Water kefir much like Kombucha and milk Kefir is another form of friendly bacterial and yeast in a symbiotic relationship. This matrix feeds on sugar and produces lactic acid, carbon dioxide, and alcohol. These three things form a fermented beverage with carbonation, much like we notice when we are drinking a soda....or pop...or coke. Depends on what part of the country your from what you call it ;-) You also get probiotics that are good for gut health. Did you notice that alcohol is also a by-product? Not to worry, it is usually less than 1% of the total.
To learn more about the origins of water kefir you can go to Cultures for Health, they also sell cultures. However, if you know someone that makes water kefir, they may have some grains to share. Mine re-produces like crazy so I always have extra.
I have switched from kombucha to water kefir because the kombucha was taking longer to "brew" and we would run out before the next batch was ready. Kombucha took 5-14 days, water kefir takes 2 days if you add fruit juice, one if you are of the stout variety of "crunchy person" and can consume it straight up.
If you want to make kefir the way we do here you will need:
(2) 1/2 gallon glass jars
sucanat (1/3-1/2 cup)
water kefir grains (I started with 1 tbsp)
well/spring water
fruit juice (concentrated is nice)
A note about water and liquid minerals. You will have to experiment with your water to see if you get good re-production of the grains. Generally a water that has a lot of naturally occurring minerals makes lots of grains and fermentation is faster. If you aren't getting good fermentation you may need to find another water source or add some liquid minerals to your batches.
**never use chlorinated or floridated water in your batch and never rinse your grains with it since you may kill them.**
Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup sucanat in bottom of half gallon jar, fill with spring water and add kefir grains. I use a coffee filter and rubber band to cover.
I know many recipes tell you to heat the sugar and some water and add to cool water and etc. I'm all about saving time and since I get good kefir water and don't do this, why bother. Don't tell anyone but sometimes when I am in a hurry I don't even stir the sugar in...
The next day, strain the grains out and place grains back in jar with a cup of leftover kefir water, add 1/3 cup sucanat, and fill with spring water to start the new batch.
Shh! Don't tell anyone, I'm using a metal strainer. Some sites claim that metal kills the grains......I've been using this because that's what we have and have not killed them yet.
Here are the water kefir grains before I add them back to a half gallon jar.
Next, add the strained kefir water to the other 1/2 gallon jar and put 1-2 cups of fruit juice in. Cover and let sit on counter until the next day. I place this in a picture and put in the fridge for consumption at this point. It should be fizzy.
I cheated here and added the water kefir to my picture......I let it sit out in that and place in fridge the next day. This works if you don't have fruit flies.
We like concord grape juice.
You can play around with the time and amount and type of fruit juice your family likes. Generally the longer it ferments the less sweet it gets since the grains consume the sugars.
If you need it to be a little sweeter, you can add the fruit juice and refrigerate the same day but you won't have as much carbonation. In my experience, the second day with the fruit juice really bumps up the carbonation and makes it most like a soda.
Do you have a recipe or special juice that you like? Let me know so I can give it a try.
To learn more about the origins of water kefir you can go to Cultures for Health, they also sell cultures. However, if you know someone that makes water kefir, they may have some grains to share. Mine re-produces like crazy so I always have extra.
I have switched from kombucha to water kefir because the kombucha was taking longer to "brew" and we would run out before the next batch was ready. Kombucha took 5-14 days, water kefir takes 2 days if you add fruit juice, one if you are of the stout variety of "crunchy person" and can consume it straight up.
If you want to make kefir the way we do here you will need:
(2) 1/2 gallon glass jars
sucanat (1/3-1/2 cup)
water kefir grains (I started with 1 tbsp)
well/spring water
fruit juice (concentrated is nice)
A note about water and liquid minerals. You will have to experiment with your water to see if you get good re-production of the grains. Generally a water that has a lot of naturally occurring minerals makes lots of grains and fermentation is faster. If you aren't getting good fermentation you may need to find another water source or add some liquid minerals to your batches.
**never use chlorinated or floridated water in your batch and never rinse your grains with it since you may kill them.**
Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup sucanat in bottom of half gallon jar, fill with spring water and add kefir grains. I use a coffee filter and rubber band to cover.
I know many recipes tell you to heat the sugar and some water and add to cool water and etc. I'm all about saving time and since I get good kefir water and don't do this, why bother. Don't tell anyone but sometimes when I am in a hurry I don't even stir the sugar in...
The next day, strain the grains out and place grains back in jar with a cup of leftover kefir water, add 1/3 cup sucanat, and fill with spring water to start the new batch.
Here are the water kefir grains before I add them back to a half gallon jar.
Next, add the strained kefir water to the other 1/2 gallon jar and put 1-2 cups of fruit juice in. Cover and let sit on counter until the next day. I place this in a picture and put in the fridge for consumption at this point. It should be fizzy.
We like concord grape juice.
You can play around with the time and amount and type of fruit juice your family likes. Generally the longer it ferments the less sweet it gets since the grains consume the sugars.
If you need it to be a little sweeter, you can add the fruit juice and refrigerate the same day but you won't have as much carbonation. In my experience, the second day with the fruit juice really bumps up the carbonation and makes it most like a soda.
Do you have a recipe or special juice that you like? Let me know so I can give it a try.
I'm super excited to try this! I was just reading about milk kefir and it doesn't really appeal to me yet (though I might try it if I can get my hands on some quality milk) but this sounds like something even Jesse would try and I bet the girls would really like it! Where do you get your sucanat from? And I'm assuming since the beverage is carbonated you have to be careful not to fully close any containers you store it in, correct? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, We currently get our sucanat through Azure Standard but have bought through buying clubs, co-op's, and health food stores in the past. We have also used Rapidura in the past. I am more careful with the carbonation when it is fermenting, once in the fridge it slows down enough that we can keep it in mason jars that are covered.....never had one explode, but use your best judgment. If you happen to get a particularly feisty batch with good carbonation, you might want to reconsider the lid. Let me know how it goes!
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