steve wrote:
> kefiranofaciens and that this encapsulated bacteria may be responsible for
the
> propagation of kefir grains . My grains are still growing (went from 1/4 cup
to 8
> cups) , so I'm wondering why I get no Kefiran. Any ideas or suggestions as
to
> what I should do?
I had this before with some of my grains. sadly, it was the end of them.
I spent weeks recovering them and finally threw them out. I tried
everything, including fasting, refrigeration etc. I even tried bathing
them in other fresh kefirs.
all this does not mean that you should not try to revive them. I'd
suggest fasting them in water for a day, put them in milk and then find
a place with ~20-23 C all day long (use a thermometer). then keep
changing milk as soon as it curdles and keep stirring, to improve
contact of the grains with fresh milk.
I found that temperature is very important. some of grains that I had
quickly degrade at temperatures lower ~17 C and higher ~25 C. what is
interesting is that he degradation speed is not linearly related to the
temperature, for example keeping them in the fridge is better than 15 C.
also, I think keeping them away from sunlight also helps.
although I recovered my "bad" grains using the above method, they were
very unstable and kept falling back to curd/whey mode. the taste and
texture were also heavily affected, and this is what I care about. since
I always have several different strains, I decided not to waste milk any
longer. what's the point if I have two other jars with grains that are
absolutely clock-work.
this is just my opinion based on my experience. I think ratio is far
less important than temperature and quality of the grains themselves. I
need to say that I always aim for thick, creamy kefir and don't drink
separated stuff. I don't care much about health benefits, but I feel
them every time I have a glass of smooth enjoyable kefir.
/max
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