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| steve-g |
 Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:51 am |
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| Coco |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:51 am |
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steve-g wrote: motorpsycho67 wrote: It was invented by ancient Egyptians about 3,500 years ago.
Perhaps 'discovered' is a better word.
I make kefir another of those strange fermented foods where you wonder how on earth was that discovered.
Just checked out kefir. It sounds interesting and I'm going to buy some. I already drink those probiotic yogurt drinks so I may as well make my own.
I assume you can add fruit ect to Kefir and make a smoothie. Sounds good.
Did you buy your kefir from that site? |
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| steve-g |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:59 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
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Coco wrote: Did you buy your kefir from that site?
No I didn't buy it and I don't think you should either.
There's a kefir 'community' that gives out the stuff for free. If you make this stuff, you soon find that it grows! You end up with more than you need.
Mrs-g found someone in Sweden when we were living there and she gave us some grains.
http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php
If you have no luck locally, I can send you some. |
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| Coco |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:49 am |
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steve-g wrote: Coco wrote: Did you buy your kefir from that site?
No I didn't buy it and I don't think you should either.
There's a kefir 'community' that gives out the stuff for free. If you make this stuff, you soon find that it grows! You end up with more than you need.
Mrs-g found someone in Sweden when we were living there and she gave us some grains.
http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php
If you have no luck locally, I can send you some.
Thanks Steve. I'll look into this further as I'm determined to try this stuff out. I get obssessed about this DIY food thing. I tried pickling for the first time this summer and I went nuts pickling anything I could grow. |
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| steve-g |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:01 pm |
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| I'll try to post some pics over the weekend to show what it looks like when the grains are 'culturing' the milk. I drink it neat - kinda like a fizzy, slightly tangy milk. |
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| Coco |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:09 pm |
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Cool. Do you ever add fuit or anything for extra flavour? I was guessing this may be a similar flavour/texture to runny plain yogurt but your description is pretty good and gives me an idea of what I'm in for.
I contacted someone off that site you provided the link for. There are a few people about 2 hours away from me so hopefully I can grab some from them. Looks like I have a new winter hobby. |
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| steve-g |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:33 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
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Nah, I've never added anything. My wife stirs it into soup sometimes (Romanians put a spoon of yoghurt in soups).
You've gotta be pretty precise about when you filter out the milk and start a new batch - too early and it'll be just milk, too late and it'll be vinegar!
We found a handful of grains would ferment a litre of milk in under 12 hours. We can't drink it that fast so we store it in the fridge now which retards fermentation time to around 5 - 7 days.
I gauge when it's ready by when the milk separates into curds and whey - when there's about 1/2" of whey at the top, it's good for our taste.
I'll try and get pics this afternoon when the light is better.
Oh, and just to add about the texture - sometimes it can be thicker like runny yoghurt and other times it much more liquid like milk - I haven't mastered how to control this yet. |
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| steve-g |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:51 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
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Some pics:
This is looking into the Kilner jar we ferment the milk in. The grains float to the top, we've got quite a lot now considering we had maybe only 4 grains at the start.
A kefir grain.
This is kefir, slightly bubbly, you can see the milk is a little thick by how it clings to the edge of the glass. |
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| Cappy |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:26 am |
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steve-g wrote: You've gotta be pretty precise about when you filter out the milk and start a new batch - too early and it'll be just milk, too late and it'll be vinegar!
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Oh, and just to add about the texture - sometimes it can be thicker like runny yoghurt and other times it much more liquid like milk - I haven't mastered how to control this yet.
Probably is a case of the milk itself. The common milk from the supermarkets are already not milk anymore, even they say so, as industrial production and longer stability (for selling days), have changed them.
The past glas milk bottle or eco milk retails even twice as much (or more) here, as what is sold in the supermarkets. |
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| steve-g |
| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:08 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
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Cappy wrote: Probably is a case of the milk itself. The common milk from the supermarkets are already not milk anymore, even they say so, as industrial production and longer stability (for selling days), have changed them.
This is true. Supermarket milk is 'homogenised' a process where the fat particles are forced through ultra-fine filters to disperse the fat amongst the milk.
Ever notice how milk no longer has cream on the top? That's because of homogenisation. All those phrases in English about cream rising to the top are redundant - it doesn't rise anymore.
Homogenisation produces a milk with less taste. It is done purely so supermarkets can extend the shelf-life of the product.
In the UK (and in Sweden) it is (was) possible to find non-homogenised milk with some effort. We just started getting our milk delivered to the door in glass bottles - it's non-homogenised.
If I had a good source for raw milk I'd use that.
But let's be thankful we don't have to deal with bovine growth hormones in our milk like in the US. |
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