I remember being told as a four year old child to be careful to not eat the yogurt bug in our yogurt jar. With no further explanation of what this actually meant my imagination went wild. From then on I spent many hours staring at the Ag jar in the fridge hoping to catch a glimpse of the black beetle I had envisioned inhabited our yogurt. Sadly I never saw it and I developed a strong case of yogurt aversion.
21 years later I am proud to say I am the owner of my very own yogurt “bug”.
I purchased a table spoon of Kefir grains from a man I found on the net called Rene ( http://www.vibrantearth.wordpress.com/ ).
Little did I know I would fall in love with these little brain shaped spongy white clumps of bacteria and yeast. Nicknaming them Kief.
Here is some background on what kefir and kefir grains are and the benefits of incorporating it into your diet.
It seems no one really know what or where kefir started. There is talk that kefir originated in the Caucasus Mountains by combining pasteurized milk and sheep intestinal flora in a goat hide bag (What the hell!).
Scientists have been unable to reverse engineer kefir grains in the lab. Which is awesome because it means all kefir in use today has originated from the very first batch ever made.
Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars, and this symbiotic matrix forms “grains”.
So when added to milk Kefir grains ferment the milk making kefir.
Kefir resembles a runny yogurt which is delicious and sour. The fermentation process changes the structure of the milk – changing the lactose (milk sugars) into lactic acid. Kefir is high in protein, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin D, vitamin K2, folic acid, calcium, iron as well as being jam packed with good microorganisms.
Introducing good microorganisms to our diet helps to aid our digestion, increasing nutrition absorption and strengthening our immunity.
If you think about it – the more good bacteria in our digestive tract means more efficient processing of the fuel we need to survive.
I am a true believer!
Simple Steps for Milk Kefir
1) Source some Kefir grains – here is “Kief” freshly washed and ready to go.
2) Place your grains in a clean glass jar.
3) Add Organic milk! Approximately 1:10 ratio of kefir to milk. This will vary depending on room temperature – trial different volumes of milk to see what works best for your taste.
4) Store grains and milk somewhere out of direct sunlight – during the winter months I place mine in the hot-water cupboard for maximum fermentation in 24 hours. Loosely covering the jar allows the essential gas exchange of fermentation but also prevents creepy crawlies and dust from contaminating your kefir.
5) You will notice separation, the whey comes to the top looking like clumpy yogurt and a thinner yellowy almost transparent fluid will sink to the bottom. This is when I know my kefir is ready!!
6) Next step is to strain the mixture. Some resources suggests not using metal strainers as it can stunt the microbial activity – instead use plastic.
7) Give the strained Kefir a stir to help even out the lumps before you drink.
Recipe Ideas
Something very simple but very yummy is to simply add a few drops of vanilla essence to the kefir – I am sure it fools your mind with some form of psychological food association, into thinking that the kefir is a sweet treat – tried and tested by my health pleb BF Jacob B.
If i’m not drinking my kefir neat then I like adding it to my daily smoothies for an extra hit of goodness.
My Basic Smoothie
– 1 cup freshly made Kefir
– Fresh fruit (what ever I have in the kitchen) I love paw paw, apples and banana
– Hand full of frozen berries
– 1 tsp ground Maca root
– 1 tsp ground chia seeds
– Few drops of iodine drops
– 1 tsp spirulina
– A bunch of garden greens (for the hard core) – I like spinach and kale.
– 1 scoop of Nuzest protein powder
– 1 cup water (or however much you need to make a nice consistency)
Blitz and enjoy!
You can follow Cherry on Tumbler. The Pleb and the Purist.