Making Kefir & Growing Water Kefir Grains

Water kefir grains cannot be grown from scratch they have to come from a donor. The good news is that you only need a very small amount to start growing them from that first batch.

Here are the instructions for growing kefir, we use maple syrup because it has a high amount of sugar for the grains to feed on.

Growing kefir grains

2 – 3 tablespoons water kefir grains
1 quart pure water
¼ cup maple syrup

• Place all ingredients in a glass jar and seal.

• Allow to stand at room temperature for up to 48 hours.

• Strain the liquid and reserve the grains.

• The resulting water can be drunk as is or added to smoothies for an extra boost of probiotics.

• You should notice a small increase in the volume of the kefir grains that came out.

• Repeat this process until you have enough grains to keep this process going and also make coconut kefir.

Young coconut water doesn’t have enough sugar to actually make the kefir grains grow very fast, but it does have enough sugar to make the coconut water ferment into kefir.

When you team up the previous process of growing the grains with the next instructions on how to make the actual kefir, you should be able to provide your daily kefir requirements on a ongoing basis.

For coconut kefir

¼ cup kefir grains
1 quart young coconut water

• Combine the water kefir grains and the coconut water in a jar.

• Allow to stand for up to 48 hours at room temperature. You can check every 12 hours to make sure the fermentation isn’t going to far. You’ll know if it’s strong enough by taste testing (the longer you leave the more pungent and sour it gets). After you’ve made a few batches you’ll get a feel of how you prefer it. The rule of thumb is that the more grains you have in the water, the less time it will need to develop. Warmer room temperature will also result in quicker fermentation.

• Strain the coconut water kefir from the kefir grains, reserve the grains for another batch or to grow more. Set the coconut water kefir aside for a second stage fermentation.

Second Stage Fermentation

Coconut kefir
½ to 1 cup juice of your choice

• Combine the coconut kefir and juice in a jar.

• Leave to stand at room temperature for 48 hours. This will cause a second stage fermentation where the kefir will break down the sugars in the juice and go fizzy.

• If your kefir is already quite fizzy or you just like the taste of the kefir with the juice without actually fermenting for that second stage, then you can simply add the juice and put in straight in the refrigerator which will slow the fermentation down

For more information take a look at the my other Raw Food Recipes.

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