozen pineapple pieces, cut up dried dates, and 20% sugar by volume. Stoppered with wine sealer "airlock" and 2nd fermented for 8 hrs on the counter than overnight in the fridge.

That one tasted like (non-alcoholic or very mild) piña colada at this morning's brunch. I couldn't get an useful review from DH -- he drank it but he said he doesn't like piña colada. -- Does that mean he thought it tasted like piña colada, too...? or NOT? Personally, I loved the strong pineapple flavored creamy foam. (DH doesn't like pineapple -- that probably explains his reaction).

---

...Another one I tasted this morning was creamy full-fat goat milk kefir 2nd fermented with 10% cane sugar, for 8 hrs on the counter than overnight in the fridge. I added maple syrup to this to sweeten and mellow for a little while longer on the counter -- I thought the result tasted a bit like eggnog, but it is probably an acquired taste needing familiarity with goat milk.

---

...For dessert, I gave DH a special concoction I thought up and tried for myself last night -- a 4 oz glass of creamy foam from the mango-banana-coconut/cow milk kefir smoothie on one side and and creamy foam from blackberry-banana-cow milk kefir on the other side, separated by a line of maple syrup. This probably also has a tiny alcohol content since the foam develops in the floating cream from the bubbles as the kefir smoothies are fermenting in the fridge in tightly closed containers. He was skeptical at first when I gave him the glass with a tiny dessert spoon, but once he started, he spooned it all out, then ran his fingers inside the glass to lick up every little bit.

---

That soft cheese I'm allowing to ripen some more is actually ready to eat. I had a taste and it is strongly flavored -- typical of this kind of cheeses and would probably work well as salad topping and for making dips. Did I mention I started a second one from the goat milk kefir? I'm going to salt it and let it drain some more, then let it ripen for a week or two.

I also managed to strain off most of the whey from just starting to curdle cow's milk kefir yesterday, so I could save some thick, spoonable "Greek style" kefir yogurt. Today's was over-fermented with about 1/3 of the volume in whey this morning, so I managed to push aside the curd and pour off about half of it, THEN mixed the rest up and saved the kefir. But this one will be more sour. I might 2nd ferment it with garlic and make a dip.

...As of this morning, I was out of cow's milk except for 1pint. I used it to store the grains in the fridge until I can go get more. I have enough cow's milk kefir in various processing stages for now. (haha)

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My ginger beer exploded LOL

Wow, it really worked. I was truthfully not expecting that....

Based on this recipe from the link my friend gave me -- except I used a piece of the milk kefir to ferment with, and did not add calcium source except baking soda.
Ginger Beer Water-Kefir

https://users.sa.chariot.net.au/%7Edna/M ... gingerbeer

This is quite possibly the original Ginger Beer Recipe. It is suggested that water kefir-grains were referred to as the Ginger Beer Plant when the culture was first introduced to the west, by British soldiers on their return back from the Crimean War.
I had the final fridge fermentation going in "a momento from back in the day" Grolsch lager bottle with a flip-top (wire bale and rubber gasketted porcelain) for the past 2-3 days. I decided maybe it wasn't going so well so was intending to add a Demerara sugar cube, but when I loosened the wire bail, it sprayed all over the kitchen ...and me! Image

I had my 4 oz sample and decided it had a great beginning flavor but was lacking something at the end. Added 1 tsp bottled Santa Cruz organic not from concentrate LIME juice -- perfect! Image

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I was concerned about the alcohol content of the 2nd fermented and older bubbly kefir in the fridge in terms of suitability for offering them to the DD's -- and found this interesting Japanese kefir site with "science-y" data.

Table is excerpted text from the Chrome/Google translation of the page plugged into Numbers for formatting --

How to make kefir champagne
https://www.nakagaki.co.jp/2_7.html


Image

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Here's another article from the same Japanese website. Translated by Chrome browser and edited for readability.
Winter warming hot kefir
https://www.nakagaki.co.jp/2_9.html

     Now is the season of cold.
       Winter warming hot kefir is recommended! !
 Sweet sake is the flavor of the delicious drink that this is similar to. It helps in the prevention of colds by the action of kefir and ginger.

Ⅰ) Ingredients

Kefir (kefir of no sugar added preparation that is chilled in the refrigerator, about 5 ℃
Hot water (hot water that is kept in the thermo-pot, about 75 ℃)
Sugar or honey
Ginger (well washed root ginger)
Grater
Large mug

Ⅱ) How to make

1) fill approximately half of the mug with cold kefir (about 100g)
2) peel and grate small piece of ginger to taste and add to the mug.
3) add sugar or honey by taste.
4) pour in an equal amount of hot water as the kefir (about 100ml), stir quickly.

Ⅲ) For best results

Kefir is also yeast fermentation in the same way as alcohol, so there is a flavor similar to Amazake (sweet sake). Since lactic acid bacteria is killed if too hot, please enjoy as warm beverage.

Is it OK to warm the kefir?

Image
 

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I make my own kambucha as well. I add ginger for the flavor and its benefits.
With kefir nobody was eating it in my house. I eventually stopped. :(

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Well that must have been a bummer. DH has declared that he won't pour his own kefir -- partly, I think he likes the ritual of my mixing it up for him, and this way he can claim indifference to a weird beverage (wife made me drink it) -- partly, I don't blame him since, right now, when you open our refrigerator, you are confronted by rows of cryptically labeled jars and bottles tucked into every nook, containing vari-colored translucent, white, cream, and butter-colored liquids of varying consistency, some fizzing, bubbling and/or frothing..... :lol:

Goat's milk kefir made with pasteurized non-homogenized goat's milk in plastic jug from Whole Foods (I managed to snag the last one in the dairy case other day) turned out pure white with almost none of the goaty flavor. Very mild. I managed to sneak some of that into his cow's milk kefir yesterday. He didn't say a word. :wink:

I was disappointed that he didn't like the ginger beer/ale -- I thought that turned out really well. But he says he doesn't drink ginger ale. ...and it's true he is more of a(n addictive) Coca Cola, Pepsi, and sometimes Dr. Pepper drinker. So I'm going to see if there is a good cola kefir recipe out there.

...what does kombucha taste like? I'm not sure if I will do that right now -- kefir has been pretty time consuming -- but I might get into that later. 8)

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Today's in(no)vention :()

Leftover green beans creamy soup with kefir

- Sautée roughly chopped elephant garlic (sunflower oil and EVOO), leftover green beans, and some chopped portabello mushrooms.
- Add home made condensed turkey stock and equal amount of cow/goat milk whey. I cheated and used instant mashed potatoes, but would add boiled potatoes here to thicken.
- Immersion blend. Adjust seasoning if needed, but most likely the leftover green beans are sufficiently seasoned.
- Serve in a bowl completely covered with a layer of overnight filter-drained (to remove 50% of whey) and cultured/thickened mixed cow/goat milk kefir yogurt (Don't mix in so some of the probiotics might survive the heat), sprinkled with dried dillweed/seeds.

You could substitute with drained plain yogurt if home grown kefir is not available. ;)

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I'm loving having muesli for breakfast. After reading the above article, I have been adding hot water to the bowl to make creamy and take the chill off.

Image

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Last night for a nightcap, I had a jigger of goat milk kefir 2nd fermented with sugar and vanilla, which initially, while still creamy and then when cream was frothy reminded me of eggnog when served with freshly ground nutmeg, but which had become super tangy after full fermentation cycle. I decided to tame the flavor by adding a good splash of Di Saronno.

...mmm... it was super yummy, but for some reason, my mind kept thinking it reminded me of plum wine... 8)

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Big batch of ginger beer/ale bottle fermenting in a re-purposed glass vinegar bottle is a success! (Milk kefir -> water kefir grains in 1/2 white grape juice, 1/2 water, date/palm sugar, fresh ginger slices, lemon and lime peels ...strained... then second fermented with a strained spice jar of harmless coconut water and boiled eggshell fermented with M->W kefir grains + cane sugar and baking soda in the next cycle) Foam boiling out of the bottle into the glass on opening, nice fizz, bite of ginger and citrusy aroma, touch of leftover sweetness.

Figured out the dilemma with home made coconut milk and the floating layer of coconut oil in the cold temperature. I put the first batch full-fat coconut milk in a wide mouth jar and store on its side until the oil separates float up and solidifies, then pour out the coconut milk.

...planning to treat the rest of the canned coconut milk in the pantry the same way -- soak in warm water, then dry off and store on their sides. :-()

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Today's Image is for home made coconut milk (from unsweetened shredded coconuts) kefir, 2nd fermented with equal amount of TJ's mango lemonade. Yum! :D

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Hey, just thought I'd update this a little -- I've backed off the craziness a bit, but am extremely happy with what I've learned so far from all the dabbling.

I can get cow's milk easily, though not always the "good" pasteurized/non-homogenized. But the kefir grains seem to manage OK even with ultra-pasteurized which is the most commonly available organic milk. Just not AS thick and creamy. On the other hand, ultra-pasteurized goats milk won't thicken at all, so I've given up on maintaining the milk-kefir grains separate, and combine the goat and cow milk grains when good goat milk is not to be had. As a regular serving, a double-shot glass-full with a bit of honey has been accepted by two of the family members... I drink cow or goat milk kefir straight/unsweetened sometimes... and sometimes 2nd ferment some of the extras with molasses, brown sugar, demerara sugar, vanilla sugar... or strain off the whey to make thicker kefir or yogurt when there is a surplus. I also add some to fruit smoothies and baked goods, and regularly use the whey for cooking and baked goods.

The milk grains have multiplied steadily, so I can easily divert extras for non-dairy kefir making. I use milk -> water/non-dairy transition grains as they shrink down and become spent -- for brewing a small amount of sugar/ginger water, or refrigerated not ultra-pasteurized coconut water. Ultra-pasteurized, enriched (extra vitamins and minerals) rice milk seems to help feed them as well. Resulting charged kefir is used to brew/second ferment with home made from coconut flakes defatted coconut milk or home made brown rice and/or brown sweet rice milk. This avoids exposing the kefir grains to the enrobing effect of coconut butter/oil and thick gooey dregs in the rice milk. Adding fruit juice to the coconut milk kefir, and ginger and sugar to the rice milk kefir for 2nd fermenting seem to make very nice combos.

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Yesterday, I made skillet corn bread/cake substituting the 3/4 cups buttermilk in the recipe with 1/2 cup kefir whey and 1/4 cup kefir. When I added the whole wheat and bread flour with baking powder and baking soda to the liquid batter mixture, it immediately bubbled up so much I thought the batter was going to overflow the bowl while I was panicking but unable to get back to it because I was at that very moment trying to measure out the cornmeal. :lol:

I'm eating it now soaked in TJ's carrot-ginger soup and liberally poured over with goat milk kefir. yum! :D

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I'm finding goatmilk kefir tends to produce a lot of ghost white whey that pools on the bottom ¼ to 1/3 of the jar rather than the clear yellowish whey interspersed in the thicker “curd” of the cow milk kefir, though with the cow's milk kefir the whey also end up on the bottom sometimes after a few days. I buy both homogenized and only pasteurized milk – I have to keep track and see if homogenization is the difference.

Goat milk kefir is too thin/liquid if mixed up with the whey – there is a visible demarkation between the whey at the bottom, a band of thinner blend, and thicker whey at top. so I scoop out the thicker kefir then coffee filter the rest to obtain clear whey and scoopable thicker kefir.

Image

Initially I was keeping the cow milk kefir grains separate from goat milk kefir grains, but when I was without one or the other for over a week, I ended up combining them, so now I have been alternating fermenting jars of cow milk and goat milk. I slowly combined the resulting finished kefir in the jars so I don't have to maintain the finished/ripening kefir jars separately (shhh don't tell my DH :> ) I'm hoping that ultimately this will “train” the grains to grow well in both goat milk and cow milk.

Kefir poured over stews and risotto – yum! :()
Last edited by applestar on Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added photo of ripened goat kefir with separated whey in the bottom

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This is different, but I just bought a container of Skyr Icelandic yogurt at Whole Foods to try. You add rennet to the pasteurized milk with the starter plain yogurt to culture, but the best part is this yogurt is supposed to be able to culture at lower temp than the regular yogurt that needs to be kept warm. If this works well, I may have to start buying more milk! :wink:

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New discovery! The bottle I was using to catch/store strained whey didn't have enough room for the amount of the goat milk whey above so I ended up with half of a medium-tall glass full of very thin, mostly whey kefir that was still in the coffee filter.

I tried filling the rest of the glass with knudsen organic veggie juice (I guess kind of like v8), drank about half of it and then forgot about it and left it standing for about 30 minutes. It turned into very thick, delicious beverage :D

I might try unstrained goat milk kefir this way next time. 8)

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I thought I'd post an update on where I am with my kefir adventure. :D

I really wanted to like goatmilk kefir, and I wanted my grains to be able to culture goatmilk as well as cow's. But overall, I prefer the thick creamy kefir that good cow'smilk makes and either my grains or else the only not ultra-pasteurized goatmilk I can get is not capable of making any better than thinner kefir and lots of ghost white whey. So I'm not going out of my way to keep up with the goat milk.

I'll spend the budget on getting the really premium cow's milk as often as possible instead.

I also went back and re-read the kefir websites, and decided to dedicate more attention to maintaining a non-refrigerated 2nd fermentation/ripened milk kefir, which is said to contain even more nutrients -- vitamins and enzymes/probiotics than freshly made kefir. I'm using wedge of fresh organic orange and cinnamon stick with a piece of my own ginger root for the ripening jar, and feeding with extra sugar -- mainly vanilla sugar or date/coconut palm sugar.

Since feeding with the good milk makes the grains multiply exponentially, I have a lot of extra grains to divert for keeping good non-dairy kefir going. For this I've decided to home-make small batches of almond, hazelnut and coconut milk as well as occasional brown rice milk. ...well, I started out with "milk" but have decided to use half-and-half to "cream" level high-fat nut milk for richer flavor. You always have to keep the nutmilk kefir grains at room temperature, and you have to add sugar to feed the kefir grains in non-dairy milk. So I've settled on using maple syrup. The added sugar combined with the higher fat content results in thick and yummy foam both in the jar with the grains as well as the strained nutmilk I keep in the fridge -- which is kept in 2nd fermentation with more maple syrup and a vanilla bean.

Both of these occasionally get demerara sugar.

Since I'm not concerned with strictly non-dairy for the nut milk kefir, I'm straining the dairy kefir first, then using the same strainer and funnel to strain out the nut milk kefir grains . I'm hoping that this way, a small amount of dairy kefir gets on the nut milk kefir grains (which are originally dairy kefir grains) as well as get mixed into the nut milk to restore them and keep them from slowly dying off.

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After nearly a week of bare maintenance, the nutmilk grain jar was looking tired. So completely strained the old batch and used it in a smoothie, then I made a fresh batch of "nut milk" -- more precisely nut cream with 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut and 1/2 cup of TJ's snack mix of organic almonds, cashews, and dried cranberries, adding 1 dried date to grind up with for carbo. I also supplemented the used nutmilk kefir grains with a pecan sized lump of fresh milk kefir grain.

It's warmed up and the ambient room temp has become too warm, so even the nutmilk grain jar needs to be kept in the fridge. But even in the fridge, this batch went completely bonkers -- foaming and separating into whey for the last two days while I shook and twirled the jar every chance I had to stir them all down. Even so, the 3/4 filled contents reached the top of the paper towel lined lid, soaking it ...twice. This is in the fridge, remember. :roll:

I strained the creamy goodness this morning :D
Image

Photo on the right is after straining by stirring and pushing through with the silicon spatula. You can see the white kefir grains and the finer nut meal that gets past the strainer I use for the nut cream, as well as bits of the dried date and apricot I put in for added carbohydrate to feed the kefir grains.

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It's been REALLY HOT but I'm in panic mode to get everything planted, so I'm out there as early as I can until near heat-stroke and exhaustion forces me inside.

I'm finding thinner kefir (don't mix but pour out the more liquid layer) on ice, blended with a bit of extra sweetener (vanilla sugar today, but sometimes maple syrup or honey) and a handful of berries, a little spice -- cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg today -- very refreshing and restorative.

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Is kefir not a popular topic? :?:

...I had been neglecting my kefir grains -- we haven't had good milk in the house for over a week. In desperation I fed them some Bliss Natural creamer ...and they promptly developed some Clear whey. I've been trying to keep the kefir thicker so whey is not what I want, though I found out that continuously feeding them heavy cream created foamy solid mass on top that I'm not sure the grains appreciated.

So I finally got some fresh good kefir feeding milk and had some of the 2nd fermented kefir after straining and mixing.

Wow, you know, it's possible this one had developed some of that alcohol (less than 1% I believe?) and one might attribute it to that, but seriously, there is *something* in the kefir that the body craves/needs.

Let me give you an example --

Just yesterday, I was saying to my DD that After I came in from 4 hours in the hot sun in the garden, I had made myself some tea and put some ice cubes in it to cool it down but not chill it. When I went to take a sip, it was just the right temperature, which was a good thing because my thirsty body basically latched on and I was not just sipping from the rim of the cup but nearly sucking the tea down. I didn't even have time to tip it up so I could chug it. :lol:

Drinking the kefir was like that. First sip went down and I was enjoying the thick foamy tangy and honey sweetness, then I couldn't stop. I got a spoon and scraped up what was left in the bottom of my little glass (I use a 4 oz glass). I don't think it's the calcium because I already take a calcium supplement. I think maybe the body recognizes the symbiotic nature of the probiotics, or maybe it's the B-complex from the yeasts -- I do really seem to enjoy it when I'm tired.

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Since the weather has cooled down, I've been experimenting with kefir in another way, based on a Japanese website where they said kefir could be prepared warm like amazake
Wikipedia wrote:Amazake (甘酒, [amazake]) is a traditional sweet, low- or non-alcohol (depending on recipes) Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. It is part of the family of traditional Japanese foods made using koji and the koji mold Aspergillus oryzae (麹 kōji) that includes miso, soy sauce, and sake.[1][2]

There are several recipes for amazake that have been used for hundreds of years. By a popular recipe, kōji is added to cooled whole grain rice causing enzymes to break down the carbohydrates into simpler unrefined sugars. As the mixture incubates, sweetness develops naturally.[3] By another popular recipe, sake kasu is simply mixed with water, but usually sugar is added.

Amazake can be used as a dessert, snack, natural sweetening agent, baby food, salad dressing or smoothie. The traditional drink (prepared by combining amazake and water, heated to a simmer, and often topped with a pinch of finely grated ginger) was popular with street vendors, and it is still served at inns, teahouses,[4] and at festivals.
Since the Myoga flowerbuds are pushing out of the ground like so many garden gnomes, I used one in today's concoction -- 1/2 cup Thin kefir/whey coarsely strained with a tea strainer (as opposed to coffee filter), 1/2 cup blackberry cordial, one finely sliced Myoga, top off with 1/2 cup hot water.

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I found another kefir combo I like — 3 parts kefir, 1 part unfiltered apple cider, then maple syrup to taste. Let sit at room temp for about 30 minutes before drinking.

If you have live kefir culture, they love this combo and will bubble up and try to overflow, so leave plenty of headroom in your glass.

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You need to read about intestine bacteria technology. This is something a doctor did a lot of research on but it never caught on for some reason. The doctor noticed 1 identical twin can have stomach problems while the other twin does not. He noticed 1 twin can be skinny while the other twin can be over weight. The doctor did tests and learned each twin had different bacteria in their intestines. It turns out the bacteria you have in your intestines determines how healthy you are. The doctor experimented and learned if he killed the bad bacteria and replaced it with good bacteria health problems went away. I had this information saved on my old computer but it crashed. I have not been able to find it again. I have done Google search for Intestine bacteria technology and a lot of variations of that and still can not find it. It has to be there just need to use the correct search words.

A friend of mine in NC has been making something that sounds like what your all doing. He buys crushed soy beans, yogurt, and whole milk. He adds some yogurt to 100 degree milk yogurt is the source of good bacteria then he adds some crushed soy beans. When the mix starts to get thicker he strains out the soy bean hulls. He can drink it like this or wait the whole gallon of milk will become thick like yogurt it contains a lot of protein from the soy beans. I tried it, it did not work for me I'm not sure what I did wrong?

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The familiar Yogurt contains different kind of probiotic culture than kefir. They need to be cultured in steady warm temperature. I have trouble culturing Yogurt because I don’t have the right kind of environment for this — you Can get “Yogurt makers” but many people use gas oven with pilot light on which is supposed to be just about right. They are sometimes referred to as thermophilic.

There are other less familiar strains of yogurt culture that can be cultured in cooler temperature. I want to try that. One That caught my interest turned out to be a sort of a Yogurt/cheese hybrid and uses rennet in addition to yogurt culture to thicke/set.

I like kefir because they can be cultured in cool temperature. In fact they grow too fast at mid 70’s °F or above. I don’t have enough ready supply of good milk to keep them growing, straining, and adding fresh milk. I got used to keeping them growing slowly in the refrigerator during the summer/warm months, but I’m thinking of letting them culture on the counter again since it has gotten colder.

Your friend’s soy yogurt is an interesting idea. But it’s possible the culture is especially adapted to grow in soy. You may need to ask for a small starter culture — 1/4 to 1/2 cup is usually all that’s needed.

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Short Mountain Cultures is 18 miles from me. You can stop there and buy what you want or orders by phone or email orders. Clink on there link to see what they sell.

https://shortmountaincultures.com/

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Made ‘amazake’ today from 1 cup of organic brown rice and a 200g package of koji. I decided to stop the culture after only 4 hours since I was having trouble maintaining the required temperature range — too hot — and after several tastings — probably drank about 1 cup — DD’s and I agreed that it was already plenty sweet! :D It’s intriguing since it requires no added sugar — all converted from the starch I believe.

Image

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and had purchased the Koji on Amazon (they were shipped from Japan)

Image

I’m adding a couple of links Re; concept and terminology, BUT the recipe I used is not from these links... and I tweaked it. :>
What Is Koji? - Preserve & Pickle
https://preserveandpickle.com/what-is-koji/

The term Koji refers to grains, usually rice, that has been inoculated with a fungus called Aspergillus oryzae.
Amazake (Fermented Japanese Rice Drink) 甘酒 • Just One Cookbook
https://www.justonecookbook.com/amazake/

What’s Amazake?

Amazake (pronounced ah-mah-ZAH-kay) is literally “sweet” (甘) “sake” (酒). It is a creamy, thick, fermented rice drink with a rich, sweet flavor, served either chilled or warm/hot.
>> I think the word should actually be “cultured” not “fermented <<

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It turns out my family doesn’t like what I consider the ultimate form of Amazake — about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, warmed to a little warmer than body temperature then served with amount of freshly grated ginger that was scooped up on tip of a chopstick. Good thing I saved some non-ginger portion (in the larger jar). Looks like the smaller jar is all for me (I’m giving my parents the other small jar) :wink:

I have one more 200g block of Mayako Rice Koji left. What I’d like to try with it is make more rice koji with it so I can make more amazake and maybe experiment with other recipes, too — kind of like this:
Koji Propagation: 6 Steps (with Pictures)
https://www.instructables.com/id/Koji-Propagation/

Koji is a mold, scientific name of Aspergillus oryzae. This mold is inoculated into rice, and then let to mold over.

Once you have a solid block of infected rice, while it is still white, you can then either use it immediately or refrigerate as is to keep it fresh for a few weeks, or even dry it, then freeze it in containers to keep it fresh for nearly a year! it's been used to make Sake, Miso, and Soy Sauce for hundreds of years. And it's also known to be a great marinate ingredient for all sorts of foods.

while it is possible to buy koji, then mix it with prepared rice to get more koji from your original purchased source, my suggested method and the one we will be walking thru together here is starting from Koji-kin, powdered spores of Aspergillus oryzae
Although starting with koji-kin (spore) is the best way, another source has instructions for starting with 50g of Miyako Rice Koji per 3 rice cups of uncooked rice. That means I have 4 chances to perfect my techniques. Apparently, since you are starting from offspring substrate and not original spores, you cannot indefinitely start from the resulting rice koji you have made — They lose vitality in subsequent generations. (this is similar concept to bokashi) Also, one source mentioned that starter rice koji (not the resulting rice koji) could turn black and ruin the appearance of resulting amazake — I guess I will find out.

At first I thought Miyako is the one I need for making amazake because it has the popularly agreed good sweet flavor for making delicious amazake, further reading has me thinking that the “long strand white” which is the characteristic equated with the Miyako Rice Koji comes from the lower culturing temperature, not necessarily the strain. It is also white until they “bloom” — start generating spores, then they turn green. While this is not harmful, the blooming/spore producing stage changes the flavor — maybe more suitable for miso and soy sauce? But I do wonder if I let them bloom and produce spores, would I not then obtain the koji-kin? But it might be a question of maintaining purity under strictly controlled conditions, and preventing contamination, like with mushroom cultivation.

So if this is the case, I might be try other sources, especially koji-kin for sake-making, since amazake is basically the pre-cursor — you culture with koji-kin to the peak of sweetness, then introduce the sake yeast to convert the enzymes and sugars made by koji into alcohol.

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More Amazake, slightly modified.

Carafe was full to the top when I made this:
Image

I started this night before last, using 1 rice-cup shortgrain brown sweet rice. Normal porridge water level for 1 rice-cup white rice is slightly more than 3 rice-cups normal sushi rice level, and based on some mental calculations involving the brown rice water level, I settled on 4 rice-cups brown rice water level. Added a pinch of salt, which is supposed to help break down the brown rice better and make it cook fluffier/more digestible.

After the rice cooker declared the porridge was done, I poured it all into the blender pitcher, then poured out most of the liquid. Then pulsing and then slowly increasing the speed and gradually adding back the liquid, thoroughly liquified it. If I was making rice milk, this would be the stage when I would strain out the bran, add sugar, sea salt, and sunflower or sufflower oil.

Instead, I poured it back into the rice cooker inner pot, checked that it had cooled to below 60°C, added some of it to about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the previous batch of amazake (the one I had already flavored with a little sea salt and grated ginger), then stirred this into the pot. The idea was to see if a small amount of the previous batch could be used as starter for the next batch like yogurt.

In the mean time, I had been searching for the answer to maintaining the requisite 50~60°C incubation temperature. This led me to surfing various Japanese websites and blogs — of course they have a lot more options and sources for rice koji, including koji speciality shops, one dedicated to organic ingredients ...sigh.

But I did find out that the Iseso Miyako Rice Koji which I had bought on Amazon is the most popular brand that is readily available in Japan.... and in fact, Iseso also sells rice koji made with organic rice.

And I came across a blog entry that said her Zojirushi rice cooker maintained 60°C in “go to sleep” mode. (What the heck? Do I have anything like that on my approximately 1 decade older model?)

Luckily she posted a photo of the Japanese control panel, and it had the model number right on it. After more searching in the Zojirushi America website, where none of the models offered had the same number and none of the product photos were clear enough to read the control panels, I found a similar model and a pdf instruction manual.

It turned out that “extended keep warm” function on my rice cooker — which I had tried to obtain more info about earlier but had to give up because all the product descriptions and manuals only said, it keeps the rice at “ideal temperature for serving” without specifying what that temperature was (Besides which, it would not turn on when I tried to use it, and I though the function had become disabled on my old machine) — is the same as that “go to sleep” mode. I also found out that this function does not operate when Brown Rice or Porridge is selected. Ah ha!

Well, after trial and error, because if the last cooking selection had been Brown Rice or Porridge, the selector remembers and stays on that setting and therefore will not initiate the “extended keep warm” — alarmed “bip-bip-bip-bip!!” Instead of smartly chirping “beep! beep!” — I was able to get it to accept the “extended keep warm” by setting it and starting it to cook regular sushi rice, then immediately hitting cancel, then pressing “keep warm”, WAITING FOR A MUNUTE OR TWO, then pressing “extended keep warm”.

Since the blog mentioned that some models push up to 65~70°C which would kill the koji, I used a dampened heavy flour sack towel to cover the inner pot and — another trick I noted in one of the blogs — using the rice cooker handle to keep the lid halfway open. I set things up this time so the instant read thermometer probe is left in the pot, and display could be easily read by just pressing a button to turn it back on. And for the most part, it maintained 57°C. I re-moistened the towel and stirred the contents when the temperature rose to 60-62°C.

10 hours later, in the morning, I decided it had developed some sweetness but weak — not sufficient starter? — and decided to add 25g of the other 200g of Myako Rice Koji and give it another 10 hours.

After the total of 20 hours incubation, I put the contents through the blender again, then strained into the storage carafe. Then warmed up a small amount — maybe 1/2 cup of rice milk and poured that into the blender pitcher to rinse down the sides, then added rice bran and rinsed the strainer into it, blended then strained into the crafe, thus recapturing some of the incubated sticky residue from the blender pitcher and the rice bran.

The resulting “pseudo Amazake” in the carafe was waterier than the first batch and last night when I tasted it still-warm, it didn’t seem very sweet, though the sweetness was there. I really wasn’t sure if it didn’t taste much more than slightly sweet brown rice milk.

But surprisingly, when I tasted it this morning after overnight in the refrigerator (it had separated into a layer of light yellowish liquid at top which I stirred back together), it was refreshingly and strongly sweet... but maybe a bit more “cultured” in the background aroma... to be honest, with my mold sensitivity, I could detect a “faint” mold origin — possibly it had entered the next “blooming stage” from the excessive incubation which if totaled for the original Amazake koji would be 4 hours plus the 20 hours, and if it counts, the slight warming I gave it. I tried it warmed as well as cold, and I kind of think I like it better cold in this case because I detected the mold-ness more when warmed. This might also be the problem hinted with using the previous batch Amazake as starter.

It could also be that for me adding grated ginger is a requirement and I’m used to the ginger negating this background flavor — I will have to try that next time I have some.

I think I will also try making another batch with same amount of shortgrain brown sweet rice, water and kosher salt, and this time using only the 25g Miyako rice koji and only 10-15 hours (one blogger said it took 15 hours incubation in winter time, and less than 5 hours in summer time).

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Amazake — One more update on these batches, then I probably won’t post until I try something new —

I finished the last of the first batch and compared with the last batch. Both warmed to just before steam rising (warm not hot), approximately 4 oz, with about a mung bean sized dollop of freshly grated ginger.

- 1st full 200g rice koji, 4 hr incubation at high-end temp recipe ... thick — at least heavy cream or kefir/drinking yogurt in viscosity — and intensely sweet. Delicious.
- last previous batch starter + 25g rice koji, 20 hrs total mid-range temp recipe ... whole milk to 2% milk viscosity, and strongly sweet. No hint of the mold even as aftertaste and very tasty.

Both were very good and I would like to make them again.

Additional notes:

- first batch had been made with cooking water from boiling a package of brown rice pasta — somewhat thickened by starch. I think the rice koji ate and converted all of that starch into sugar as well, so this might have contributed to the extreme sweetness which most brown rice amazake recipes and instructions say would be missing compared to amazake made with white rice and especially compared with white Mochi rice. I regularly eat brown rice, so I found the familiar complex flavor naturally delicious, but people who are used to white rice may have detected earthy quality not present (I would say lacking) in white rice.

- with the last batch, I mentioned the clear yellowish liquid layer I noticed had separated at top by next morning in the fridge, that I had mixed in, then drank. I want to note that there was barely any yellowish clear liquid at the top of the amazake next morning, and subsequent tastings have not been as notably hint of mold, and the clear liquid has disappeared altogether today. — my suspicion is that the clear liquid had been a by-product of the older fully matured koji-kin (the spore color is green-tea color). I’m Wondering if any koji spore that had bloomed had managed to become incorporated and had been slowly growing even in the chill of the refrigerator. Living culture amazake is supposed to be good for 5-7 days in the fridge, but should be consumed within that time because the koji continues to grow and in the cold temperature, will develop sourdough-like quality.

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Apple, Do you ever make Kimchi? I am going to try some, using an excess of bok choy I have in hydro. Not the usual brassica used, but I see a lot of recipes online, so not totally unusual. I also have a bunch of another brassica - mizuna - but I'm not sure that those fine leaves would work well in it. Recipes are all pretty much the same, except for the additional vegetables - carrots, daikon, cucumbers, onions, etc. The bok choy is salted, sits 3-4 hrs, rinsed and drained, then mixed with the other veggies, and seasoning paste, and fermented. Any suggestions would be appreciated, if you, or anyone else has experience with this.

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I’ve tried making them a few times before — both Chinese cabbage and Korean daikon. Last one was pretty good. I used salted fermented shrimp in that one which was recommended. I thought I was going to make more so I bought a larger jar, which was a mistake if only because the thing smelled intense and was super salty. I really couldn’t use it for anything else, and the plastic “jar” met with an accident when it fell out of the fridge and the lid cracked open. Oomph! That took some cleaning! LOL

A long time ago, Korean lady told me her family’s secret ingredient was salted fermented squid....

I’m not up for it right now, but will have to rotate it back in at some point.... I was thinking of using just dried shrimp next time.

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I was thinking dried shrimp, as well, since I have that. Don't remember seeing the squid, but I guess I was never looking for it.

I have a half gallon wide mouthed mason jar I'm going to use, and a lid with one of those fermentation valves on it.

I tried a daikon kimchi one time, but the weirdest thing happened: when I opened it, and cautiously sniffed at the brine (the way this one started) the next day, after about 10 hours the stuff smelled like chlorine bleach! It got even stronger, after a few hours - like swimming pool chlorine - so I dumped it, and never tried it again. Never had this happen, before or since, when pickling anything.

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Looking forward to progress reports! :()

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I did this with some bok choy and mizuna, since that is what I had to trim from my hydro garden, and I've seen a number of brassicas used for kimchi. Anybody here have any experience with this? I cut everything up, instead of leaving large chunks, since that is what is usually done with it when it is used. As usual, what looked like a lot, reduced to very little, after salting. That jar I filled only 3/4 of the way is a liter jar, to give you an idea how this reduced. The weight of the greens was 572 g., with one peeled and seeded cucumber, cut into sticks and one carrot, in julienne. I used 3 tb kosher salt, 3 cloves garlic, 1 1/2' peeled ginger, about 1/4 c hot pepper flakes, once they were chopped up, 3 tb dried shrimp, soaked, and 1 tb fish sauce.

Image12 qt bowl full of bok choy and mizuna by pepperhead212, on Flickr


ImageChopped up bok choy and mizuna with salt. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAfter salting for 1 hour. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Amazing how much this reduces!
ImageAfter salting 3 hours. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageDrained, salted vegetables. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageSpice mix for kimchi - hot peppers, garlic, ginger, dried shrimp, fish sauce by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMixed spices and vegetables for kimchi. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageKimchi, ready to ferment, with pressure release valve. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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applestar wrote:Made ‘amazake’ today from 1 cup of organic brown rice and a 200g package of koji. I decided to stop the culture after only 4 hours since I was having trouble maintaining the required temperature range — too hot — and after several tastings — probably drank about 1 cup — DD’s and I agreed that it was already plenty sweet! :D It’s intriguing since it requires no added sugar — all converted from the starch I believe.
I am interested in something that turns starch to sugar? I want to make sugar from 200 lbs of corn. When I make wine from fruit & berries it needs extra sugar. Natural sugar in grapes, blackberries, peaches, is low it only produces 6% to 7% alcohol in wine. Sugar from corn could bring sugar up to make 11% alcohol. Miles Lab sells an enzyme to convert starch in corn to sugar but price is crazy expensive $100 for 1 teaspoon, grocery store sugar is cheaper and I already have 200 lbs of free corn.



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