Kefir; the Diffierence between Pasteurized Milk Kefirs and Raw Milk Kefirs

This is one of the most common questions I got at the Lds Holistic Living Conference last Saturday, June the 23rd.   I sell both kinds of kefir grains or pearls.  The raw milk kefirs I sell in jars have about a tablespoon of the grains/pearls in milk and they are frozen.  These you can see when you do your first batch of kefir with them.  I originally got these from a woman from Heber, Utah  about 3 years ago.  She didn't have the geneology of their origins, but they worked well for me and the raw milk I was able to buy at Real Foods Market here in Orem.   She no longer is active in producing them or selling them.
The pasteurized milk kefirs I got from a friend (Donna, who was my assistant that day)  who only has access to pasteurized milk; and she got hers from a friend and they have been working well for her in turning even pasteurized milk into a health food.  However, the grains are very small and haven't developed the clumps that the raw milk kefirs do.  But,  with continued use they do get bigger.  If you bought one of the pasteurized kefirs, be careful with your first batch and gently jiggle the strainer to separate the tiny grains from the kefir.  That last ounce of  lumpy but soft, clotted milk in the bottom of your strainer will have the small grains in it and carefully scoop them out and plop them back into another quart of milk or place them back into small jar and fill with milk and refrigerate them.  Over time, they will get bigger.  Use a fine mesh, stainless steel strainer, if holes in your strainer are too big you will loose all the grains. It is not at all harmful to eat the grains but you want to collect them to keep the process going.

It is KEFIR if after 18 to 24 hours sitting at room temp. the milk will "gell" and pull away from the side of the jar when tilted and the kefir does not taste sweet but slightly sour because the microbes or grains have consumed most of the milk sugar or lactose.   You will have successfully turned pasteurized milk ( a so so product) into a super, pro-biotic food!

Remember, when you leave on vacation for longer than 5 days, just put kefir grains in a small amount of milk and freeze them.  Thaw and start over when you return.

Now, if your grains do not do the job for you, please contact me and I will help you solve the problem or replace the grains.  Contact me at email address in my heading. Thanks to all who bought products from me and to those who were in my classes. I had such fun! It is a lot of work, but it was way fun meeting so many wonderful people.