Attempt at soy milk

[Gypsy]

Ive measured out approx 175 grams of milk kefir grains and started a batch of organic soy milk to try. ive done this because of the incredible rate at which my grains are growing in milk, so trying soy will be my experiment. Ive read that switching back to milk to give the grains a chance to "normalize" for a batch or 2 and then continuing with the soy is the way to keep the grains active and growing. I'll see how this works out. Happy Kefiring to All.

[AlexP]

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 more than most other alternative milks. But let us know how it turns out for you.

Alex

[Gypsy]

UPDATE!

I tried a batch last night, 1L mason jar is what i used with the grains and organic soy milk, the fermentation was so rapid that within an hour and a half(1-1/2) whey was forming and the soy was starting to kefir. I cam back aprrox. 2 hours later again and the fermentation actually formed my paper towel and elastic band into a ball at the top and there was whey in the dish below. I strained this batch, approx. .75L into my milk kefir and tried it again, same result, the soy milk completely fermented, or should say, over fermented within 3 hours from start to finish. I do not know if this is normal?? I weighed the grains(175g) that i am using for the soy, i dont think that this is normal in how quick it ferments, i wish i knew someone, but hope that one of You guys here will chime in with your thoughts as to whats happening. Its obviously overfermenting but whats odd is that this amount of soy milk actually starts to separate within an hour, ive gone back to milk with the grains, agitating them vigorously in the mason jar just to clean the soy curds off of them and they appear excellent, exactly how they were when i started the soy. The same amount of milk would produce results similar to this but over 24 hours not 2 or 3. I tried to see online about soy milk fermenting/kefiring and am only getting little valuable info, ive found a couple of vids and there soy kefir seems thick and similar to milk, mine is the same as my milk kefir, which i find normal, but the whole process takes 2-3 hours with 3 hours being the max.

I will add also, that when i mixed my kefired soy into my milk kefir, it gives the milk kefir a milder, some what sweeter taste, which we like, my intent was to add the soy to the milk kefir for the health value that the soy offers.

[aryaya]

You know I think I'd just blame it on the type of sugar in the soy milk - lactose in cows/goats milk ferments more slowly than the stuff they put in alter. milk.

I'd keep at it - testing different times (maybe the grains will slow down). I've seen it happen where the grains eventually adjust. So if you leave them in there 24 hours, their metabolism will eventually slow down. I think they are just converting the sugars super fast.

Maybe you want to mess around with some different brands too?

Love to hear your results!

[Gypsy]

they soy milk im using is organic fortified original soy from costco, having a look at the label earlier this evening, the sweetener is organic cane sugar, otherwise the soy "milk" is lactose/dairy free. aryaya, i would agree with you that the grains must be digesting the cane sugar at a very rapid rate, the nutritional label on the soy states that it contains 6g/250ml of sugar, where the milk i use contains 12g/250ml of sugars and the milk actually contains lactose, so why the rapid fermenting is truly puzzling?? I can literally kefir the same amount of soy as i would milk in 2-3 hours as opposed to 20 hours for the milk, i am definately keeping the kefired soy, it tastes actually delicious, mixed with the milk kefir and the cinammon sticks, makes a really nice drink. Perhaps some of you guys will chime in once you try soy, id be interested to see your results, and as you stated, trying different brands may change this situation but we've settled on the costco soy drink and have alot of it in the house, after trying a few different brands over the years, this on seems to be viable, especially due to the fact it doesnt need refrigeration as some do. Im going to keep going as ive dedicated these grains to the soy but am kefiring soy and then to milk immediately after, i think if i was to keep the grains in any longer the say the 3 hours, id never be able to seperate the curds from the grains as they would be permanently glued to them, just what im seeing here on my end, thanks aryaya for your thoughts.

[Gypsy]

follow up!

ive stopped doing the soy, the rate at which the soy is kefiring is unusual, ive cut back the amount of grains and it just delayed the process by a couple of hours more, why does the kefir so rapidly i do not know? Ive also found that the grains will get coated with the soy curd quite heavily, unlike using cows milk, returning them to regular milk hasnt slowed them up really much that ive noticed but theres the soy build up on them. Apart from washing them by hand in water to remove this buildup, i decided to compost in the garden. Ill wait until someone else chimes in or gives me better procedures, i see on the net that people kefir soy for 24+ hours?? mine takes literally 2-5 hours for complete kefir with heavy curds and whey. Thanks for reading.