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Kefir

4 servings

Ingredients

• 10 g kefir grains
• 100 ml boiled milk (for initial culture)
• 1 l boiled milk (for kefir milk)

Instructions

1. Kefir originates from the Caucasus and is pleasant in taste and very nutritious; it is therefore often recommended for those with stomach ailments, tuberculosis, and anyone in need of nutritional support.
2. Dried kefir grains must first be pre-treated but can then be used for a long time as they continue to grow.
3. Place the grains (here, assuming 10 grams) in a container with water at about 30° R (approx. 37.5 °C) and leave them for 8-10 hours.
4. Afterwards, wash with cold water and place in 100 grams or 1/10 liter of boiled milk, cooled to about 20° R (approx. 25 °C).
5. Leave them in the milk, ensuring the milk remains uniformly warm, and shake well from time to time.
6. In the morning and evening, replace the milk with fresh, boiled milk at 20° R (approx. 25 °C); wash the grains with boiled water each time you change the milk.
7. After 6-8 days, the grains will rise to the surface; once the milk ferments and produces bubbles, it can be used as kefir extract.
8. To do this, strain it through a muslin cloth and dilute about 100 grams of extract with 1 liter of boiled milk, bottle it, cork it well, and let it stand for 1 day at about 15° R (approx. 19 °C), shaking it several times.
9. Afterwards, the milk will have fully combined with the extract and can be consumed as kefir milk.
10. The kefir grains remaining after straining can be reused for a new batch; they multiply rapidly and occasionally need to be divided, otherwise the fermentation will be too fast and intense.

Modernized from a treasured 19th-century German cookbook.