You need real milk kefir grains to make REAL kefir at home, OR, the not-so-real powdered kefir starter which has little to do with real kefir grains - the powdered starters contain only a few of the good bacteria that makes kefir. Only real grains can be used over and over. These grains (which look like little gelatinous cauliflowers) will grow, and you divide them when they get about the size of a quarter, so you should have a never-ending source of them for life. Mine are about 15-years old and still going strong.

The commercial product you purchased from the store isn't going to work because it probably has a sweetener and/or other ingredients. Homemade kefir is plain, not sweetened and flavored like the stuff from the store. You can add sweeteners and flavors after it's fermented, but not while the grains are in the milk.

As an alternative to making kefir, you can use plain yogurt (I'd suggest Stonyfield Farm Yogurt because it not only contains the 2 strains of bacteria in most yogurt products, Stonyfield has 6 varieties of live, active cultures) and make goat yogurt. Keep in mind, yogurt and kefir are worlds apart. Kefir (made with real kefir grains) is actually much better for you than yogurt. Kefir has a smaller curd than yogurt, so it's easier to digest, especially for children. Yogurt is more difficult to make than kefir, when it comes to scalding the milk, the temperature window for adding the starter/culture, and the temperature for incubation. When making kefir I add 2 to 2-1/2 cups of milk (from a number of sources, including goat milk, but I mostly use powdered milk and coconut milk - also powdered and rehydrated) to a quart jar (usually cold from the refrigerator)and add kefir grains. Place a plastic lid on the jar and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours (the ambient temperature will determine how long - warmer temperatures ferment faster). That's it!

After it's fermented, I remove the grains and either start another batch or rest them in 1-cup of milk in the refrigerator in a pint jar with a lid on tight until needed. I use kefir as a substitute for buttermilk, sour cream, cream cheese, and plain yogurt. I can drain the whey from the curd and make "cheese" like making yogurt cheese. Just drain it to the consistency you need.

Once you have shaken or stirred the kefir curd, it will quickly become a liquid and you will have to use it as a liquid. It won't get thick again. The curd is more delicate than yogurt, plus, most commercial yogurt products, and some homemade recipes, include thickeners.

Try to find some kefir grains from a person who already has them in use. If you can't find them, purchase them through Cultures for Health ( http://www.culturesforhealth.com/). You will also find a wealth of information on the subject at the web site.

Last point..... If you decide to purchase powdered kefir starter (which is how I first made kefir before locating real grains), you can save back 1/4-1/2 cup of the batch of kefir to culture another quart of milk. But since it's not real kefir grains, you can only do that for 2-3 quarts, but at least you get more bang-for-your-buck if using the powdered starter.

Grainlady, do you ever add fruit to your homemade kefir or do anything to sweeten the flavor a bit for drinking?

Robert - This is a different-storks-for-different-folks issue. My choices are based on cost and need. I began by making plain kefir and thought the commercial, sweetened, fruit-flavored kefir was over-priced junk food. Commercial products don't deliver near the health benefits as making your own; and it makes it too easy to drink more sugar-laden calories than what we need each day.

I generally make kefir with reconstituted powdered milk (my home food storage staple since 1981), and it was a way to increase the nutrition and use powdered milk for more than just liquid milk. It also gives me less-expensive substitute options for buttermilk, cream cheese, sour cream, and yogurt.

I mix milk kefir and 100% fruit juice (about a 1:1 ratio) into a "smoothie" daily (no whole fruit is added - I save that for meals). This mixture is basically a delivery system for a combination of powdered supplements we take, and a way to make sure we get at least one serving of milk kefir each day, and a serving of fruit (3/4 c.) from the juice. I really don't see a need to make something similar to the sweetened, fruit-flavored commercial stuff, but I could see others using it like that. If they were already buying it, making your own would save a lot of money and you could control the ingredients.

I do, however, make fruit-flavored water kefir (which goes through a two-stage fermentation and is made with water and water kefir grains, which are different from milk kefir grains. It's a good place to use citrus rinds that would normally get tossed in the compost pile, for flavoring. I add fruit/rinds, and occasionally 100% fruit juice for flavoring for the second fermentation for a soda/pop like effervescent beverage. We consume this beverage instead of soda pop on the weekends, and get all the health benefits of kefir without using dairy. It's also a low-sugar beverage - and no artificial sweeteners to be concerned with. I usually make 1-quart a week.

I also make coconut milk kefir a few times a month. It works well in a smoothie (especially with 100% pineapple-orange juice) as well as a snack, as dessert (or incorporated into a dessert), and dessert topping instead of whipped cream, or for breakfast topped with homemade granola.

Thanks for all your info grainlady. This is a plain kefir, no sugar or flavors. I prefer unsweetened when it comes to kefir and yogurt. This has just milk products and bacterial culture. This one has 12 different strains of bacterial culture.

I make my own yogurt the same way and cream fraiche with plain Balkan yogurt. We'll see how this turns out. I'm sure it will taste different regardless since it's goat milk, but I'll let you know if it seemed to do anything.

It just might work since it's plain kefir containing live cultures and no sugar. "Work" as in it's cultured milk, but NOT really kefir. You may need to place it in your oven with the light on ONLY to provide a constant warm temperature necessary for fermentation. I'd also place it as far away from the light as possible, and take the temperature with an oven thermometer to be sure what the temperature actually is.

I use a similar method when I've made large quantities of "buttermilk" using instructions from "Natural Meals In Minutes" by Rita Bingham for "Homemade Buttermilk". Using reconstituted powdered milk, or other milk of choice, you inoculate a quart of "milk" with 1/2 c. of buttermilk (commercial buttermilk, or reconstituted buttermilk made with buttermilk powder). What I do is add the 1/2 cup of buttermilk to the jar and then fill the jar with "milk". Stir well and let stand (uncovered) in a warm place (at least 80°F - which is why I place it in the oven with the light on) about 12-18 hours - or until clabbered. Stir and refrigerate. You can make a fresh batch using 1/2-cup of the old batch as a starter culture every week or two. You can make buttermilk sour cream using 2 c. light cream and 2 T. buttermilk (in a jar) and let stand at 80°F for 24 hours. Refrigerate to set.

If you have a separator, or access to one, you can use the cream from your goat milk to make butter.

I don't have a separator, but the goat's milk will separate on it's own in the fridge. You of course don't get as much separation as you do with raw cow's milk since goat milk is naturally lower in fat, but it does rise to the top after refrigeration.

I tried it and it has definitely taken on the flavor now. Regardless if I call it kefir or not, it would still be the exact same product with the same bacterial culture in it as the store product I bought that was labeled Kefir so it does work in that regard. I probably could have done it for a little longer, it was less than 24 hours, but I didn't want to wait too long incase it wasn't working. I really don't know why I think it might not work, but was just being cautious.

Grainlady: Thank you for all the information. Commercial kefir can be bought plain with no fruit or juice or sugar added. In your opinion, is this as worthwhile as making one's own plain kefir? Thank you.

Robert - I've never seen plain kefir, just the sweetened/fruit-flavored stuff - but I live in the middle of nowhere - and since I make my own it's not a product I seek out. The biggest benefit of making your own with real kefir grains is the cost. The cost is in the price of the kind of milk you use, and you can use a variety of milk products, including the amount of fat in the milk product. Ferment high-fat milk, half-and-half or cream, and you've got an entirely different thing than making it with fat-free powdered milk. You can also ferment it to the thickness and flavor (mild-strong) you like best. You also control the ingredients.

While commercial brands of kefir have 6, 10, 12 strains of bacteria (depending on brand), real kefir grains have 40-60 strains. I really don't even consider the commercial stuff "real" kefir because it's never made with the grains, just "seeded" with select bacteria - enough to form a curd. Commercially, they could never make kefir like we do at home, which is why it never took-off like yogurt did. They couldn't control the grains. Now they fake-it-to-make-it! Real kefir grains are a living thing - a symbiotic community of bacteria and yeasts. They actually grow and make more, and will last forever under the right conditions.

The plain yogurt and kefir contain live cultures as well. They work in a symbiotic relationship. Same thing when you make your own cheese. Different types of cheese require different types of culture in varying amounts. It's all still cheese. I understand what you are saying though. Kefir dairy would be considered a fermented milk and store bought Kefir is really just a fermented dairy. Same way that cheddar cheese is still cheese, but feta is also cheese but not cheddar.

If the grains contain 40-60 strains than couldn't one argue that the 40 strain isn't real kefir and only the 60 one is. LOL

Regardless, I still think the store bought stuff is excellent. I've only ever had plain, but even after the first bottle I noticed a different in my indigestion. I've gotten it for years it comes and goes. I am a h-pylori carrier and have a family history of stomach cancer of which my aunt has been specifically told the cause was h-pylori. So even if I'm not getting all the benefits that the kefir grains provide, the commercial product is still gets rid of any symptoms of h-pylori overload. I don't even buy it very often. I think this is only the 4th or 5 bottle I have bought.