Last winter, I didn’t catch one cold. Nor the flu. I didn’t even get the pinkeye that my husband and daughter shared for a few days. Tfu, tfu, tfu – I’m spitting three times to avert bad luck. Well, I haven’t lived in Israel all these years without getting contaminated by fear of the Evil Eye. But as far as the chesty colds and bronchitises that I’ve had every year, all my life, last winter was tissue-free for me. So what’s the big difference?
I kept my fluid intake up. Washed my hands religiously the minute I arrived home from outdoors. Stayed warm and dry and didn’t go out in the rain unless I had to. Took my vitamins and homeopathic anti-flu drops.
But I’ve done all that every winter. While the homeopathy did reduce flu to a mere three days, I still got sick. Till last winter, when on a list, someone mentioned that drinking home-made kefir protects her from viruses.
I did some online research and found this site, a mass of badly-organized, rambling information written by a man truly obsessed. In spite of the overwhelming detail and some specious theorizing, it’s worth bookmarking and reading through, a little at a time.
Kefir, I read, is a culture composed of beneficial bacteria and yeasts, zinging with probiotics. There are different strains, suitable for fermenting milk or water. Milk fermented with kefir is a staple food originating in the tents of nomads living in the Caucasus Mountains. They are very long-lived people, and attribute this partly to their habit of drinking kefir. I suppose that a fair amount of probiotics in the gut guarantee good digestion, which in turn boosts metabolism of foods and raises immunities.
Fermenting kefir is really not a big deal. All you need are the “grains,” which are lumpy pieces of kefir culture, some milk, a wooden spoon, and a clean pitcher. All you have to do is place the grains in a clean, cool pitcher. Heat kills the grains. Pour a liter of cold milk over them. Cover the pitcher and let the milk ferment on your kitchen counter anywhere from 6-24 hours, depending on how sour you like it. I wait about 8 hours in the winter, less in summer – till the yoghurt-like concoction is smooth and only a little sour. In summer I do the whole fermentation in the fridge, because in my hot kitchen, I’ll have cheese in the pitcher instead of a pourable drink.
Once your kefir is fermented to your satisfaction, extract the mother grains with a wooden spoon – contact with metal also kills the grains. Put them in a clean jar, cover them with milk, and stash them in the fridge. Cover the jar. I usually just put my mother grains in a clean drinking glass and cover the whole thing with plastic film. Drink some of your kefir and likewise store it in the fridge.
I only wash the pitcher every few cycles.
When you see your supply is getting low, maybe only about a cup left, put the mother grains back in the pitcher, pour a new liter of milk over them, and wait again. Repeat the cycle. That’s all there is to it. This past summer I didn’t feel the need to drink kefir, so I kept the mother grains in fresh milk at the back of the fridge and only brought them out last week. Kefir grains are said to multiply in fermentation. That’s never been the case with me, but I’ve fermented many liters of milk with the same two mother culture grains.
The mother culture, called “grains” for some obscure reason, is yellowish and looks like small pieces of cauliflower. It is solid. Curds caused by the fermentation are white, look like grains of rice, and are squishable. You can get kefir grains almost anywhere. I bought mine for a ridiculously low price ($4, I think) off eBay. But most places, you can get them free (follow the link above).
Many additional health claims are made for kefir. To what I’ve said, I can only add that drinking kefir does promote good digestion. But I do know that with it, I stay healthy all winter. And you can hardly go wrong with all those probiotics.
Some folks like to make fruit smoothies with the kefir. Some, like me, enjoy it plain and cold. My little daughter likes it blended with frozen fruit and some honey, so I do that for her. There are lots of kefir-based recipes, especially on Dom’s site, but I just like to pour the stuff out and drink.
Update February 5, 2012:
I’ve received several questions regarding the kashrut of kefir since I’ve posted this. Up till now, I’ve referred readers to their rabbis. But today I spoke to my own rabbi about it, again, and here’s what he told me. The original “mother” grain, if obtained from a Gentile or non-kosher source, is not kosher. But you can grow kosher ones out of it, like this:
Use only Chalav Israel. Put the original “mother” grain milk and grow a new “baby” grain from it (let’s say, in a cup or two of milk). Toss the original mother and and ferment a new batch with this first baby. Wait till there’s a new, second baby. Toss its mother and ferment another 2 times, each time using a new “baby” from the preceding batch. The fourth new “baby” is now kosher and can be used freely.
Obviously, this takes some time. I find that my grains go dormant in summer, even kept in the fridge. In winter, I can grow 2 or 3 generations of “baby” cultures. But other people’s kefir seems to just explode with babies, all the time…guess there’s room for individuals in kefir.
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What an interesting post. I have never heard of this before. I have a compromised immune system due to a few medications I take so this sounds like something I should be looking into. What does it taste like?
Where do you get the grains?
Harry,
It tastes like yoghurt if you ferment only till it thickens, and more like cheese if you allow it to ferment longer. It will separate into curds and whey in the latter case. You can find ready-cultured kefir in supermarkets these days, always with Russian on the label. But it’s nowhere near as good, or as cheap, as the home-made stuff.
mother in israel,
You can easily find them on eBay. I bought some from a French woman, who only charged for mailing them. I soaked and rinsed them with fresh milk several times because of kashrut, although I doubt that they had come out of donkey’s milk or camel’s milk
.
I just sent emails to the two ladies in Jerusalem whose names appear on the list I linked to, and am waiting their replies.
hi,Greetings from Manila,PH . thanks for sharing this page of yours . my friend introduced this kefir drink to us last month . me & most of my friends here our now drinking kefir for good health . thanks again
Shalom, jojo,
Enjoy the kefir in good health.
Hi, Israeli kitchen
I’m desperate to get my hands on some keffir grains in Israel – we made aliya this year from Australia and I need to get back on the keffir wheel, as well as a few others I’ve sinec afllen off – We’re in Zichron Yaakov. My blogs on our journey so far ! Yours is great, I’m going to keep enjoying…
Thanks for any advice
Rebecca
I’ve only found one person in Israel that has kefir grains, and she will only part with some on condition that you give “a GENEROUS donation” to the dog and cat shelter.
Alternately, you can do what I did and go to eBay. Find a supplier in France or England, and you’ll have your grains for the cost of shipping them over. I think I paid 4.00 Euros for mine.
Shalom aleichem. I’m desperate to get my hands on some kefir grains, but I haven’t been able to find a kosher source. Any ideas?
Yehudah,
Put out the word on your neighborhood e-list. Or ask your Rav what to do. I was told it was OK to buy from anyone, and to rinse the grains a few times in fresh kosher milk when I received them.
I’d like to present the question to a Rav, but don’t know enough about kefir grains to present the question properly. What are the grains made of? Do they grow from the milk they ferment? Can anyone here help me with this question?
Kefir culture grows in milk (there is another, similar culture out there that ferments water, as well). But its origins are obscure. When a combination of natural yeasts and bacteria happen, there’s kefir. It’s intrinsically kosher, but if it’s been cultured in chalav nochri, you have a legitimate she’elat rav. I was told to rinse it three times in fresh kosher milk. Since my grains came from France and had been cultured in cow’s milk (not camel or some other treif milk), there was less of a problem. However, that was the psak I got – every person must ask his/her own she’elah.
Mimi, thanks, that’s very helpful. Now I know how to present the sha’alah.
I received kefir in the mail, but was nervous to use it since I do not really know the source. ZI know that it contains bacteria which is good, but could it be contaminated.
Rita, my own kefir came from France to Israel by mail, three years ago, and it’s still making great kefir. If it smells only lightly sour, like good yoghurt, then it should be fine.
I had never heard of kefir before, until someone at work offered me some grains. I wanted to know whether there were any kashrut problems, so I googled it and up popped your posting! Thanks! Will go down and collect my grains.
Great, Avital. You’ll enjoy the kefir, I know. My little grandsons beg me for some whenever they visit (my daughter won’t make it, she jokingly says, “It’s alive!”).
Hey, just reading this now! I’m also looking to start making kefir. I read somewhere that it originally developed from animal-based enzymes (i.e. in bags made from animal intestines or something). Your rabbi didn’t think that’s a problem? Also, could it be your kefir is not expanding because you’re not straining it and therefore you’re not catching any new cultures? Everything I’ve read says you need to strain it, not just fish out the mother cultures. I wonder if you’d get more cultures if you strained it. (On the other hand, the cultures are supposedly very healthful to eat.)
Liz, I can give you a mother if you want. With regard to kashrut, existing kefir grains are so far removed from their origins that it doesn’t matter anymore. My rabbi says it’s fine. When I received my original mother grains, they came in a ziploc with some milk. I cultured them into fresh kosher milk three times. My particular kefir doesn’t make more than two mothers at any given time whether I strain or not. It’s pretty smooth, no chewy particles. But I like it. Actually, when no one’s around I call it “her.”
Thanks for the offer.
Irene gave me some cultures a few days ago, I’ve already made a few batches. Such fun. And I think my cultures have already doubled in size! I’m going to try making kafir-based sodas next — with the kafir whey or the cultures themselves.
Liz…kefir-based soda? The drink itself gets fizzy, but do you mean combining kefir with soda water? It’s better to mix the whey in with the more solid white stuff on the bottom, or you’ll get far too concentrated a drink, hard to digest. By the cultures, I take it you mean that milky/cheesy layer? Because kefir culture is the fat, yellowish “mother” cluster.
Hi Mimi,
I live in Zichron Yaakov, and I’m very interested in making kefir. Do you know where can I get some “Mother”? My husband is in the US right now, and I want him to bring me some, but he’s worried about it exploding in his suitcase!
Do you think it would?
Suzie, I don’t know who in Israel might have kefir mother grains. But your husband can certainly bring some in his suitcase. Mine came by mail from France.
Hi Mimi, Who is your Rav? I have had a VERY difficult time finding a rav who even knows enough about fermentation and kefir to give me an answer (actually I have not been able to find one).
Thank you
Uri, I’m sorry…my rav asked for me not to put his name on the blog. Anyway I spoke to him about kefir again this morning, and he corrected me on the kashrut procedure. You must put the original “mother” grain into chalav Israel and grow a new “baby” grain from it. Toss the original mother and and ferment a new batch (let’s say, in a cup or two of milk), growing a second baby. Toss the second baby and do it again another 2 times, each time using a new “baby” from the preceding batch. The fourth new “baby” is now kosher and can be used ad infinitum. Well – after all the years and new babies I’ve been culturing into chalav Israel, my grains have been acceptable for quite a long time now. I realize you need more authority than this to proceed on your own, but the best I can suggest is that you explain to your rav what kefir physically is and how the bundle of friendly bacteria ferments milk into something like yoghurt. Considering how much material there is in halacha regarding fermentation (especially around Pesach issues), it shouldn’t be all that hard for a rav to understand.