Keifer Available

Monday, January 16, 2023

Hello friends,

For the middle of January, we are getting a break on the weather. No snow, above freezing temperatures, and warm sunshine. I love our wood stove, but when the it’s about 50 degrees outside, we have to shut it down. You can only build a fire so small before it just smolders and back drafts in the house. Plan B is to set the furnace to come on if needed. Either way it takes less energy to keep us comfortable.

If you are on social media you may have noticed my post this past week. We make a good amount of yogurt every week and I have been making Keifer from time to time with the grains. It’s very healthy and full of probiotics, but very tangy and kind of a pain to keep going. Kind of like sourdough starter you need to keep feeding it or keep it in the refrigerator where it remains dormant. You can also make it by using a powdered culture. So, I bought some starter culture, and last week we made 8 gallons of gently pasteurized milk, cooled it to the proper temperature and added the culture. It needs to breathe, so I covered the jars with cheese cloth and waited. It was a little cool in the make room so it took a little longer but we were rewarded with DELICIOUS keifer! It exceeded my expectations! I still have questions like, how long does it keep, will it continue to ferment if we (or you) warm it up to room temp, and exactly how beneficial is it? I don’t know yet. I have made one gallon, as well as some half gallons and quarts. Unfortunately, when I looked to purchase more quart jars with plastic lids I was confronted with sticker shock! To replace the quart jars I am going to have to pay at least $2.50 each. Ridiculous. So, if you want a quart of amazing, creamy, whole milk keifer and you have a quart jar with a plastic lid, we’ll swap. I love reusing vs. recycling.....