How To Make ~Water Kefir~

 

    Ever heard of kefir? Well you've probably heard of the milk version, but here is the water version. Depending on how much you pay for your milk, this may even be a cheaper way to consume kefir.

    What's kefir? It's a yummy, fermented drink. It's healthy for you when properly prepared. It fits in the same category of "fermented healthiness" as yoghurt, kombucha, milk kefir, and others. It's easy to make.

   It's also a probiotic. "A pro-bi-what?" you might be thinking. Well for those of you who don't know, a probiotic is pretty much good microorganisms that will kill the bad microorganisms inside you. Apparently in Greek the word "probiotic" translates literally "for life". Really it's known for many to simply "kill the junk" inside of us. If you're interested in more things it does, check out a website by clicking here that I stumbled on when we first got our water kefir grains a few months back. Sounds like great stuff, doesn't it?

 

   In the above picture you can see the water kefir grains on the bottom of the jar. Depending on factors like temperature and nutrient content in the water and sugar you use, they may multiply! If you get too much, use a bigger jar and double the batch, eat the extra grains straight, or give them away to a friend.

Water Kefir

- 1/3 cup water kefir grains

- 3 cups water

- 1/3 cup sugar (white sugar is not suggested, use a healthier sugar - see note below)

Stir sugar into water in a quart jar. Pour in kefir grains that are covered with liquid from the previous batch. WARNING: DON'T LET THE KEFIR GRAINS TOUCH METAL - IT IS VERY BAD FOR THEM. Cover with cotton cloth or cheese cloth to keep debris from falling in and set in a dark place for 8-24 hours, depending on desired strength. (The baggy says some things that conflicts with this recipe, but I researched it and that's how I got the one written here.)

Important Note: I did an experiment with them when it doubled in size. I had been using raw evaporated cane juice sugar at first, but then I split them in jars and used just white sugar in the second jar. Within a few days it started smelling a little funny and we stopped drinking it, but kept on with the experiment. In just over a week or so I gave up on it. It smelled bad and I was NOT going to taste it! It seems to me that I starved it (since white sugar has no nutrients in it) and then bad bacteria took over. So make SURE you don't use regular white sugar and make sure you use clean supplies, as these can both be attributing factors to bad bacteria taking over and in turn, of course, food poisoning.

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   Watch for Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday this week on how I like to flavor it. Personally kefir water tastes like sugar water until it's flavored. So check back on Tuesday to see how we love to drink it!

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