So Thomas,

You don't put freshly pasteurized milk into the kefir?  This sounds so much
easier than what I do.  Does this affect anything like kefir growth, thickness,
purity?

Very interested,
aireph

thomas.wehle@... wrote:

Hi Kate in Cincinnati,

regarding straining kefir  .. just want to let you know my 2 cts worth ....
hope that helps:

The answer is, as so often, hidden deep down in Dom's website(s). I use a
strainer which is pretty much the same as displayed in the bootm left of
the following picture:
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#straining-kefir .... you
get a better look at it using the following link:
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#strainers ... here it's the
white plastic strainer with the long handle. And while you are there, read
a bit about straining.

I too was concerned about that the mesh would be too fine for the curds,
most at all after long fermentation or to hot weather when the curds really
are getting thick. However, this is what I do:
a) before pouring the kefir into the strainer, I swirl the brewing jar and
if necessary use a plastic spoon (one of those with a long handle you use
for ice cream work best for me) to stir the stuff vigorously.
b) after pouring the kefir into the strainer, I use my (clean) index finger
or the same plastic spoon to stir carefully and that does the trick for me.

This method breaks up the curds pretty well and results in a nice creamy
and not lumpy kefir. And the use of my index finger or the careful use of
the spoon ensures that all the kefir grains stay in the strainer and stay
alive ....

Hope this helps finding your way of handling the kefir business.

BTW, to give you an idea how much time this takes:
a) open jar with kefir = 1.33 ltr
b) swirl and stir (with plastic spoon)
c) place strainer on top of a pitcher (works best for me since the pitcher
is slightly bigger in diameter than the strainer)
d) pour kefir into strainer (about 1/3 of my batch until the strainer is
filled)
e) use plastic spoon or index finger to help with the straining
f) repeat d and e until all is done
g) pour harvested kefir into glas jar and put it into fridge / drink / keep
dog away ... whatever you want to do with it
h) rinse brewing jar first with cold water and after it's clean with hot
water
i) put kefir grains back into brewing jar
j) open fridge door
k) take fresh bag of milk out of fridge
l) open bag of milk
m) empty bag of milk into brewing jar
n) close brewing jar
o) put brewing jar in kitchen cabinet / cupboard
p) throw out empty milk bag
q) load dishwasher with the other utensils

a) thru q) take me about 7... 10 minutes

Good health!
Thomas



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