Kefir berry smoothie

So, my kefir making is going well – yey!  I haven’t killed it off!  I was worried that I wasn’t going to do well with it as it requires a little bit of love each day, but I actually enjoy taking care of it.

You might have seen my first post when I received my kefir grains in the post, well since then I’ve been nurturing each evening and this is what it looks like…

Kefir before straining

Each evening when I come to open my jar of grains and milk it looks something like the above.  I think because the weather has been so warm it’s been splitting more than normal, but I just ignore its looks and get on with it.

You might imagine that raw milk that’s been sat in a jar on the counter top for 24 hours would smell pretty rank – but it doesn’t.  I’ve even had some raw milk out on the side for a few days to make it sour (great for making soda bread I’ve read) and I was convinced there would be that terrible ‘gone-off’ milk smell I’m sure we’re all familiar with – but no, barely a smell at all, just a hint of sourness.

So I take the gloopy mixture with the grains and thickened milk and I strain it – I read it needed to be a plastic strainer (I think you could damage the grains with metal implements).  I strain it through a little plastic sieve into a clean pot…

Kefir being strained

Once I’ve strained all the kefir grains out, I wash the jar and pop the grains back in with a fresh 200ml of raw milk, then the whole process repeats itself the next evening.  The strained kefir is popped into a clean jar in the fridge ready to be drunk.  I’ve not yet tried drinking a glass as ‘neat’ kefir, instead I’ve preferred the idea of making it into a fruit smoothie.

So I’ve blitzed homegrown raspberries and wild strawberries, along with organic blueberries with some kefir and a smidgen of honey.  It goes from this…

Kefir with berries

To this…

Kefir berry smoothie

And then into a glass – it’s scrummy and good for you.

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