Maple Kefir

For my third attempt which the class will be tasting I decided to do a crowd pleaser, maple flavored kefir. 

I basically used the same technique as the blueberry kefir but this time I put a little bit less kefir starter in about 4 grams instead of the whole 5gram packet. 
To start I heated up a quart of 2% local organic milk to 180 degrees like before. 

I then took the milk off the heat to let it cool slightly. I decided to add the maple syrup while it was still hot so it would blend better. I then put it in my blender and blended it at a low setting to make sure it was evenly distributed. 

I did boil my jar this time since this is something I'm serving to the class and want it to be totally sanitized. 

I then let the blended warm milk and maple syrup cool to between 73 - 77 degrees. This took a while so I sped up the process with a cool water bath under the pot. Once it got to the desired temperature I added the kefir starter to a small portion and then blended it again with the remaining milk and maple mix. When I used the blended in the second attempt to puree the blueberries it did a really good job mixing everything together so I decided to use it again. 

I put the mixture of pasturized milk, maple syrup and kefir starter well blended together in a jar. 

I let that sit for 24 hours on the counter and then put it in the fridge to stop the process for 8 hours and we will try it in class today and see how it tastes!

For my second attempt at the kefir I wanted to make a flavored beverage so I choose to make blueberry kefir. I used basically the same process as before although this time I omitted the sterilizing of the mason jar, and included pureed blueberries. 

For this attempt I choose to use reduced fat milk since I am adding blueberries for flavor. 

I started by heating the milk up to 180 degrees F. 

Once it got to 180 degrees F I took it off the burner and let it cool down. In the meanwhile I pureed the thawed blueberries in a blender. 

Once the milk gets to between 73 and 77 degrees it is time to mix in the kefir starter to a small amount of the milk.  

Once the kefir starter has been added I added the blueberry puree and let the mixture sit on the counter for 24 hours so the bacteria could do its thing. 

It came out to be such a nice color. After 24 hours of sitting on the counter, I put it in the refrigerator for another 8 hours to stop the process. 
After the 8 hours in the fridge I mixed it up and stirred it around and poured it into a cup. The texture was a lot better than my first attempt, way more like liquid versus yogurt, there were almost no chunks probably because I used a lower fat milk and I made sure I mixed it thoroughly before pouring. 

It looked better than the first attempt but to be honest it didn't taste that great. I could only stomach a few sips. It tasted very sour and very much fermented almost alcoholic. I thought the sugar from the fruit would make it sweeter and maybe it just has to sit longer. I think next time I'm not going to add a full packet of the kefir starter maybe just half. 

Necessary Equipment

• One quart whole milk
• Kefir starter
• Sterilized jar
• Thermometer

Monday evening I started the kefir making process. I had bought some kefir at city market previously and had noticed they had kefir starter there so I just decided to buy that and follow the directions for my kefir project. 

After buying the kefir starter I did some research on other blogs online and most of them recommended to get kefir grains from an online source instead of the kefir starter which I had already bought. The reason for this was that the kefir grains can be used again and again so I decided it wasn't that big of a deal and the kefir starter pack came with 6 packs anyway it would be fine for this project. I then noticed the online directions were different a bit than what the back of the kefir starter box depicted. That's okay, I'm going to follow the boxes directions. 

1. The first thing I did was heat one quart of milk to 180 degrees F. 

I used some local organic whole Vermont Milk. I typically would buy a lower fat milk and low fat kefir/yogurt but since the fat content of the milk has a lot to do with the outcome of the kefir I decided to start with the full fat. 

Taking a picture of 180 degree milk is not as easy as it looks. Fortunately what I thought was going to be a debilitating steam burn went away after minimal icing. 

2. Next I took the hot milk off the burner and let it cool down to 73 - 77 degrees F.  Meanwhile I was also sterilizing my mason jar. It is important to sterilize your equipment because while we want to foster the growth of beneficial bacteria we don't want other bacterias creeping in there that could cause harm. 

3. Once the milk has cooled down, the next task is to take a small amount of it in a separate container and add a packet of the kefir starter. Mix the kefir starter with the milk well and add it all to the large container of milk and mix well again. Then you simply pour the milk with the blended kefir starter into your clean mason jar and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours. 

4. On Tuesday evening I looked at the Kefir I had started that was sitting on my counter and it looked like this.

Chunks of curd, yum, just what the directions had said would happen. It looked more like very thick yogurt, than a liquidy drinkable yogurt but the process wasn't done. The next step to stick it in the refrigerator to stop the curdling process. 8 hours in the refrigerator and it will be ready to enjoy. 

5. Wednesday morning the kefir is still pretty thick not drinkable like the kefir I've bought in stores but it tastes good despite appearances. 

The directions did not tell me to strain it, they just said to stir to liquify and enjoy. I don't have a strainer so for this attempt I didn't strain it but I will next time.