'ripening' kefir - how to tell when it's gone bad

[cathleenc]

We've been fermenting our own kefir for awhile now - and I finally tried leaving a jar of the finished product out, sans grains, to 'ripen' . The result was, ummm, not what I expected.

What I got was a complete separation of whey and milk with the milk forming almost gritty micro-curds. Instead of tasting mildly sweet and slightlyeffervescent it tasted like sour milk.

My ripening was about 16 hrs at maybe 65 degrees room temperature.

I left the ripened kefir in the fridge for another 5 days before I got up the interest to sample it again - the micro-curds had lost their 'grit' and the texture was smoother, but still tasted off. I used it to make some corn flour pancakes and those came out fine.

What is ripening supposed to taste/look/feel like? Was my end product okay or did something go wrong?
thanks!
Cathy

[Rebecca]

Yes, expect the whey to separate out and leave a dense, "cream cheese" like texture.

Keep trying, if you wish, and vary your variables until you get a product you enjoy.

[lin317]

I want to start making Kefir and have only tried the store bought kind. I love the Pomegranet flavor and I love the consistency of the store bought. Please advise me as to whether and how I can achieve this on my own. Thanks Lin.

[Rebecca]

Texture and flavor are all subjective. Next time, reduce the ripening time. Keep experimenting and enjoy the subtle differences of each batch.

[mrsh]

After making a week's worth of kefir per your instructions of 1T grains to 1qt milk, what do you do with the grains until you're ready to make another batch?

[Rebecca]

Refrigerate the grains covered in kefir for a week. For a few weeks, add water to slow down their growth. Or, refrigerate them in fresh milk for a slow incubation.

For long term storage you can rinse and dry the grains, coat in powdered milk, wrap tightly and freeze. I've had limited success with this method.

[mrsh]

Thank you Rebecca for your help with this. I appreciate you and the info you have on your website - and the work that must go into it.

[Rebecca]

You're welcome. Isn't it lovely to imagine a world where everyone thrives and enjoys such simple basics as a good diet.