Why does my kefir taste like soap?

9 years ago

I've been culturing kefir for 2 or 3 years. Sometimes it's thick; sometimes it's a bit thinner. Doesn't matter to me, it always tastes fine.

But last week it definitely tasted like soap (yes, I've tasted soap before, LOL). I checked online, but couldn't come up with an answer. I did read in a few places that if the kefir is kept near where you make yeast breads, it may taste like yeast. But yeast does not taste like soap, so not really helpful.

I didn't give up on my grains, just kept making kefir daily and about 4 days later, a batch was drinkable. I'd like to know what caused it so I can prevent it from happening in the future. I don't think I did anything different. Same container, same location, same weather.

Any thoughts?

Featured Answer

plllog

9 years ago

It could be from rinse aid in the dishwasher, if your container was exposed to that. Rinse aid is essentially soap, and I won't use it because it makes my water glasses taste soapy. If your container is handwashed, it could similarly be soap that stuck more aggressively than usual when you rinsed. Weather, water temperature, how much soap was actually used and a whole lot of other factors go into that. I've seen on TV where they make special machines for making beer glasses in bars clean enough that there are no residues to interfere with the taste of the beer.

Anyway, that's the simplest explanation. Other possibilities include variations in the water or milk or whatever you're using, that intensify with the fermentation, and some kind of unhappiness or mutation with your grains. It sounds like they've flushed clean, though, which is great news!

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Comments (8)

donna_loomis
Original Author
9 years ago
I don't have a dishwasher and I'm very particular about making sure I've rinsed the dish soap off completely after hand washing. I only use glass containers for my kefir and a plastic fork to scoop the grains from the kefir.
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plllog
9 years ago
Rats!! That's usually the simplest explanation for why things taste like soap. I looked around and did find a couple of mentions on the web of kefir that tasted like soap that weren't about soap residue. They weren't sure why either, but there seems to be an association with chill. Since temperature can affect kefir so much, that's something to think about.
donna_loomis thanked plllog
writersblock (9b/10a)
9 years ago
Have you changed dishwashing liquid recently? I tried one not long ago that left a terrible soapy-tasting residue on the inside of anything glass that I couldn't reach in to scrub well when rinsing.
donna_loomis thanked writersblock (9b/10a)
donna_loomis
Original Author
9 years ago
No, I haven't changed dish soap.

Hmmm.... Chill. We live in California and I don't even own a coat. In fact DH sometimes begs me to wear a sweater. So, it's pretty temperate. But we did turn off the pilot light on the heat a couple of weeks ago, so it may have been a bit cooler in the house than usual. That may be the culprit. Thanks to both of you for your assistance.
Jasdip
9 years ago
Donna, I've been making kefir for the past year, almost. How do you drink it? I must be letting it ferment too long, it always gets thick and very tart. I usually use it like yogurt, and I can't keep up to it. I use it in smoothies, etc to use it up, and it makes the best pancakes.

How long do you let it sit before you drink it? Do you add anything to it to make it more palatable?
donna_loomis thanked Jasdip
donna_loomis
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jasdip, from about November through April or May, I let it ferment for a full 24 hours and then about May through October, just twelve hours or so. I drink a pint a day during my 45 minute morning commute. I sweeten it with honey, aloe syrup, or (gasp) Splenda. Occasionally, I add nothing.

When I ferment for 24 hours, just before I go to bed, I remove the grains to a clean pint jar, fill with milk and set it on a shelf over my sink. I put the strained kefir in the fridge to chill until morning, when I prepare it for the drive to work.

When I ferment for only 12 hours, in the evening I put the jar, still with the grains in it, into the fridge. In the morning, I take it out of the fridge, remove the grains to a clean jar, add milk, and onto the shelf it goes. Then I prepare the kefir for my commute.

I've used it in salad dressings. I know you can cook with it, but my understanding is that heat destroys the benefits. So I'm not willing to waste it that way, because it is one of my favorite things to drink.

If yours is more tart than you like, you could culture it for a shorter period of time or thin the grains and use fewer of them. When my grains get to be too much for the jar, I'll eat them while watching tv with DH, LOL.
HU-975011586
7 years ago
Hi Donna! I stumbled across this thread after making my very own batch of soapy kefir. Yum! Like you, frustratingly I couldn't find anything about what makes kefir taste soapy, but I did a little digging around soapy tastes in *other* types of fermentation and read that a soapy taste in beer is a result of fatty acids breaking down (soap is by definition the 'salt' of a fatty acid, it turns out). This happens when the ferment has gone a little over, for whatever reason. So, if that's the case for our kefir, it really is actual soap we're tasting.... :S Good to know! Hope this helps, if you haven't already discovered this yourself :)
donna_loomis thanked HU-975011586

Why does my kefir taste like soap?

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Why does my kefir taste like soap?

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