Water Kefir Grains

Water kefir grains - the all purpose, dairy-free probiotic culture. Healthy for you and your pets. They work great in plant milk. One time purchase. Go to kefirlady.com to order. Tell me you saw this at permies. Thanks Marilyn

I thought it would be a good idea to show y'all what water kefir grains look like. Notice how big they are.

I have some of Marilyn's water kefir grains and they look just like the photo, are quite active and easy to tend.  
They come with very clear instructions and well packaged.

I haven't branched out yet but am beginning to get ahead enough to do some experimenting

I'm glad you like your water kefir grains, Judith.

I have so many that I think of a new experiment to do every day. After my explosion last week, I wondered if there is enough yeast in water kefir grains to raise bread. Sure enough. It tasted almost like sourdough. Delicious! I let the bread rise for precisely 24 hours at 75ºF.

Here is the experiment that inspired the bread recipe trial.

This is what happens when you don't leave enough headspace in a soy milk water kefir grain recipe. This takes the expression "Your water kefir grains recipes will come alive" to a new level. So funny. Here is what I did the night before.

I blended 1/4 cup water kefir grains with 2 cups of soy milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar. That's it. The idea was to get a smooth pudding. In the past I left the water grains in there whole for something to chew. It got fermented but it didn't do this! The taste is lovely. Not too sour, not too sweet.

The container on the left was made the same way but with home-made peanut milk. I made savory oat muffins with the pulp.

The last time I blended soy milk with water grains I put it into a container that holds 8 cups. Two cups rose up past five cups overnight! At least it didn't go over. I'm having way too much fun experimenting with my oodles of extra water kefir grains.

We used to do water kefir culture here with great success. Then one time we took a bunch of grains out to give to another person and all of a sudden they stopped replicating. The culture kept actively fermenting but refused to ever grow. After well over a year of continued brewing still no growth occurred. We finally just gave up on it due to not being able to make more to share regardless that we were drinking what was being made. Never could figure what happened. Nothing was changed otherwise. We tried all kinds of methods to kick-start growth again after awhile but to no avail.

They lost their growth factor. It doesn't take very much neglect for this to happen. All it takes is for them to stay in the same solution for a day or two longer than they can stand and then boom, they are pickled and you're done. They may continue to make water kefir but don't grow.

Another thing is that just like kombucha, the scoby grows the most toward the end of the cycle. So you will not see growth if they are not completing their cycle. That said, you cannot restore growth if the growth factor is already fried as you found out.

This is supposed to be a one time purchase but I replace them all the time. People go on vacation and want to know how to store them. Well that's like storing a dog. Don't feed the dog while he is in the refrigerator for a week and guess what? No, you take the dog with you or find a sitter. People aren't going to do that with something like kefir grains. It is easier for them to reorder.

I just thought of two other reasons water grains can lose their growth factor. One is in your control and the other one out of your control. Soap residue. Not everyone uses Dawn dish soap. You are asking for trouble if you change what you use to wash the dishes. Dawn is safe. The other reason could be cross contamination with other brews you have going in the same area. Yeast can coat the scoby and you are done. Different yeasts abound from kitchen to kitchen whether you are brewing or not. I'm guessing it was not your fault. But there is definitely a reason.  I only try to trouble shoot putting the customer through the inquisition when he wants to try it again. This is supposed to be a one time purchase.

Very interesting info thanks for your time! After lots of research that is the first time I had heard that. Sounds logical enough and definitely could have been the issue. We too do lots of other ferments so cross contamination is certainly possible as well.

We don't use Dawn soap. I know many plant growers and such find it safe enough to use etc. I'm on a whole different idea of what safe is though compared to most. I personally use Dr. Bronners Castile soap for dishware and basically everything else. I image that shouldn't effect the culture too badly if Dawn is acceptable to use either way. Unless maybe a truly over abundance of residue is left no matter what soap is used.

Anyways very much thankful for your input! I will keep that in mind if we want to do water kefir again. Would likely buy from you if we decide too. Especially since you are very knowledgeable on the subject and likely have stellar treated grains compared to random peoples online via eBay etc.