Learning to Ferment
at her home in Shenton Park Western Australia. Carol covered Kombucha, Milk Kefir, Sauerkraut, Kimchi and Fermented Vegetables. I am going to cover Milk Kefir, Kombucha and Sauerkraut.
Kefir means "feel good" in Turkish. It started thousands of years ago in the Caucasian mountains and the people in this region are know for their longevity.
One of the women on the course bought along milk kefir grains and distributed to those who wanted them. We took a snap lock bag home with about a tablespoon of grains (they look like mini cauliflowers and are rubbery). When I got home I placed them in a jar and 3/4 filled with unhomogenized milk. I then placed the jar which I covered with a piece of muslin (you can also use a coffee filter) and elastic band, in my linen press to ferment for 18 to 24 hours. The next morning I strained the yoghurt like consistency into another jar and used a wooden spoon to push the liquid through the plastic strainer. Kefir doesn't like metal. I then placed the grains back into the original jar and started the process over again. I decided that I would try doing a second ferment on the kefir and placed orange peel in the jar I had just strained and left it out for a further 6 hours and then took the orange out and put it into the fridge. Later that night I made a smoothie with a frozen banana and it was yummy. After a week I have now been able to give some grains to my daughter and my niece and show them how to make it. My daughter has been using hers to soak chia seeds for the children's breakfast and have like a pudding (picture to the right.) She also tried it with coconut milk which was very successful. You can use different milks but I prefer the unhomogenized. I have also made a smoothie with fruit and a little honey in my $15 blender from KMart and put it into icy pole moulds for the grand children. You can use the kefir in recipes that call for buttermilk or yoghurt. You can also strain and you have like a cottage cheese. The whey that you get when you strain can be used to start of ferment vegetables. There is lots of suggestions of flavors that you could use and thinks you can do with kefir. I did some research on Pinterest and found some interesting articles.
Happy Kefirring!!!
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