Guide for Culturing Kefir {Info, FAQs + Tips}

This guide for culturing kefir is packed with info, FAQs & tips to help you learn more about this amazing natural probiotic. If you’ve been looking for a way to improve your gut & digestive health, drinking kefir is a great way to do that. I’ll talk about how to culture milk kefir as well as water kefir.

Have you heard of Kefir?

We have been using kefir for over ten years. And it’s been a great way to improve our family’s gut & digestive health.

In this guide for culturing kefir, I’ll be sharing lots of info and tips + answering frequently asked questions about kefir. If you have another question I haven’t covered, feel free to ask in the comments.

If you’ve tried kefir, I’d love it if you chime in with any of your own experience and knowledge. I hope this post can be a resource for all of us to learn together.

How do I pronouce Kefir?

I pronounce Kefir “Kee-fur”, but as I was doing research for this, I found various sources that talk about why this pronunciation is or is not correct. It’s beyond the scope of this post to argue any pronunciation points, I’m simply here to share what’s awesome to me about Kefir (and in case you’re wondering I plan on pronouncing it “kee-fur” for the time being. 🙂

What is Kefir?

Kefir is a fermented milk drink made with milk “grains”. Kefir tastes and looks like sour plain yogurt. It is a bit runnier than the plain yogurt that you buy in the store. Kefir is made by adding kefir “grains” to milk. I use cow’s milk, but goat’s milk or sheep’s milk will all work. 

Kefir grains aren’t actually grain (like wheat). They look like little cauliflower florets, but are soft and squishy. They are a living, live organism and will grow and reproduce over time as they are “fed”.

Kefir grains feed off of the sugar/lactose, found in milk. Like other living organisms, kefir grains will lose viability and may even die if they are not cared for properly. If you continue to feed them properly, kefir grains will continue reproducing and stay around forever.

How do I culture my own Kefir?

Believe it or not, kefir is VERY EASY to make.

Add milk kefir grains to a clean container that is three-fourths full of milk, place a lid on the container, and then let the mixture sit for several hours at room temperature to culture or ferment. The ferment time will vary, but usually with a ratio of one tablespoon kefir grains to one cup of milk it takes about 24 hours.

When it is cultured to your liking, remove the kefir grains (with a plastic spoon or strainer) and place them in a new jar of fresh milk to culture. If you’re not ready to culture a fresh batch right away, the kefir grains can be kept in the cultured milk in the refrigerator for a few days or in a jar of fresh uncultured milk in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to start making it again, simply remove the kefir grains from the refrigerator and start the process over again. 

How do I know if my kefir grains are still alive?

My rule of thumb is, your grains are still fine and the kefir is still safe to use as long as there is no mold growing. If there is mold growing, I recommend you throw the whole thing out and begin over again (with new grains). If there is no mold, you can always just reserve the grains and discard the sour kefir if you can’t use it.

Kefir grains that are kept in the refrigerator won’t be as viable as those that are kept at room temperature, meaning they won’t reproduce as often or culture the milk as fast. If your grains aren’t reproducing as quickly as you would like, try minimizing the time they spend in the refrigerator to encourage them to be more viable. 

It is important not to leave the kefir grains culturing in the milk for too long at room temperature. Your kefir will get very strong and will not be enjoyable to drink at that point. If you have let it go a little too long and the whey starts to separate from the curds (like little miss muffet), don’t worry. That’s normal. It doesn’t mean that you have killed the grains. Follow my rule of thumb and the tips above and you will be just fine.

More tips for culturing success…

From what I’ve read and heard, kefir is best made and stored in glass containers. It’s also best to keep it out of direct sources of sunlight. Kefir can withstand some heat, but will lose its viability if it gets too hot (cooking will kill it). Freezing your grains may also damage them, so it’s best not to freeze them.

It is best to use plastic spoons, forks, lids, and strainers when working with kefir. You will want to keep your jars covered to avoid contamination. If you have a metal lid on the jar, just make sure the kefir does not “touch” the lid, and you should be fine to keep using it.

For best results, feed grains stored in the refrigerator with new, fresh milk every few weeks to make sure they stay alive and active.

What kind of milk do I use?

We only drink whole milk in our family so that’s what we use to make kefir. Raw whole milk would be wonderful if you have that available to you at a reasonable cost, but we usually just use the whole milk from the store.

There is some debate about whether milk from sources other than animals will work for kefir. From what I’ve read, other forms of milk (like coconut, almond, etc.) may be able to culture kefir, but the grains will not thrive and grow in them.

I’d love to hear your experience if you’ve tried other types of milk.

What do I do with the cultured kefir milk?

The easy answer is drink it.

My husband drinks his straight. It is creamy and tart, similar to plain yogurt.

I am a little pickier by nature so I love to use it in smoothies. These strawberry smoothie milkshakes or this orange Julius are great options. I’ll be sharing a peach favorite very soon.

You can strain kefir through cheesecloth and make something that resembles a sour cream cheese. Or make kefir ice cream. You can sweeten it and eat it like yogurt; adding berries and yogurt or other fresh fruit if you like.

Kefir works great in salad dressing. Sometimes I sub it for buttermilk in this ranch dressing.

To obtain all of the health benefits of kefir, it needs to be consumed raw. The live bacteria is what is so good for you.

If you are making too much kefir to use exclusively in raw recipes, using it in place of buttermilk or milk in baked goods will help use it up. While cooked kefir milk won’t give you the same health benefits, it’s still helpful to know about in case you need a substitution. I use a 1:1 ratio for kefir in place of buttermilk. A 1 to 1:1.25 ratio works best for kefir in place of milk (use 1.25 times the kefir if the recipe calls for milk).

Where do I find kefir grains?

Unfortunately, kefir grains can’t just be grown themselves. You have to have a grain to start with before you can produce more.

The best way to obtain grains would be to find someone who makes kefir and see if they will grow and donate some to you. I got my kefir grain from a dear lady from our old neighborhood who has taught me much of what I’m sharing with you here. It’s been over 10 years now and we are still happily producing kefir from the descendants of that original grain she shared. A little while ago she called me and asked me for a grain after hers had malfunctioned. I was happy to share a descendant from her original grain back with her.

We try to keep “his” and “hers” jars in operation just in case. That came in especially handy one time when I accidentally ground up my grains in my smoothie (which is perfectly fine by the way – they are edible). I had to beg some from the “his” jar. It was a good thing he was happy to share since I was the one who gave him his original grain. But he couldn’t resist teasing me that it would cost me something first…hahaha.

We’ve given away several of our little baby kefir grains to aspiring kefir owners and it makes us happy when we do. Unfortunately we don’t have a really good source to ship our kefir babies around the world right now. So if you don’t know me in person, I’m really sorry, but you’ll have to find another source. 

What are some sources to buy kefir grains?

Here are just a few sources of live kefir grains that I’ve seen in my research that you could look into. Since I didn’t obtain my kefir grain this way, I can’t vouch for the reputability of any of these companies or the quality of their products.

Fusion Teas (Amazon aff. link)

Kefir Lady (non-aff. link)

Yemoos Market (non-aff. link)

Cultured food for life (non-aff. link)

Your best option would be to purchase living milk kefir grains. Once you buy the living grains you should be able to keep growing them time and time again without having to purchase anything else. If you buy the dry grains you will have to spend some time re-hydrating them, which would work too. I don’t recommend purchasing the powder kefir as it will not keep producing like the kefir grains do.

What about water kefir?

If you have extra kefir grains, converting them to water kefir is an excellent way to get more of the benefits of kefir into your diet. We usually keep about 2 or 3 tablespoons of water kefir grains at a time (disposing of the older grains as we get new ones). But even if you just a have a few, you can still use them and continue to convert more as your milk kefir babies grow.

Unlike milk kefir, water kefir grains will not reproduce and are not as active, but they are still a good source of natural probiotics.

How do I convert milk kefir grains to water kefir grains?

First rinse the milk kefir grains with unchlorinated water. It’s important that the water is unchlorinated as the chlorine will kill it. When we lived in the city, we just put a water filter on our sink that filtered out the chlorine (most city water is chlorinated). Now we have a well (and a whole house filter) that filters our water. If you’re not sure whether your tap water has chlorine in it or not, assume it does and make sure to filter it when you make kefir water.

After rinsing the grains, place them in a clean pint glass jar and cover with filtered water. Shake the grains a few times to remove as much milk as you can. 

Remove the grains, dump the water, rinse out the jar, and return the grains to the jar. 

Fill the jar with water and add a tablespoon of granulated sugar and a small dash of real salt (do not use iodized). You have to add sugar to the kefir water for the kefir grains to feed on since there are no natural sugars in water. You cannot use raw honey to feed kefir because of its antibacterial properties.

Let the grains soak for about 12 hours in a cool, dark place. 

Then repeat the process above 2 more times. At this point your grains should be fully converted to water grains and you are ready to make water kefir.

How do I make water kefir?

To make water kefir, add the water kefir grains to a clean quart jar. Fill most of the way with unfiltered water. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 5 to 8 raisins. The kefir grains will feed on the sugar in the water and the fruit. Within about 24 hours the water will become fermented and full of healthy probiotics and beneficial bacteria.

We let the kefir culture in the pantry so it’s out of sunlight.

Like the milk kefir, you will want to either use the kefir water after 24-36 hours or stick the whole jar (grains and all) in the refrigerator to slow down the culturing process. The flavor will get stronger the longer it sits at room temperature so it’s nice to have the refrigerator option if you are going out of town or need to take a break for a while.

How do I use kefir water?

To strain the water kefir we use a plastic strainer that screws on a quart mason jar. The advertised purpose for the plastic strainers we use (aff. link) are actually for making sprouts, but it works really good for kefir straining as well.

We drink the water kefir every night with our dinner. If you’ve been to our house for dinner, chances are pretty good that you’ve been offered a kefir drink. It is quick and easy to make and very refreshing.

After we strain the kefir water, we mix in a stevia sweetened lemonade packet (this true lemon brand, aff. link). Add a little more water and some ice and enjoy!

How do I make a kefir fizzy drink or “soda”?

Making fizzy kefir drink is a bit more involved than the way we use kefir water so we don’t do it very often. But it’s really yummy and fun to experiment with.

To make the fizzy drink, culture the kefir water like I explained above. Then add the cultured & strained kefir water to fill flip-top glass bottles (aff. link) about 1/3 or 1/2 way. Then add grape juice to the rest. Cork the bottles and let them ferment in a warm, dark place (like a pantry) for about 24 to 48 hours depending on the room temperature.

Once the drink has fermented be sure to open it carefully over a sink unless you want the experience of kefir grape juice exploding all over your kitchen and giving you a shower in the process. We have done that a time or two.

We’ve tried other varieties than just grape, but grape seems to work the best. If you are trying another variety, you may want to add a few raisins to each bottle so it fizz’s up a little better.

Why should I drink Kefir?

I’m no health expert, but I have done some research on the health benefits of kefir.

Kefir, like yogurt, is a wonderful source of natural probiotics. Probiotics are the live organism (healthy bacteria) that are naturally found in our digestive tracts. These good bacteria help rid our systems of harmful bacteria and boost our immune system’s response. Kefir is thought to contain nearly three times the probiotic count as yogurt.

Kefir also helps improve lactose digestion. Many people who can’t digest milk (due to lactose intolerance) can digest kefir. The beneficial bacteria contained in kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract keeping our digestive tract clean.

Kefir grains are packed with good micro-organisms, micro- and macro-nutrients, essential vitamins and minerals like proteins, vitamin B, vitamin K, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, among others.

Historically, kefir has been recommended and been successful in the treatment of conditions such as constipation, diarrhea, gastrointestinal problems, hypertension, allergies, respiratory disease, ischemic heart disease, and many others.

What do you do with your kefir grains when you aren’t home?

As I mentioned above, both the water kefir and the milk kefir can be kept in the refrigerator. I don’t know exactly how long, but I’ve left mine untouched for a month or more and it’s been just fine. It may smell a little funny when you get back and that’s okay. You can always dump the milk (or water), keep the grains and start over.

Another great option that you may not have thought of is to bring your kefir with you.

My husband has traveled a lot for work including to third world countries. He often takes a kefir grain with him in a water bottle–yes, even on the plane! Before going through security, he will drink the milk and then buy more in the airport to fill up his bottle again. He has noticed that he has a lot fewer digestive problems when he does this. The probiotics in the kefir help eliminate the harmful bacteria in food and water that his digestive system is not used to. Not only does it seem to help combat food-poisoning but just aids in a healthy gut as your body digests unfamiliar foods.

I hope this guide for culturing kefir has inspired you to start culturing this amazing probiotic.

Have you tried kefir? What did you think? If not, what are you waiting for? Go get your hands on some and starting using it!

I’d love to hear any questions, tips, or comments, my friends.

Happy kefir making!