Just started making kefir last week. My kefir comes out grainy and watery.
Here is what I'm doing:
- I have about 2 tablespoon of kefir
- I add about 4 cups of 2% organic milk
- Leave it for a day on the counter (26 degrees centigrade)
- It separates by this time (clear liquid at the bottom) but not much
- I run it through a plastic sieve.
The resulting kefir compared to store bought kefir (my only point of reference) is:
- seems watery instead of creamy
- seems grainy: tiny grains almost like yogurt particles
- has a sharp taste/smell
I still drink it and enjoy it. But I was wondering how I can improve it…
Update
I haven't gotten the timing right yet…however switching to whole milk is producing much better kefir.
Best Answer
Most of the kefir recipes I saw online use whole milk, not low-fat milk as a starter. One source mentioned that commercial low-fat kefir recipes use large amounts of additives and stabilizers to make them thick. This might be related to your homemade kefir tasting watery, or being grainy, I don't know - but at least if you try and it doesn't solve the problem, you've eliminated one possible variable.
Another possibility is if your kefir is left too long, it will finish fermenting and start to separate. This stage, of beginning to separate into curds and whey, might match your description of grains and clear liquid at the bottom of your container, though it perhaps hasn't curdled entirely yet. It may also explain the sharper taste, if the kefir has had enough time to ferment all the way through your milk. If your kefir was over-fermenting for whatever reason - perhaps it is sitting a little longer than it needs to, or if it's a little warmer then it might ferment faster, or something about ratios or batch size - then stopping the ferment a little early (couple hours at a time?), straining out the grains and putting the kefir in the fridge, might get you the results you want.