Milk kefir is a delicious fermented drink made using living kefir grains and whole organic milk. It’s delicious, simple to make and has loads of nutritional benefits. I love the taste and like to use it in smoothies, salad dressings and my delicious kefir pancake recipe with berries on top.

If your new to fermenting then Kefir is a great place to start. It’s so simple to make and is ready in around 24 to 48 hrs. There are some really interesting health benefits to consuming kefir and I would encourage you to do some further research. I started drinking kefir for all of the health benefits I had been reading about across the internet and in books.

Kefir Milk Recipe

The recipe below is for 500ml of kefir, you can double or reduce the amounts as nessecary. It is recommend to use 1tsp of kefir grains per 250ml of milk.

2 tsp of kefir grains

500ml of whole organic milk

1 litre glass jar (I like the kilner jar like the one pictured below)

A piece of tightly woven muslin

An elastic band to seal

Cleanse the glass jar with hot water. I don’t personally use soap for my kefir jar.

Add the grains and milk to your kilner jar.

Stir the milk and grains gently with a wooden spoon. It’s improtant not to use metal utensils when preparing kefir.

Cover the jar with the muslin or other fabric and add the elastic band to seal.

Leave in a warm place, out of direct sunlight for 24-48hrs. Discard the milk and start again after 48hrs if the milk has not fermented correctly.

My milk usually ferments and is ready after 24hrs. I leave it next to the cooker beside the coffee machine so it is out of direct sunlight.

The kefir should look thick and sometimes slightly separated. It also tastes tart and ever so slightly fizzy when it is ready.

Place a large seive over a bowl and pour all of the kefir through the seive and drain into the bowl. Use a small wooden or plastic spoon to stir through the last of the kefir into the bowl.

The grains will be left in the seive and if your not starting the whole process again straight away its important to store them in a small glass jar in a little milk in the fridge. They will happily live in the milk if kept in the fridge for your next batch.

Pour your kefir into a bottle and store in the fridge to slow the fermentation process right down.

You can use your kefir in smoothies, drink it straight, make salad dressing or strain further overnight to make kefir yoghurt. Look out for other kefir recipes in the fermented section of this website. I hope you enjoy your kefir as much as we do! Angie x

If you enjoyed this recipe you might also enjoy making your own homemade butter. Try this recipe below for making your own homemade butter. It’s a great recipe to try with the kids.