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The grains are stored in the fridge with a little bit of milk. We use kefir in our smoothie every day and in cooking from time to time. It is a great ingredient for bread!

It varies based on the season, but anywhere from about 70 degrees to as high as 80-82.

@@HealthyFarmLiving Thank you. I am in the tropics so it a lot hotter here. Room temperature can be between 86-94 degrees

@@azreenakhan5108 ah ok. With that you'll just want to watch it closely as it will ferment much more quickly. During our summers it only takes about 12 hours for it to fully ferment!

@ yes, it takes about 10 hours here. Thank you for your advice.

Some people laugh because they're enjoying life and it's not cringe at all.

That's what we've been told. I love the reference to Sutherland, btw. 😉

I don't know how long it can last in the fridge, but we've had it in there for over a week unused and it's been just fine. I also don't know how long it would take to do the whole fermentation process in the fridge, but it would be a very long time. We have kept extra grains in milk for a few months and there is not near as much fermentation as what we get in a day on the shelf.

Yes, they were harvested dry and then re-constituted overnight much like you would any other black eyed pea you might purchase from the store.

Sorry to hear about that lack of fruit from your tree! It was pretty sparse pickings here as well. As for using dried fruit, I wouldn't be able to say from experience. I do know dried fruit are typically treated with chemicals to keep them fresh, so that may effect the quality of the ferment. It might be worth giving it a shot on a small scale to see how it does. Maybe a gallon batch to test it out.

@@HealthyFarmLiving That's a good idea, thank you!

True.

That's not a problem, we've used it before as well. The key ingredient in the milk is the sugar which is needed for the "good bugs" to feed on and reproduce. Still plenty of that in UHT milk. 😉

The lids that you see us using here continually release the air during the fermentation process, so no need to manually burp them.

It depends on how quickly it's fermenting for you and that can vary quite a bit. Room temp really effects that and during the summer months when it's warm in the house we can't leave it out longer than 24 hours (sometimes less!) or it starts to separate heavily and clump. You'd just have to keep an eye on them. As for re-using grains, we make 1-2 batches every week and have been using the same grains for almost 5 years now!

@@HealthyFarmLiving , wow, 5 years is a long time. I need to keep the Kefir mild on hand daily. It scares me to start making it, just want it right. Thanks for your help.

I don't know that there's a limit. We make 1-2 batches every week and the grains we're using were gifted to us almost 5 years ago.

I've read that in several places as well, but we have never had an issue with it. The grains you see us using here are still in use today, almost 5 years old and going strong. We've always used a metal strainer for it. 🤷

Glad you enjoyed this one!

She used to be terrified of being on camera, so this one was especially fun!

We've had that happen from time to time and we've found that upping the salt content a bit usually helps.

Thank you for your reply. I'll have to try if adding salt would help.

Yes, but it ferments much more slowly than the milk you ferment at room temp.

It did work out that way!! 😂

I don't know that there's a "best" way to consume it, but we always mix it in our morning smoothies. This way it includes natural occurring sugars and fiber that helps to feed the probiotics.

@@HealthyFarmLiving do you know if mixing it with certain things dilutes it's effects in anyway? sometimes I'll put it in my chocolate protein shake or on Cereal mixed with normal milk. Is this ok

@@danielconsidine3863 those should be fine. The only thing that I know that definitely effects it negatively is heating it which kills the bacteria.

Glad you enjoyed this one. I'll link to the acid blend we use for you here on Amazon; amzn.to/4dG2VYq the buckets were purchased from a local brewery shop, so I'm not sure where the best place to source those would be. The bucket is 6.5 gallons and the trash can is 13 gallons I believe.

Yet another reason to get that fermentation on!! 😉

Wow, 30 pounds is a great harvest!! I'll link to the wine making section of our Amazon shop for you here; www.amazon.com/shop/edgeofnowherefarm/list/V130G44JDRYG?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfedgeofnowherefarm_X8P5GP7RR9Y59AS2H3AJ Good luck with that batch!

Glad you enjoyed it!

We've been making home made Kefir for over 5 years now and have always used a metal strainer with no issues.

Oh yes, that is one of our favs as well!

Glad you found this one Pam!

We've been drinking Kefir for over a decade, so I don't recall to be honest. However, I would take it slow if you're new to this. Especially if you're changing from a store bought kefir to home made. The home made kefir usually has a LOT more probiotic activity then the store bought versions in my experience.

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!

Just started a fig wine last week. Thanks for the tip about adding acidity. I went with lime juice, and so far its tasting nice! Getting ready to move to secondary soon. 😊​@HealthyFarmLiving

Wow, what a wonderful routine and great results! Thank you for sharing this with us!

Where did you buy your kefir grains? There’s so many options out there!

@@Earth2Flo-v6f ours were gifted to us by a friend many years ago and I believe he got his from somebody else.

@@HealthyFarmLiving great, I hope my teaspoon I ordered will be good for kefir!

Why on earth would you take something healthy and add pudding mix to it? It's nothing but bad chemicals. Just add some vanilla extract and stevia. Maybe some plain protein powder or collagen...

We don't heat anything once we start fermentation and generally we don't heat anything here at all. However, some folks find heating up the fruit to help with juice extraction before fermentation is useful. Heating would initially kill any yeast and should kill any bacteria. As for natural yeast, we have attempted that with figs before and have found we get mold before we get anything else in the fermentation. Also, you don't know what kind of yeast you're dealing with and it may not be able to handle the alcohol content you're attempting. Lastly, yeasty imparts specific characteristics in the finished wine. With an known yeast you know that that will be.

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!

Well, there you go.

If you're a fan of mulberries and enjoy some wine from time to time, you're going to like this wine. The 1 ingredient you may need to adjust is the acid blend. If your mulberries have some tart to them you won't need quite as much. We've reduced ours to about half what this recipe has in it.

We have not used that method as we find the fermentation always moves very rapidly for us (typically less than 24 hours except the middle of Winter). As long as there is air in the mix the bugs will do their thing, so I would assume additional airflow would simply speed things up a bit vs affecting the total probiotic count in the end.

I really wouldn't be able to say for sure, but we find our ferments are much faster when it's warmer in the house. Even a degree or two can make a difference in how fast they ferment.

Glad you found this one useful. If you're a fan of Kefir, you're going to love it fresh. It's potent, but there's nothing like having it freshly made!

Woohoo!! Glad to hear it turned out well for you. Cheers! 🍷

There have been some great comments, questions and suggestions. It helps to answer a few things we didn't think to address in the video!

Yeah, we were dry for a few years as well. Now that we're making our own hooch, it's just not the case any longer. Cheers and good luck with those ferments!

Hmm, it's always worked well for us, so I think we'll keep at it.

Hmm, I'm not sure what you're asking for this one. Where are you wanting to use the filter? Is it at the end of the process to strain it?

We sure do. We're going on 4 years with no issues using metal strainers and the grains are growing strong still.

@@HealthyFarmLiving who knew you didn't have to be careful?! Lol

نستخدم 4 أكواب (237 مل) من الماء و2.5 ملعقة كبيرة (35 جم) من الملح. آمل أن تكون هذه التحويلات صحيحة بالنسبة لك!

Aloha and glad you enjoyed this one!!

The lid that we're using here has an integrated airlock feature to it. Otherwise you would need to burp them each day.

Thanks!

I'm really glad you enjoyed this one and thank you for the kind words. God is good all the time!

​@@HealthyFarmLivinghow much kefir milk are we supposed to drink each day?

@@anneboychuk989 I don't know that there is a guideline on how much, but we typically drink about 1/2 cup/day. If you're having it for the first time I would start with a small amount to see how your digestion reacts. 😉

@@HealthyFarmLiving I'm still trying to get some kefir milk grains. I live in Canada

@@anneboychuk989 ugh, that is just frustrating!

It can even have a small amount of alcohol as well, of course nothing like grape champagne!