Yemoos Nourishing Cultures Forum

It sounds like your grains are happy. Water kefir grain growth can vary greatly. Sometimes they grow like crazy and then suddenly slow down. I've noticed that many times with a environmental change they can grow rapidly and then slow down. If you are using just white cane sugar right now, I would ex...

That's a good question and I don't think there's a right answer. Some people use a perfectly clean jar every time, some do quick rinses while others wait until the build up gets so bad that they have to clean the fermenting jar. It likely doesn't matter too much, but kefir residue on the jar does sp...

If the grains are not overly strained, there will still be quite a lot of kefir residue around the grains that will help protect and kick-start the next batch. It's probably not necessary to have any residue on the jar, but at the same time it doesn't really hurt either. So whatever is easier or wor...

Hi Gypsy, Sounds like you are doing great :) As you noticed, finished milk kefir will still continue to ferment even in the cold fridge, just at a slower rate. Some people like to do a 2nd ferment at room temperature, but it can overferment, especially if the first ferment was highly active. I prefe...

You can purchase water kefir grains here:

http://www.yemoosmarket.com/cultures/wa ... ir-grains/

Alex

I believe generally atleast half the sugar is used up during a typical water kefir ferment. Some say up to 80%. If you prefer less sugar, longer ferments (with or without the grains) will slowly consume the sugar until there is not much left. When kombucha is ready, there's still sugar content left,...

That recipe sounds like its lacking some good minerals and nutrients from the sugar side of things. The cane sugar which is mostly void of minerals and the raisins which is quite low may just be enough for a little fermentation, but not enough for a full ferment that encourages growth. I'm surprised...

It sounds like it may be overfermenting if its separating that much into curds and whey. When it separates like that in a short amount of time, it tends to be thin. It can be tricky this time of year to get that buttermilk consistency because it usually has more yeast with the heat and yeast contrib...

Those are great tips Gypsy. Also a short 2nd ferment (in or outside the fridge) with lemon or lime peel can sometimes get it nice and creamy.

Alex

I've never tried soy milk kefir yet, but its on my list of things to try. I have heard from someone that they actually got the grains to survive and even grow long term in soy milk without switching back to cows milk. I'm not sure if that's the norm, but it does seem like the grains like soy milk mo...