white substance on water kefir grain, normal?

[erickwesz]

Hi, please introduce myself, my name is Erick, I'm from Indonesia. Around 1 month ago I bought some kefir grain (around 75g) from local store. Unfortunately the guy from the store know nothing about how to take care of the kefir grain, so I had to browse and read lots of articles about this, including the one on yemoos which I think is the most complete one.

So then I followed some traditional recipes to feed the kefir grain, most of the time, I am using organic cane sugar, raisins, and some mineral drops. Sometime coconut water, sometime I add dried goji berries, sometime I add molasses...

My kefir grain grow which I think around 300-400%, now it's around 500-600g which is good according to most articles I've read.

But lately I spot a white substance on my kefir grain, mostly in large grains, and some in the bottom. but it's hardly to see, except if I use flashlight. It still translucent.

IMG_0152a.JPG (110.57 KiB) Viewed 13033 times

IMG_0153a.JPG (61.76 KiB) Viewed 13033 times

IMG_0153b.JPG (66.44 KiB) Viewed 13033 times

Most of the time I rinse the grains and the container every finish batch.
Anyway the taste and smell still pleasant..

Is it normal?

Here is the video of the grain fermenting, around 7 hours from the time I change the water-sugar solution...


Best Regards
Erick

ps. Sorry for my English, hope you understand..

[AlexP]

Try skipping the raisins (and any dried fruit) and see if that helps. I'm not exactly sure why, but I know raisins can sometimes put that white stuff on the grains. As long as it still smells and tastes pleasant, then I wouldn't be concerned though. Also rinsing the grains every batch may not be necessary. You can rinse away some of the good surface bacteria that it has to rebuild every batch. Less rinsing usually helps keep them better balanced.

Alex