HOW TO MAKE AND USE FRESH LIVING CAUCASUS KEFIR GRAINS

The Basics

• A 500ml glass jar like a kilner jar


• About 1 tablespoon of kefir culture


• Fresh milk

Procedure:

Put the kefir culture in the glass jar, then fill it with fresh milk about 2/3 or so full.
Cover the jar with a cloth or put the lid on the jar.
(If you use a lid don't fill the jar above two thirds or use a jar with a rubber gasket that will let any pressure escape.)
Let the contents stand at room temperature for approx. 24 hours depending on your taste. 48 hours will make a thicker, sourer kefir, 12 hours a thinner, sweeter kefir.

The temperature will effect how quickly the culture works. So during the warm summer months the kefir will ferment faster.
When it's ready strain the kefir into a clean jar. While it's fermenting the kefir grains will float to the top of the milk along with any cream.

It's a good idea to stir it gently with a wooden spoon to mix up the solids and liquids to make it easier to strain. Or use a wooden spoon or clean hands to scoop out the culture from the kefir (the culture is easy to feel and separate from the liquids).

The kefir culture produces a jelly like polysaccharide substance that develops around the grains as they grow, making it look 'gloopy'.
It has unique properties and it's own name 'kefiran'. As you scoop out the grains you may find them coated with a gel like substance. This is the kefiran. Giving the kefir a good stir will distribute the kefiran in the kefir and it contributes to the thickness of the finished kefir. (This seems to be pretty variable, some strains producing a lot and others not much.)

After straining, the grains are placed straight back into a clean jar without washing them first. Fresh milk is added to the grains to make the next batch.

A Note on CleanlinessMake sure everything is very clean when handling kefir. It's a living culture, a complex system of bacteria and yeasts and you don't want risk contaminating it. Use freshly cleaned hands, clean jars and clean non metallic implements.

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NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF KEFIR GRAINS

If you’re looking for a good probiotic supplement go for the best, Kefir. Many manufacturers of probiotics claim that their pills contain 15 billion bacteria at the time of processing. And that it would take tubs of yogurt or gallons of kefir to receive the same amount of friendly bacteria.First of all, lets not forget that these companies acquire their products directly from these whole food fermented-milk products.

As I mentioned before, they pull nutrients out of whole foods and turn around and sell them right back to you.
So for a fraction of the cost, you can have a more superior product.
I paid only a few dollars for my kefir grains, and if you take care of them properly they will multiply and last forever! Numbers don’t lie:

• One capsule of man-made probiotics normally contains about 15 billion bacteria.
• One small bowl of fresh yogurt (500 ml), contains about 1.5 trillion beneficial organisms. – 100 times more than a 15 billion capsule.
• And one small bowl of fresh kefir (500 ml), contains as many as 5 trillion beneficial organisms. Almost 400 times more than a capsule.

Kefir and other fermented milk products contain buffering agents that nourish and protect the lactobacillus from bile acids in the stomach. This way they can make it into the intestines where they produce Vit. B-12 and help to breakdown and package food for excretion. Milk products are such strong buffering agents that even poison control centers recommend drinking milk when confronted with a poison situation. Bacteria in pill form are in a dormant cycle and the bacteria in kefir and yogurt are alive and well, making them much more fit to adapt to sudden changes in environment as they enter the body.These fermented milk products are considered functional foods because they function as health promoting foods. Probiotic pill supplements only offer one thing, bacteria.

Fermented Milk offers much more; minerals, vitamins, amino acids, L-carnitine, good fats, antimicrobial agents and more. Scientist tested the kefir in the Caucasus Mountains for any type of harmful bacteria. But much to their surprise, they found nothing. Deep in the mountains where sanitary conditions are much worse than ours, the scientist refused to believe there was no harmful bacteria to be found. Creating a possible scenario that a piece of animal fecal matter would fall into the milk, they injected the E. Coli bacteria into the kefir. Within 24 hours the E. Coli was destroyed by Kefir’s benificial bacteria. Kefir has also demonstrated the ability to kill H. pylori infections when bacteria alone could not. In addition, the complex microflora of kefir has also shown a keen ability to stimulate our immune system, ward off infections from salmonella, and in some cases even fight cancer. Fermented foods such as kefir, yogurt, and sauerkraut are once again superior to pills in a bottle.

KEFIR VS YOGURT

While both Kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products, they contain different types of beneficial bacteria.

Yogurt:

Contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep your digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that already are present.

Kefir:

Actually helps to colonize your intestinal tract -- a feat that yogurt cannot match.
Additionally, Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt: Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.

It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces Kefir and Torula Kefir, which help balance the intestinal flora, including promotion of beneficial yeast in the body by penetrating the mucosal lining. They form a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and helps strengthen the intestines.
Kefir's active yeast and bacteria may provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. The curd size of Kefir is smaller than yogurt, so it's also easier to digest, making it an ideal food for babies, the elderly, and anyone with digestive health concerns.

HEALTH PROPERTIES OF KEFIR GRAINS:

Kefir enjoys a rich tradition of health claims. In the former Soviet Union, it is used in hospitals and sanatoria for a variety of conditions, including metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, and allergic disease. It has even been used for the treatment of tuberculosis, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders when no modern medical treatment was available. Its consumption has also been associated with longevity in Caucasus. Various scientists have observed digestive benefits of kefir, but controlled studies have yet to confirm their empirical findings. Various research teams around the world have reported encouraging results, but several methodological difficulties still need to be resolved. Most studies to date have been performed in vitro or using animal models, and human studies are not available. Further, the effects of kefir grains or their isolates are often studied, rather than the product kefir, and there is no evidence that the observed effects would occur using the drink itself. Also, kefir products vary significantly according to the composition of the grains used and even according to the region in which it is made, and therefore specific effects may not be demonstrated in all kefirs. Given these caveat, a variety of health benefits are being investigated. Table 3 presents recent studies using kefir products. Several studies have investigated the antitumor activity of kefir and of kefir grains . Specific cultures isolated from kefir were also shown to bind to mutagenic substances such as indole and imidazole. Immune system stimulation with kefir and with sphingomyelin isolated from the lipids of kefir have been demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Kefir possesses antimicrobial activity in vitro against a wide variety of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and against some fungi. In Zacconi et al.ís recent study, the antagonistic effects of kefir against Salmonella kedougou were attributed to the complexity and vitality of the kefir microflora. De Vrese et al . demonstrated that fresh, but not heat treated, disintegrated kefir grains suspended in kefir directly enhanced intestinal lactose digestion in minipigs. This effect was attributed to microbial b-galactosidase activity of kefir. The above studies provide encouraging results, but much more research is necessary in order to demonstrate similar effects using kefir in humans. Further, a standardized, well-defined product must be used in order to provide useful information.

COMPOSITION OF KEFIR

The composition and flavor of kefir vary significantly, depending on a variety of factors including the source (cow, ewe, goat, mare) and the fat content (regular fat, lowfat, nonfat) of the milk used, the composition of the grains or starters, and the technological conditions of production.

The major products formed during fermentation are lactic acid, CO2, and alcohol. Many aromatic compounds, including diacetyl and acetaldehyde are present in kefir .
Diacetyl is produced by Str. lactis subsp. diacetylactis and Leuconostoc sp.
The pH of kefir is 4.2 to 4.6.
As in yogurt, the lactose content is reduced in kefir, and the b-galactosidase level is increased as a result of fermentation.
Information on vitamin and mineral content is limited and sometimes contradictory, but overall, there do not seem to be significant variations from that of the milk used. There is also a small increase in proteolysis, leading to an increase in free amino acids .