regolith
Well-known member
So I bought a bottle of kefir from the supermarket about four days ago.
Just finished the last of it. I've had kefir grains to play with since about last August. Was curious to know what the shop version was like. Usually its not from "grains" but is a mix of probiotics that ferment to a similar result. Initial impression was that it's slightly thick, slightly fizzy, not at all sour and distinctly lacking in flavour. So I guess that's what the customer prefers; by the ingredients list it's purely milk, fruit pulp and bacteria/yeasts. So any sweetness is from lactose and fruit.
Hungry during milking without time to stop and eat, no prepared food to hand then kefir seems to ease hunger to a greater degree than raw milk.
My home-made kefir definitely has flavour though, and sours quickly. I prefer to interrupt it at about 12 hrs ferment when the aroma is distinctly coconutty rather than cheese, and add a bit of brown sugar back in. I was making soda drinks with it too for a while, but my sister gave me water kefir grains for Christmas and I only occasionally drink the milk kefir now, most of it goes back to the calves. I use a jar of water kefir daily, some times fruit flavoured or with ginger or other spices, very often with a little sugar and a herbal teabag added for the "second ferment"; and drink it at the lightly fizzy stage. After a month or so of that I just didn't like bought soda anymore it's so much better made at home.
I've made bread/cakes with the kefir sometimes too, the milk kefir makes an enriched bread that needs less or no other raising agent.
One of the things I've observed over and over since getting onto a piece of land that I own... and can therefore produce a range of food from... is the difference in flavour of food between the supermarket and home grown versions. I've had to conclude that bland and consistent isn't just what customers expect, it's what they prefer.
Just finished the last of it. I've had kefir grains to play with since about last August. Was curious to know what the shop version was like. Usually its not from "grains" but is a mix of probiotics that ferment to a similar result. Initial impression was that it's slightly thick, slightly fizzy, not at all sour and distinctly lacking in flavour. So I guess that's what the customer prefers; by the ingredients list it's purely milk, fruit pulp and bacteria/yeasts. So any sweetness is from lactose and fruit.
Hungry during milking without time to stop and eat, no prepared food to hand then kefir seems to ease hunger to a greater degree than raw milk.
My home-made kefir definitely has flavour though, and sours quickly. I prefer to interrupt it at about 12 hrs ferment when the aroma is distinctly coconutty rather than cheese, and add a bit of brown sugar back in. I was making soda drinks with it too for a while, but my sister gave me water kefir grains for Christmas and I only occasionally drink the milk kefir now, most of it goes back to the calves. I use a jar of water kefir daily, some times fruit flavoured or with ginger or other spices, very often with a little sugar and a herbal teabag added for the "second ferment"; and drink it at the lightly fizzy stage. After a month or so of that I just didn't like bought soda anymore it's so much better made at home.
I've made bread/cakes with the kefir sometimes too, the milk kefir makes an enriched bread that needs less or no other raising agent.
One of the things I've observed over and over since getting onto a piece of land that I own... and can therefore produce a range of food from... is the difference in flavour of food between the supermarket and home grown versions. I've had to conclude that bland and consistent isn't just what customers expect, it's what they prefer.
