photo by huckabyfam
It’s getting cool around here, and I’m ready to bombard my family with good probiotics to keep them healthy this winter. How do I do this inexpensively? By making my own yogurt and kefir that contains the good bacteria our bodies need. I’m currently using The Home Creamery cookbook by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley. Amazon has The Home Creamery for only $11.53. Use your free 3 months of Amazon Mom to get free shipping on this item.
Here’s a quick preview of this book. How to make Homemade Kefir (basically yogurt you drink):
Add 1/4 cup of kefir grains to a clean pint glass jar, and add in two cups of milk. Cover loosely and let sit for 12-24 hours at room temperature.
Strain through a sieve to separate the grains, and refrigerate the kefir for up to 3 weeks. Kefir grains can be saved for future batches.
When your friends are impressed that you made it yourself, there’s no need to tell them you only spent about 5 minutes making it! You can make yogurt almost the same way, and you can find these extremely easy recipes (with practically no work on your part!) in The Home Creamery. Making your own organic kefirs and yogurts is a lot cheaper than doing store-bought, and is an easy way to add in those pro-biotics our bodies need to stay healthy this winter. See a quick cost comparison of making your own yogurt vs. buying store-bought here. More to come on my adventures in having a home creamery!
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I love making homemade kefir to use in smoothies! It’s been a while since I’ve made it, but last time I used a powder that I got from Whole Foods. I’ll have to try it using kefir grains.
How many batches will the grains make before you need to throw them out?
I think they last ten months to a year, and you just keep using them.
I don’t think the grains ever stop working.
That is what I thought, but I didn’t want to answer in haste, especially when the book says 10-12 months.
My Daughter makes all of our yogurt, but she uses Dannon as the starter. I’ll have to look into the Kefir.
Maybe a dumb question but how to you pronouce Kefir?
Oh wow! I’ve totally been pronouncing it wrong. I thought it was either “keh-fer” or “kee-fer”, but the way to pronounce it (according to dictionary.com) is “kuh-feer”.
I grew up in Russian where kefir is just as common as milk and we pronounce it ” keh-feer”. I cant wait to try and make my own using this method. thanks, Chrystal
The Home Creamery rocks! My husband got it for me for my birthday (cause I loaded it into his Amazon cart
and I’ve been working through it. I’ve yet to make Kefir. I need to get the grains first.
I just made my first batch of homemade yogurt this week! I used organic yogurt as a starter and used a super easy crockpot recipe… it was a huge success!
What exactly ARE kefir grains? They look kind of freaky!
Slightly unrelated…does anyone have suggestions for where to find reasonably priced canning jars and lids?
Where can I buy the Kefir grain? Thanks!
Making your own yogurt, sounds fantastic. Thanks for the tips!
Curious…what does it taste like? Do u add fruit or flavors to it?
It tastes like yogurt. I add either honey or maple syrup to it to sweeten it up.
Kefie is it from cows milk? Can I use almond milk. I have graves (autoimmune-hyperthyroid).
I think you would probably be better off with a water kefir. I don’t think almond milk will work. http://commonsensehomesteading.blogspot.com/2010/11/water-kefir-favorite-flavors.html