How to Make Water Kefir

Giselle — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:13:03 +0000

Discover the easiest way to make Water Kefir

So you know how to make ordinary kefir from milk or milk kefir. You’ve probably made a ton of other recipes with it as well. You love it, your family loves it and so do your friends. But sometimes, no matter how healthy it is for them, there are or will be people who won’t like milk kefir.

So now what? Does this mean they won’t be able to enjoy kefir?

Well, sit back, relax, and listen closely as you’ll find out a little known secret about kefir.

You can make kefir from both milk and water! Yes, you heard that right. Using the kefir grains you use for milk kefir, you can also make water kefir.

However, for your first initial batches of water kefir your milk kefir grains will enter a “lag phase” leading to a longer fermentation time. Usually about 4-5 days initially but gradually shortening to 1-2 days. This lag phase happens due to the fact the kefir grains must adapt to a new medium, instead of milk it now has to use water.

However, making water kefir isn’t as simple as making kefir from milk. But it isn’t rocket science either.

Here is a step-by-step recipe for making it and you’ll quickly learn there’s really nothing to it.

What you’ll need

1-2 tablespoons of milk kefir grains
1/2 cup cane sugar (can also be refined white sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, sugar cane juice or even muscavado)
1-2 dried figs. (can also be raisins, sultanas, dried prunes or any other fruit)
half a lemon
1-1.5 liter mineral water
2 liter glass container
cloth or lid for container
plastic sieve
plastic spoon

Steps

Dissolve sugar in mineral water.
In the container, pour in mineral water and add the sugar. Dissolve sugar using plastic spoon.
Add kefir grains, dried figs and lemon.
Cover the container with a cloth or lid. Make sure it is not air-tight.
Place away from sunlight and leave at room temperature of 18oC – 25oC (65oF – 77oF).
Let ferment for 24, 48 or 72 hours.
If you’re using milk kefir grains for the first time in water, allow to ferment longer. The longer you allow it to ferment the stronger the taste and more carbonated it becomes. It will also have a slight alcohol content.
Squeeze the lemon.
Once fermentation is finished, squeeze the juice from the lemon.
Strain and separate kefir grains and everything else.
Using the metal sieve separate the kefir grains from the figs or fruits. Store the kefir grains for the next batch.
Drink your water kefir.

After separating the kefir grains, all that is left is your water kefir. You can enjoy it straight away or chill it. You can also use it for some other kefir recipes

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How to Make Water Kefir