How To Make Your Own Cultured Dairy Products:  Kefir by Meredith Heinemeier

Who by now hasn’t heard of the tremendous benefits of taking probiotics and eating fermented foods? Our bodies desperately need these beneficial bacteria. They help us digest our food; they enhance our immune system; they inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria and yeasts; and, as if that weren’t enough, they actually make the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin!

Sure, you can buy cultured dairy products such as yogurt and kefir in any grocery store. The problem is that many of these products just aren’t very powerful. The manufacturer’s interest is in stretching out the shelf life of the product and attracting as many customers as possible by making the product taste sweet. Therefore, commercially made yogurt and kefir often have ingredients—like stabilizers and sugar—which create a harmful environment for live bacteria.

There is good news, though. For very little expense and effort, you can make your own tasty and potent probiotic foods, right in your own kitchen. In this article, we will describe how to make kefir, a delicious cultured beverage.

The word, kefir (pronounced, “kuh-feer’”), is a transliteration of the Russian word, “kefir,” which—like the drink itself--originated in Turkey. Kefir tastes like plain yogurt, but is of drinkable consistency. It is full of lactobacilli, beneficial yeast, amino acids, enzymes, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin K and the B vitamins. Kefir can usually be tolerated by those with lactose intolerance because the beneficial bacteria have predigested the lactose (milk sugar) in the milk.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Donna Gates, creator of the Body Ecology Diet, for making easy-to-use kefir cultures available to the average consumer. The directions in this article are adapted from those Donna has put right in every box. To get started, just purchase a packet of kefir cultures from our website. Although you may think these cultures are expensive, keep in mind that a box of them will make 48 batches of kefir!

For your first batch, you will need a quart of milk. We suggest using organic milk, if possible, and either 2% fat or whole milk. (Using skim milk results in a runny kefir.) Pour your milk into a saucepan and heat it until it feels neither warm nor cool to the touch. Take it off the heat, and immediately pour it into a glass or plastic pitcher or other container. Add a packet of kefir cultures and stir until dissolved. Cover your pitcher to keep dust out, and leave it on your kitchen counter for 12-24 hours. Your kefir is done when it has a jello-like consistency. Refrigerate it from now on, and I suggest you reserve some in a separate container for making your next batch.

When you are ready to make your next batch, repeat the steps above with the following exceptions. First, you don’t need to be limited to one quart of milk…you can use a half gallon or a gallon of milk this time. Second, instead of opening another packet of kefir cultures, use the reserved kefir from your trial batch. If you are making ½ gallon of kefir, use 2/3 cup of the reserved kefir as a starter. To make a full gallon, use one cup of the reserved product. You can use your own kefir as a starter seven times until you need to start over again with a fresh packet of cultures.

Making cultured dairy products like kefir at home is fun, easy, and inexpensive. I hope you try this recipe and reap the many rewards that come from eating fermented foods.

Copyright 2006 Meredith Heinemeier, Certified Colon Hydrotherapist. www.familyhydrotherapy.com