Kefir Milk

One day a friend showed up at my door with a cup containing something that resembled cauliflower flowerets.  She told me I should go look this up on the www and that is good for me.  I looked up this thing  on several web sites and I was overwhelmed with all the information I found.   If you want information GOOGLE kefir milk and choose the sites which fits your need.  This information does not need to be posted again as there are wonderful references loaded with knowledge.

I have been making my kefir  milk for over 2 1/2 years.  I use the kefir milk in many different ways.  I make smoothies, use it in recipes for cooking and baking.  I find myself experimenting quite a lot with the kefir.

Quiches have a much richer taste when using kefir instead of milk.  Biscuits have a tangy taste and rise much higher.  Chowders are full of flavor when I add kefir instead of milk.  I make salad dressings and dips with the kefir milk.   I know there are those who do not approve of heating the kefir milk; however, I do not have any problem with heating it.  I think of it as milk and we use milk in our cooking.

In the last few months I have tried making sourdough bread starter  using kefir milk and I have been very pleased with the results.  I am in the process of working on this one and I will share more at a later date.  I plan to make various cheeses using the kefir milk.  I do think we need to let others know what we are doing and what works for each of us.  If you use kefir join in the conservation, your input is important to me.  If you are interested in obtaining grains I may have some to share.  Please feel free to contact me.  I am sharing my recipes on the ways I use kefir milk in our Happy Hallow Printable Recipes.  Every recipe using kefir milk will be listed as Kifer Milk ------.  Share with me any recipes you have developed.

I leave my grains in the milk for 2 days which means my milk is thicker than 1 day, please take this into consideration when using my recipes.  If doing 2 day milk you need to be on a schedule and it will start to turn into curds and whey quickly after 48 hours to around 55 hours.   I have learned sometimes I need to add a little water to the milk when making breads and quiches.  I just mix the water with the milk and pour into whatever I am making.  I add fruit and jellies to the kefir milk to eat over my cereal.  I do enjoy the taste of the milk.  I grew up drinking real buttermilk,  Momma made quite a lot of butter for our use and others.  I think the taste is close to buttermilk.

At this time, we do not have any animals we can milk.  I purchase whole milk  from the grocery store.  
If you have cows, goats or sheep use your milk with the kefir  grains to give you a longer shelf life.  The kefir grains increase the life of grocery store milk.

Kefir milk is good for your plants and seedlings.  I use the water from washing my containers to water my plants.  It is amazing how healthy the plants are.  When starting my seedlings I use the kefir water and I do not have the damping off problems.  My plants are strong and the color is a deep green.

I add kefir milk to the chicken feed.  Because it has healing properties I give the girls a bowl and they do gobble it up.  Not a large bowl about a cup.

At Triple Creek Farm,  there has been no sickness since kefir milk came into our life.  We have not had a cold or any of the flues.  Tomorrow maybe a different story but to date for 3 1/2 years at our ages I think is a good report.      


Happy Hallow Printable Recipes