How to start a Milk Kefir Culture

Preparing your first kefir culture is easy.

For this, you need only four things: a recipient, a sifter (plastic or stainless steel), milk, and Milk Kefir Grains (also referred to as "the mother"). If you don't have any, we will look at obtaining the kefir grains at a later time.

For the initial kefir culture, add enough kefir grains to fill a soup spoon into a quarter litre of milk... then just leave it be, to run its fermentation process.

At a later time, when it is ready to consume, pass the combination through the sifter, to safely gather your kefir culture while obtaining the resulting liquid at the same time. Drink your milk kefir, and store the kefir grains again in a new solution, to be consumed at another time.

The milk you use can be either be the commercial kind or raw. The fermentation obtained by the grains assists in destroying the harmful bacteria that raw milk can contain. If you want to consume the resulting kephir milk in a more liquid state, increase the amount of milk a bit. If you prefer it thicker, closer to yogurt, reduce the quantity of milk.

As time goes by, you will notice that the kefir culture is growing, as the living being that it is. Bit by bit, you will be able to increase the quantity of milk added. I tend to think of this as a symbiotic relationship between a person and the kephir... two friends, feeding and providing health benefits to each other, growing.