Kefir refers to fermented milk drinks, which are obtained as a result of long or short-term fermentation. The product has a number of healing properties due to the content of lactobacilli and a large number of minerals. In addition to its medicinal qualities, kefir is a dietary drink. It is often prepared for children, taking into account all requirements. Store-bought products include preservatives and shelf life enhancers. For this reason, it makes sense to consider homemade recipes.

Useful properties of kefir

1. The product is valued for its healing and rightfully unique composition. Kefir contains choline and tryptophan, calcium, minerals of many groups (copper, chromium, phosphorus, manganese, selenium, etc.), vitamins A, B, H.
2. Thanks to the lactic alcoholic acid contained in the drink (0.2-0.6%), the functioning of the digestive system improves, the intestinal walls are cleansed, and appetite increases.
3. Regular consumption of kefir puts a person’s psycho-emotional background in order, controlling the functioning of the central nervous system.
4. The activity of the heart and blood vessels improves, the drink allows you to quench thirst and maintain water-salt balance. Unlike milk, kefir is easier to digest.
5. During the fermentation of the components, vitamin B, milk protein, animal fat, iron and calcium are released. The listed components help people with lactose intolerance drink kefir without fear of developing an allergy.
6. As mentioned earlier, the drink is considered dietary. It is an integral component of the diet for people suffering from gout, hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and gastric colitis. Kefir helps you lose weight when consumed regularly.
7. Numerous studies by scientists have made it clear that kefir produces the polysaccharide kefiran. The component prevents the development of all kinds of tumors (both benign and malignant).
8. If you include kefir in your daily menu, leukocytes in the blood are activated. This feature supports the immune system, as a result of which the human body effectively fights infection.
9. A positive characteristic of kefir is considered to have a beneficial effect on the female body during menstruation, menopause, and breastfeeding. At this time, calcium is washed out, and the fermented milk drink helps maintain the structure of bone tissue.

Homemade kefir: classic recipe with sourdough

• fat milk (from 3.2%) - 1.2 l.
• packaged sourdough - 30 gr. (1 pack)

1. To prepare kefir, store-bought or homemade cow's milk (whole) is used. In the first case, choose a product with a fat content of 3.2% or more; to save time resources, a product labeled “ultra-pasteurized milk” is suitable. Then you won’t have to boil the composition, you just need to heat it to 38-40 degrees.
2. If you are preparing kefir based on whole milk, first boil the product, then let it cool to 40-45 degrees. Now prepare a sterilized, clean container (plastic or glass). Pour milk into a container. It is important to remember that if kefir is made with powdered starter, the dishes must be thoroughly washed and sterilized.
3. If you wish, you can read the manufacturer's advice on the back of the package. For example, the manufacturer can give recommendations regarding the non-use of metal cutlery, etc. When mixing the components, use a wooden or plastic spatula.
4. When you have poured the milk into a container, add the starter to it and stir until smooth. Prepare new small jars, wash and disinfect them. Pour the mixed composition into containers. Cover each container with a lid and place a thick towel on top.
5. Place the jars of future kefir in a warm and dark place, wait 8-10 hours. After this period, kefir can be drunk. But we recommend putting it in the refrigerator for 4 hours to set.
6. If desired, sweeten the drink to taste, add seasonal berries or nuts. Using the technology described, you will prepare low-strength kefir. To obtain a medium or hard drink, infuse the composition for 36 or 48 hours, respectively.

Additions to the recipe

1. In the future, you do not have to use purchased powdered or pressed sourdough starter. Already prepared kefir can play its role.
2. To make the drink a second time, take 2.8 liters. fat milk, boil the product and let cool to 40 degrees. Add 450 ml. prepared homemade kefir, stir.
3. It is important to note that when mixing milk with ready-made kefir, both drinks must have the same (approximately) temperature regime. So take care of this in advance.
4. After combining the ingredients, mix the composition in a sterilized jar, cover with a lid and wrap with a cloth. Leave to infuse in a warm place for 12 hours. You will end up with a thick paste.
5. Now you have a second jar of kefir. The drink can later be used as another starter. Manipulations are carried out no more than 6 times.

• store-bought kefir (fat content from 2.5%) - 275 ml.
• full fat milk - 2.2 l.

1. Shake the milk in the existing container, pour it into a saucepan and place on the stove. Wait for the first bubbles to appear, immediately reduce the power to a minimum (otherwise the mixture will “run away”). Continue boiling the product for another 10 minutes.
2. If you use a homemade whole mixture to make kefir, dilute it with water in a 2:1 ratio. After boiling, simmer on low power for about 5-7 minutes. This period is necessary to exterminate harmful organisms in the drink.
3. After boiling, leave the milk at natural temperature and let it cool. When you achieve the desired condition, add kefir to the composition and mix. Prepare the multicooker bowl by washing it and scalding it with boiling water.
4. Pour the mixture of milk and kefir into a container and close with a lid. Turn on the “Warming” program, set the duration to 12 minutes. When the specified time has passed, do not open the multicooker. Wait 1 hour, then turn on “Heating” again, but for 10 minutes.
5. Now kefir can be considered almost ready. Cool the drink, pour into clean containers, and seal. Place in the refrigerator for 6 hours. When the specified time has passed, start tasting. The duration of cold storage is 3 days.

Homemade kefir: a simple recipe

• kefir with a fat content of 3.2% - 90 ml.
• fat milk (from 2.5%) - 1 l.

1. If you wish, you can replace store-bought kefir with a special starter based on bifidobacteria. The product is available in powder form, you will need about 50 grams.
2. Prepare a pan (not enamel), pour milk into it. Place on the stove and wait until it boils. When it starts bubbling, reduce the burner power to minimum.
3. Simmer the product for about 10 minutes, then turn off the stove and cool the mixture to 38 degrees. If you are making kefir from pasteurized milk, you do not need to boil it. It is enough to warm up the drink, then let it cool to the specified temperature.
4. Pass the warm milk through a gauze cloth, which must be folded in 4-5 layers. This move will rid the drink of foam. You can skip this step if you wish.
5. Prepare a washed, sterilized and dried jar. Add powdered starter or store-bought kefir, stir the mixture with a plastic or wooden spoon. Metal tools should not be used as this will slow down the fermentation.
6. After combining the warm milk with the starter, close the container with a lid. Wrap in a towel and leave in a warm place for 5 hours. After fermentation, place the container in the refrigerator for another night.
7. After the allotted period, the fermented milk drink can be considered ready for consumption. Shake the jar, pour into glasses, season with sugar, honey, vanilla or cinnamon (optional). Store the product in the refrigerator for no longer than 3 days.
8. You can mix the prepared kefir with jam or jam, and then treat your child with a treat if he does not have an individual intolerance.
9. Leave about 60 ml. starter (homemade kefir) for preparing the next batch of fermented milk drink (shelf life is 14 days).

1. Kefir prepared with one-day infusion (weak strength) copes well with constipation. It also cleanses the bladder, liver and kidneys. The product removes excess toxins and waste from internal organs, so it is appropriate to include it in the diet.
2. If you are experiencing health problems, namely, you have diabetes, prepare kefir with two days of aging. It also helps with diseases of the liver, lungs and bronchi, heart muscle, and gastric colitis. The composition effectively fights obesity, preventing the development of cholesterol plaques.
3. If we talk about kefir with an infusion period of 3 or more days, it will taste the most sour. It is best to use it after waking up in the morning or at noon. Elderly people are recommended to drink kefir exclusively in the evening. If you have kidney problems or a stomach ulcer, drinking kefir for three days is strictly prohibited.
4. People who have difficulty sleeping (interrupted rhythm of the day, insomnia, etc.) should consume kefir before going to bed. It is worth considering the fact that after waking up your stomach will weaken. For this reason, drink a mug of strong tea for breakfast.
5. To speed up fermentation, add about 40 grams to the mixture of milk and store-bought kefir (or powdered starter). granulated sugar for 2 liters. composition. This move will saturate the aftertaste and make the drink thicker.
6. Never leave a jar of kefir under direct ultraviolet light. The sun's rays will only ruin the taste and kill all the beneficial bacteria. If you keep the jar on the windowsill, first wrap the container with a thick towel.
7. When mixing components, use only wooden or plastic tools. Metal utensils oxidize; they also slow down the fermentation of the composition and expose the future drink to rapid spoilage.

Homemade kefir is considered a nutritious and healthy drink only if it is prepared correctly. Consider a popular slow cooker recipe and use simple technology. Make a filling and healthy drink with sourdough powder and whole milk. Add granulated sugar to enrich the taste and add thickness. Use only sterilized containers and wooden mixing tools.

Video: how to make homemade kefir

Until recently, I didn't even think about make kefir at home. Why, if you can always buy it in the store? But my child flatly refuses to even try cow's milk, but he drinks kefir in frightening quantities - at least a liter or two every day. And this made me think: won’t such a large amount of kefir harm his health?

It is known that kefir contains ethyl alcohol. There is not enough of it in fresh kefir to harm the health of even a small child - 0.04 - 0.05 percent. But with each day that kefir is stored, its concentration increases. Children should not be given kefir for three days already. Alas, kefir sold in stores, at best, reaches the shelves just on the second or third day from the moment of its production. That's why I started cooking kefir at home: this way I can be sure of its freshness and quality. Moreover, it is very simple to prepare.

How to make kefir at home

Ingredients:

Milk — 900 ml. It can be either whole or pasteurized.
Kefir — 100 ml. For the first time, you can use store-bought kefir as a starter, then use homemade one. If store-bought is used, then kefir should contain only two ingredients: milk and kefir grain starter. If the drink contains milk + bacterial concentrate, or milk + starter cultured with lactic acid bacteria, then it is not kefir, but a kefir product.
Sugar- 1 tbsp.

From this amount of ingredients you will get 1 liter of kefir.

Preparation:

Heat the milk to a temperature of 36 -40 degrees. It should become warm, but not scalding hot. Add starter, sugar to the milk and mix everything.

Cover the container with the future kefir (saucepan, jar, mug, etc.) with a thick cotton cloth so as to protect it from light.

Place the container in a warm place. In summer I place it on the balcony, and in winter - near the radiator (in the warmth, fermentation processes go much faster than at low temperatures). After a day, the kefir is ready. Before use, stir the contents with a wooden spoon.

100 ml. This kefir can be left as a starter for the next portion, and everything else can be consumed.

Note: the amount of starter can be reduced to 1-2 tbsp. spoons, but then the time for making kefir will increase to 1.5-2 days.

Bon appetit!

How to make homemade yogurt

It is more difficult to prepare yogurt at home than, for example, cottage cheese or cheese. Its production requires compliance with two basic conditions: the starter must contain LIVE cultures of Bulgarian bacillus and thermophilic streptococcus, and during the preparation of yogurt a constant temperature must be maintained at just above 40 degrees.

The challenge with sourdough is that it is not easy to find. Our pharmacies do not sell it, so for the first time you have to use store-bought yogurt. I tried 6 different yoghurts from different manufacturers, until finally one of them turned out to be alive and agreed to reproduce. Store-bought yogurt used for fermentation must meet the following requirements:

It should be called "yogurt". Not a yoghurt product, but yoghurt;
- its shelf life should not be more than 1 month;
- it should not be marked “heat-treated”;
- it should not be sweet, contain fillers, dyes, stabilizers, preservatives, etc. Ingredients: only milk and sourdough.
- in the store it should be stored in the refrigerator.

The second condition for making homemade yogurt is constant temperature about 40 degrees. It can be supported in several ways:
- use a yogurt maker;
- cook in a thermos;
- use an oven capable of maintaining a temperature of about 40 degrees;
- wrap the saucepan with future yogurt in a warm blanket (towel) and place it near the radiator;
- cook in a water bath, constantly monitoring the temperature of the water in it.
I do it in a simple old-fashioned way using a terry bath towel.

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 liter
Sourdough - 4 tbsp. l.
Sugar - 2 tbsp.
Spices - to taste

The technology is very simple.

1. Boil the milk. For what? Unboiled milk contains various lactic acid bacteria, which will inhibit the activity of yogurt bacteria during the process of preparing homemade yogurt. Therefore, we clean milk from them by boiling.

2. Dissolve sugar in milk.

3. Cool the milk to a temperature of about 40 degrees. If you dip your finger in milk, it will be hot, but not scalding.
If the temperature of the milk is above 45 degrees, the bacteria will die. If it is below 40, they will not reproduce. Therefore, it is very important to maintain the temperature within these limits throughout the entire period of making homemade yogurt.

4. Add 4-5 tablespoons of milk to the starter and mix thoroughly until smooth. Pour the starter diluted in milk into the remaining milk and mix.

5. Quickly wrap the saucepan with the future yogurt in a LARGE bath towel and place it in a warm place.

In winter I find this warm place near the radiator, and in summer - in an oven preheated to 40 degrees.

6. We forget about this design for 6 hours. At this time, the yogurt should not be opened, shaken, stirred, etc. After 6 hours, open it and see what happens. If everything is good, we rejoice. If the yogurt is still liquid, then wrap it again and take it to a warm place for 1-3 hours. The longer the yogurt is fermented, the more sour it will be.

Attention! If homemade yogurt is left to sit too long, bacteria will begin to actively multiply in it, turning the milk into yogurt. As a result, you may end up with a dairy product that is not at all what you expected. If the contents of the pan are lumpy and contain whey, then it is curdled milk, not yogurt.

7. Place the yogurt in the refrigerator to complete the fermentation process for 3-4 hours.

The finished yogurt is a dense, homogeneous mass, which, when the pan is tilted, does not pour out, but falls out in pieces. The taste is neutral, delicate, with very light sourness. Before use, you can add honey, fruits, nuts, dried fruits and other additives to taste to homemade yogurt.

2-3 tablespoons of prepared yogurt can be put in a glass jar and used next time as a starter.

Ready homemade yogurt can be stored in the refrigerator for 7-8 days.

Bon appetit!

How to make cottage cheese from milk at home

For several months now I have been interested in making homemade cheeses, cottage cheese, cream and sour cream. I got this opportunity after moving to the village and having a pleasant acquaintance with a neighbor’s cow. As it turned out, homemade cottage cheese or cheese is not only much tastier than store-bought, but also more than three times cheaper. In addition, it is very interesting and really addictive.

Homemade cottage cheese

Until recently, I believed that the preparation of most dairy products is possible only from fresh whole milk “from under the cow”, and store-bought (pasteurized) milk is “dead” and is not suitable for these purposes. But why not try? - I decided one day and set up a simple experiment. I took the same amount of country milk and store-bought milk and, under the same conditions, tried to make cottage cheese from it.

Homemade and store-bought milk

I tell and show how to make cottage cheese at home and what comes of it.
Preparation:

One Saturday morning I went to visit a cow I knew and bought three liters of fresh milk from her owner. On the way home, I went to the store and bought three liter bags of pasteurized milk with the highest fat content that was in the store - 3.6%. The store-bought milk was also fresh, as the saleswoman said, “they just delivered it this morning.” Village milk cost me 7 thousand (white rubles), and store milk cost me 15 thousand (this is approximately 25 and 53 Russian rubles, respectively)

The milk was poured into identical three-liter jars. To avoid confusion, I wrote “house” and “shop” on them with a marker.

The milk looked different in color: homemade milk was more yellow and dense than store-bought milk. It was obvious even to the eye that the fat content of homemade milk was higher. Well, they add a little milk to the bags, but don’t add it. It’s a small thing, but in a three-liter jar it’s already noticeable.

She covered both jars with a clean, thick cloth (to prevent direct light from falling) and placed them near the radiator (milk ferments faster in warmth). At this time, you can forget about banks - all processes will proceed naturally. There is no need to stir, shake, heat or add vinegar. After three days, the milk underwent such metamorphoses.

Store-bought milk fermented faster, and the whey was better separated from the curdled milk. Please note that in a can of village milk, about ¼ is sour cream (it is more yellow in color).

If I had removed it after the first day of settling, I would have gotten first-class cream. But for the purity of the experiment, I leave everything as is. There was so little cream in the can of store-bought milk that my camera couldn’t even capture it.

One more detail: vertical “passages” formed in the milk as air bubbles rose to the top. The more such “moves”, the better. Actually, the cans no longer contain milk, but yogurt (very tasty and healthy, but more on that another time). Now you need to shake the curdled milk out of the jars into a large five-liter saucepan.

Just shake it out, since the finished yogurt will not flow, but rather fall out in large lumps.

I put the pan on low heat for exactly 10 minutes. Then, with careful movements from bottom to top, I mix the contents of the pan and dip my finger into the mixture. It should be a little warm. If the mass is still cold, then turn on the heat for another 5 minutes. It is very important not to overheat the yogurt, otherwise the curd will become hard, fine-grained and taste similar to store-bought. Immediately after heating, the yogurt should look something like this.

Then the mass should cool and separate into a dense layer of cottage cheese on top and whey on the bottom. Therefore, we don’t touch or disturb her for several hours. After this, cover a large pan or bowl with clean cotton cloth and pour the contents of the pan into it.

A hair sieve or gauze is not suitable for preparing cottage cheese, as they will allow too much of the cottage cheese to pass through. Tie the fabric in a knot and hang it, placing a container under it for the draining whey.

When the whey stops dripping, the curd is ready.

I did all these operations with cottage cheese from both homemade and store-bought milk.

In the end, this is what I got.

Let's summarize:Appearance. As you can see even with the naked eye (and even despite the quality of the photographs), there was more cottage cheese from homemade milk than from store-bought milk. In addition, it differs in color. It is not white, but slightly yellowish, which is caused by the high fat content.

Weight:“Village” cottage cheese weighs 765 g. “Store” cottage cheese weighs 590 g.

Price: 100 g of cottage cheese from village milk costs 915 Bel. rubles (3 Russian rubles), 100 grams of cottage cheese from store-bought milk - 2,500 Belarusian rubles (9 Russian rubles). There is no doubt that in terms of cost, cottage cheese made from whole milk is almost four times (taking into account the larger mass) more profitable than cottage cheese from the store (2011 prices).

Taste. The “homemade” cottage cheese turned out to be rich and tender. It felt like it was mixed with butter. I really love the classic dish: cottage cheese + sour cream + sugar. So, you don’t need to add sour cream to cottage cheese made from homemade milk - they are already delicious. True, I don’t use it in baked goods and desserts, because I don’t know the exact percentage of fat content, but for many recipes this matters.
The cottage cheese made from store-bought milk turned out to be tender and lighter. In my opinion, it is much superior to the cottage cheese sold in stores in taste. In addition, when preparing various desserts and casseroles, it does not require preliminary grinding through a sieve or blender. It is so tender that you just need to mash it well with a spoon and you can start cooking. Of course, its price is comparable to the price of store-bought cottage cheese, but the taste is much better.

Conclusion: As it turned out, Cottage cheese can be prepared at home either from whole village milk or from store-bought pasteurized milk. If possible, village milk is preferable for these purposes. But if this is not possible, then you can make it from the store - it will still turn out tastier than the one sold in stores.

Well, the pleasure from the whole process of turning ordinary milk into cottage cheese with your own hands is generally immeasurable by any scales or numbers.

Bon appetit!

P.S. After preparing the cottage cheese, we are left with whey. There is no need to throw it away - it makes excellent pancakes or pizza dough (a replacement for kefir). In addition, you can make hair masks from this serum. In salons, such masks cost amazing amounts of money. But the effect they have is truly magical.

How to make homemade cheese

Not long ago I showed how to make homemade cottage cheese. Now I have moved on to the next stage and am making cheese at home.

Homemade cheese

This cheese belongs to the category of processed cheeses, the production of which does not require special ingredients, such as rennet. It differs from store-bought ones, first of all, in the absence of various kinds of additives harmful to health. Here is the composition of store-bought processed cheese “Druzhba”: rennet cheeses, butter, drinking water, sour cream, skimmed milk powder, emulsifying salts - sodium diphosphate, sodium polyphosphate; low-fat cheese, preservatives - sorbic acid, nisin; antioxidant - butylhydroxytoluene.
And here is the composition of my homemade one: cottage cheese, butter, egg, salt, baking soda (+ additional seasonings, for example, garlic, parsley, paprika, dill, cumin, onions, mushrooms, etc.). Can you feel the difference?

Secondly, homemade cheese is tastier, more tender and softer than store-bought cheese. And using additional seasonings, the taste can be changed from neutral to spicy-spicy.

Thirdly, the price. One kilogram of the cheapest store-bought cheese costs 32,000 BYR. (116 ros rubles), and one kilogram of homemade cottage cheese from village milk costs me 13,500 bel rubles (49 ross rubles). The difference of more than 2, 3 times cannot but rejoice.

Fifth, it's just interesting

Homemade cheese is very easy to prepare

Ingredients:

Cottage cheese - 1 kg. I use homemade cottage cheese, made with my own hands. He must be be sure to stay as hydrated as possible. To do this, I put it under a press for a day to drain excess whey (a 3-liter jar filled with water acts as a press). Store-bought cottage cheese does not need to be dehydrated.
Butter - 100 d. It should be at room temperature before cooking. The softness of the cheese depends on the amount of oil. The more it is, the softer the cheese.
Eggs - 1 pcs. It should also be at room temperature before cooking.
Salt - 1 tsp.
Soda - 1 tsp Soda is needed to neutralize the overly sour taste of cottage cheese.
Garlic - 2 cloves
Greens (or any other spice to taste)- to taste

Preparation:

If you use store-bought cottage cheese, it is better to pass it through a meat grinder before starting cooking. If you make it at home, you can immediately start making cheese.
Step one is to lightly beat the egg with a fork.
Step two - preparing spices and additives. The photo shows cheese with garlic and herbs. Before adding them to the cheese, I finely chopped the garlic and herbs.

Step three - place the cottage cheese in a saucepan with a thick bottom, add chopped butter, soda and salt.

Cook everything over low heat, continuously stirring the contents of the saucepan until a homogeneous melted mass is obtained. You must stir constantly, otherwise the cheese will start to burn. Do not bring to a boil!

You need to cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove cheese from heat, add egg, garlic, herbs.

Mix everything and pour the viscous cheese mass into a refractory mold, previously greased with oil.

To harden, place the cheese in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours.
That's it! Very fast and simple.

Now you can remove the cheese from the mold and try it.

Ideally, spread the cheese in a thick layer on fresh rye bread and serve, for example, for breakfast.
Bon appetit!

Our body needs fermented milk products. They contain protein, calcium, beneficial bacteria, acids, and protein - in a word, everything that has a positive effect on the functioning of the digestive organs. A big plus is that we can make almost all types of these products ourselves. The main ingredient would be fresh milk.

Fresh kefir

The first way to make kefir at home is very simple. Let's say you bought cow's milk, but didn't boil it, forgot it, and left it in the kitchen. Naturally, within a day it became unfit for food. However, don’t rush to pour it down the sink! Firstly, the top layer (top) is settled cream. If desired, remove them (you can eat them with bread) or leave them to stand in the refrigerator a little longer - they will make excellent sour cream. Or simply move the container closer to the heat. At the second stage of how to make kefir at home, keep an eye on the milk. As soon as it starts to thicken, you can eat it. Fresh kefir is not only tasty, but also useful for stomach pain, disorders and other problems with the gastrointestinal tract. But even when white clots appear in the jar and the whey is separated, kefir is suitable for food. Whey is generally good for seasoning borscht, boiled and raw, and ideal as a refreshing drink. If whey is not to your taste, then carefully scoop the sour milk from the jar with a spoon. Here's how to make kefir at home without any extra work.

Kefir on bread crusts

Another simple cooking technology is as follows: you need to put a piece of rye or black bread in a jar of fresh milk and leave it near the stove, stove or radiator. Thanks to this natural leaven, the drink quickly sours, retaining all its beneficial properties. Its taste is very pleasant and soft. To speed up the souring process, you can pour the milk into the jar in which you kept sour cream or yogurt (do not rinse the jar!). This simple way of making kefir at home is suitable for almost any person who is not very strong in the culinary arts.

How to make for complementary feeding

Sour milk, i.e. kefir, should definitely be given to small children. From about 5-6 months it is included in the baby’s mandatory diet. Of course, for this you need to take the product either from a specialized kitchen or cook it yourself. So how to make kefir for babies?

Tip 1

Boil milk with sugar in a saucepan, when it cools, add regular kefir, wrap the jar and put in a warm place for 12 hours. Once it has thickened, put it in the refrigerator for the same amount of time, then heat it up little by little in a water bath and feed the baby. Before it thickens, leave it a little more in a warm place.

Tip 2

Boil, cool, add a spoonful of sour cream, add a biological product (see instructions on the packages), stir. After 6 hours the product is ready. When you feed your baby, leave a couple of tablespoons for the next starter - add them to 200 ml of melted milk, only without sour cream and other ingredients. The process can be repeated throughout the feeding period.

By the way, if your kefir remains unclaimed, has been sitting for a while and you don’t dare drink it, fry pancakes or flatbreads. Sour milk is a product that can be eaten in any form!

Almost all the beneficial properties of kefir (except for the fight against diarrhea) apply exclusively to the fresh product, and in stores there is kefir with a production date ranging from 1 day (correct kefir) to 2 weeks (a completely useless product for health).

To get a complete healing drink, you may have to prepare it yourself. Do you think it's too difficult? On the contrary, it couldn't be easier... if you have access to fresh milk.

It is best if there is a store in your locality from a local dairy farm. If there are no other sources of milk besides the supermarket, you will have to empirically determine the correct milk.

How to determine which milk is suitable for kefir?

First of all, milk must be pasteurized. Sterilized milk will not ferment, no matter how hard you try. And no inscriptions like: “reconstituted”, “from powdered milk”.

Pour milk into a glass and swirl. Good milk will leave marks on the walls.

It is better to take 6% milk, which means that no one has mocked it before. Don't be afraid of milk fats, they are easily digestible and do not accumulate on your waist. Remember that fats are necessary for building new cells, and therefore for maintaining youth.

Leave the milk in the glass at room temperature. If it does not turn sour within 2 days, this means that it either contains a lethal dose of preservatives, or a horse’s portion. This product will not suit us either.

Where to get kefir starter

One day I saw a starter for kefir in the store. But, alas, it only happened once. It is logical that it is produced, and it is quite possible that it is sold here. But not everyone is so lucky. Therefore, we will consider the option Is it possible to make high-quality kefir without fermentation?.

Therefore, we need to buy fresh kefir, which is also better than local production. The package should say: “milk and sourdough” and no other ingredients! The shelf life of such a product usually does not exceed 1 week. We need either today or yesterday. Three days will no longer do.

The process of making homemade kefir

After we have decided on the starting products, pour the milk into a glass and add one tablespoon of kefir there. If the kefir is already two days old, add not one, but two tbsp. spoons.

We place the glass so as not to move it from place to place. It’s good if the room temperature is not lower than +18 degrees, that is, warm enough. We look at the clock to remember about it exactly in a day, when it is ready.

Yes, yes, yes! There is no need to do anything. Just pour a glass, add a spoon and leave it alone. Everything will prepare itself.

Exactly twenty-four hours later in your glass instead of milk kefir is formed, which you can already drink.

To get a real healing drink, we don’t stop there, we continue to act in the same spirit. Only now we don’t need store-bought kefir; instead, we put a spoonful of our own homemade kefir into the milk. If you accidentally miss one day, don’t worry, just put two spoons of “sourdough” in a glass next time.

A month of such daily transformations, and in your glass there is no longer just a drinkable product - but an elixir of health that can be given even to infants.

And this is not a joke. I myself have given this homemade kefir to my daughter since she was three months old. True, this was in Soviet times, when everything in the stores was of high quality.

Although, there is one inaccuracy in this recipe. We all live in different parts of the country, or even the world, and the initial products are still different. Therefore, first try to make it exactly according to the recipe, and, if necessary, increase or decrease the proportion of sourdough.

In the article, you learned seven compelling reasons to drink it every day, as well as a simple recipe. I hope that now the beneficial properties of kefir will help you not only maintain your health, but also increase it.

Now you will learn how to easily make kefir at home, which will be healthier and tastier than store-bought kefir.

Benefits of homemade kefir

Real, homemade kefir is much healthier than store-bought kefir. After all, it contains significantly more beneficial bacteria that normalize the microflora of the stomach and intestines, and has a positive effect on the nervous system, metabolism, and also significantly reduces the risk of cancer.

In addition, homemade kefir can be made from real cow’s milk, without any “chemicals”. For example, kefir prepared at home can be stored for only a day, while store-bought kefir can be stored for up to 14 days, which is already alarming. Of course, store-bought kefir is also generally healthy, but it’s nothing compared to kefir prepared at home.

In addition, it should be noted that homemade fungal kefir tastes much better than store-bought kefir.

What do you need to make homemade kefir?

Making kefir at home is not at all difficult. All you need is sourdough and milk. Kefir grains are used as kefir starter. You can search for it on the Internet or ask your friends. On the Internet, some people are ready to give it away for nothing.

If you couldn’t find kefir grains, you can use a few tablespoons of kefir from the store. But the positive effect of consuming such kefir will decrease.

Another option is to use the drug Narine (live bacteria in dry form), which is sold in pharmacies, as a starter.

Features of making homemade kefir

For 1 tablespoon of kefir starter, 1 liter of milk is required.

Before adding kefir starter, milk must be boiled and then cooled to a temperature slightly above room temperature, since unprocessed milk contains many harmful bacteria.

During fermentation, after about 10 hours (half the time it takes to make kefir), it is recommended to stir the contents of the jar.

Cover the glass jar with milk and starter with gauze or other thick cotton cloth (if you close the lid, the fungus will die from lack of oxygen) and place it in a place protected from the sun (for example, in a kitchen cabinet). The place should be warm. For example, in winter you can place it near the battery. This way the fermentation process will go faster.

After a day, inspect the jar: if the milk has become thick, then the kefir is ready and should be strained through cheesecloth/colander into a clean container (or removed with a spoon). Then the fungus needs to be washed with clean, cold, non-tap water, and filled with milk again.

Instead of fungus, you can also take 50 ml of prepared homemade kefir and also use it for subsequent starters. However, it is better to use it this way for no more than 8-10 days.

If after a day the milk has not yet soured, for example, if there was too much milk or the temperature at which the jar of future kefir was stored was low, then wait some more time until the liquid becomes kefir. But watch this process, otherwise the whey may separate and the kefir will become sour and not tasty.

The kefir grain will gradually grow and become larger and larger. It is necessary to remove large mushroom inflorescences (more than 5cm) and leave only small grains.

Try not to use chemicals to clean kefir starter jars.

Young, one-day-old kefir, as a rule, has a weakening effect on the intestines, while three-day-old kefir, on the contrary, strengthens it.

Kefir fungus needs to be fed with milk daily - 2 teaspoons of fungus per glass of milk, otherwise it will die.

The fattier the milk, the thicker the kefir and the less whey.

If it so happens that you will not consume kefir for several days, then the kefir grains should be placed in a container with water, covered with gauze and placed in the refrigerator. The fungus can live in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also mix water and milk in equal proportions and increase the lifespan of the fungus. Don't forget to change the water daily.

Homemade kefir recipe

Everything has already been described in detail above about how to make kefir, so I’ll just summarize here, namely the recipe for making kefir at home:

1. Boil milk (preferably real cow's milk, but if not, then store-bought milk, from 2.5% fat content)
2. Wait until it cools down and is slightly above room temperature.
3. Put kefir grains in a jar (1 tablespoon per liter), if not
fungus, you can get by with a few tablespoons of store-bought kefir.
4. Fill the jar with the fungus with warm milk and cover with a thick cotton cloth
5. Place the jar in a place protected from the sun, preferably warmer.
6. After 15-20 hours, the contents of the jar should thicken - the kefir is ready!
7. Take out the fungus, wash it with cold, clean water, put it in a container with liquid and put it in the refrigerator.
8. Add sugar if desired and enjoy delicious and healthy homemade kefir!