Go to the link below for more information. I've always used milk grains in cow, goat and coconut milk. Occasionally when I have an abundance of the grains I'll ferment grape juice or apple juice for something different. But using them in fruit juice will eventually kill them, so consider them expendable. I have a packet of water grains, but they ended up being one more good intention. Once you start these little projects (including sourdough starter, kombuchu, fermented foods....), they are like a pet that needs tending on a regular basis. Just how many jars of "stuff" can one refrigerator hold (LOL)? I don't have any experience using freeze-dried or dried grains. I located mine through a kefir group on-line and paid a small amount for about 2 T. of grains, + shipping. They were packed into a zip-lock bag with a small amount of milk in it, stuffed into a large plastic pill container, sent via U.S. Mail. The person I got mine from happened to own a dairy here in the state. The small health food store will occasionally give my name to someone wanting real grains and I'm happy to share them. It really is a person-to-person thing, which is why the commercial kefir has very little in common with kefir made from real grains. Commercial kefir is made with only a few strains of bacteria, not the real grains. I've used my same grains for over a decade. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Dom's Kefir In-site

I apologize that I was not on the board in the last many months -- I am sure that I missed a gazillion great recipes from you great chefs. And I apologize that I cannot remember recipes posted here before I vanished. But I did go through my new recipes files (some of which I'm sure came from this forum) and I will post those that tuned out worthy of being made again. Fact is, there was at least double this amount that I would NOT make again; I just don't remember the bad ones and I don't file away those recipes. Chiles en Escabeche Tuñapple Crisp Agua de Tamarindo Easy Layered Ratatouille Roasted Root Vegetable and White Bean Cassoulet Tarte aux Pommes et au Fenouil Caramelise (Apple Tart ... with Caramelized Fennel) Acadian Apple Bread Pudding with Spiced Apple-Wine Sauce Baked Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Pears with Bourbon Cane... Syrup Glaze Fennel & Tomato Salad Siciliana Caponata Speciale Sugo Diane Country Style Vegetarian Lasagna Macedonia (Italian Macerated Fruit Salad) Mulberry and Nectarine Cobbler Creamed Cipollinis and Mushrooms Persimmon Ginger Pudding Saucy Apple Bread Pudding Stuffed Strawberries Apricot Fritters Creamy Pomegranate Parfait Frozen Feijoa Soufflé Apple Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips Roasted Eggplant And Garlic Soup Forgive me for not crediting any originators. I will do better this coming year to actually write down who posted what. Linda has put up a great post/question. I hope everyone -- including myself -- starts writing down all the recipes they try from this forum and has them ready when Linda posts this question on January 1, 2009. Joe

Susan- Nope. You can make it as often as needed, but it helps to use the grains once every 7-10 days - maybe as long as 2-weeks, but they will be pretty sluggish after a 2-week rest. You "rest" them in milk in the refrigerator when not in use. I make a cup of milk and rest the grains in a pint jar with a tight-fitting plastic lid on it. Be sure to label it so your family knows it's not something that has spoiled and toss it out. That happened to my sister (LOL). FYI: When you take the grains out of the milk they have been resting in, just seal the lid back on the jar and leave it on the counter along with the new batch. The remaining resting milk will develop a curd because there is enough good bacteria remaining in the milk to ferment it. If they have been resting very long, it may have already developed a curd. It doesn't take long to ferment if the grains have been in there for 5-7 days (maybe just a few hours). If the grains haven't been resting in the milk very long, it might not thicken. In that case, just use the milk in a smoothie or cooking. At the price you're paying for milk, you wouldn't want to waste the resting milk. The more frequently you make kefir, the faster the grains will grow. I pull them apart with my fingers (thoroughly wash and well rinsed hands if handling the grains) when they get about as big around as a quarter. I also never rinse the grains. I make sure my jars are hand-washed and well rinsed. I've read where rinse-aids in dishwashers coat the jars and cause problems with ferments - even with things like a sourdough starter. I also scald the jar with boiling water to be on the safe side, before beginning a batch of kefir or adding them to the resting jar. Be sure to leave plenty of room in the jar you are making kefir in - don't fill it to the top with milk. I usually use 2 to 2-1/2 c. of milk in a quart jar plus about 1/4-1/3 cup of kefir grains. You need plenty of headspace for the fermentation gasses. I also tighten the lid because I like the fizziness of the finished kefir. If you don't want the effervescent effect, just leave the lid only lightly screwed on, and the gases will escape. The grains will float to the top of the milk when fermentation starts, and that's where they can be located for removal. I use a plastic slotted spoon (used only for my kefir grains) to lift the milk kefir grains out of the top of the curd. If you mix or shake the finished kefir, you will destroy the curd and it will liquefy, and remain so. If you want liquid kefir once it's thickened (and it can also separate a curd from the whey), just shake the kefir. If you haven't yet read everything about kefir at Dom's Kefir In-Site, that's one of the best places for information. http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html Good luck! ;-) -Grainlady

Updating my kefir experimentation results: I made a kefir cheese ball, by hanging the curds is a bag until solid, then adding dried onion flakes, red pepper flakes, granulated garlic, basil flakes, salt, pepper, and a little sugar to try to balance the sourness of the cheese. I still didn't care for it without the butter and cream cheese, but my son loved it with crackers, so I sent it home with him. If I have extra cheese, I'll save it for his visits. I made sugar cookies today, using a drop cooky recipe that I've been using for many years, but I substituted 1/2 cup kefir cheese for 1/4 cup of the butter, and left out 1 Tbs of the milk. Since the cheese was a little 'curdled' and very sour, I added a couple of Tbs. of corn syrup and substituted 1/4 tsp of baking soda for 1/4 tsp. of the baking powder, because of the lactic acid. Oh my, are they good!