Kefir is a refreshing cultured-milk beverage, which originated many centuries ago, in the Northern Caucasus Mountains. The word kefir is said to be derived from the Turkish word keif, which loosely translates to good feeling or feeling good. This is for the obvious increase in a sense of well-being experienced by drinking kefir regularly .
Kefir has a uniform creamy consistency, a sour refreshing taste, with a subtle aroma resembling fresh yeast [or a very subtle beer-like flavour]. Kefir also has a slightest hint of natural effervescent zesty tang. There are an assortment of some 40 aromatic compounds contributing to the unique flavour and distinctive pleasant aroma of kefir. To round this all off, kefir may contain between 0.08% to 2% alcohol. However, between .08 to .1% alcohol are common figures for a 24 hour cultured kefir-- [yep-- wow!].
Traditional authentic kefir can only be prepared by culturing fresh milk with Kefir grains. Kefir grains are not to be mistaken for cereal grains. This is to say that the grain part of the name is a misnomer. Kefir grains, or kefir granules if you wish, are in fact a natural-starter or natural mother-culture. The bio-structure which I refer to as a bio-matrix, is created through the a symbiotic relationship between a vast mixture of specific friendly Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. A batch of kefir grains consist of many individual bodies of a soft, gelatinous white biological mass [biomass]. The composition of each grain is protein, lipids fats and a soluble-polysaccharide Kefiran complex. The microbes and yeasts not only create the bio-matrix structure, the organisms are also harboured by the very structure that they create; abiding either on the surface interior and exterior, or, encapsulated within the bio-matrix itself The abode of the friendly microbe
Today, traditional authentic kefir (real kefir) is easily prepared at home, just as it has been done over many centuries. Fresh, non-pasteurised or pasteurised full-cream, low fat or non-fat milk is poured into a clean suitable container with the addition of kefir grains. The content is left to stand at room temperature for about 24 hours. The cultured-milk is strained in order to separate, or retrieve the kefir grains from the liquid-kefir. The grains are added to more fresh milk, and the process is simply repeated. This simple process can be performed on an indefinite basis... for kefir grains are forever. The strained liquid-kefir may either be consumed fresh, refrigerated for later use, or ripened at room temperature over a period of days. The ripening process is useful for individuals who wish to reduce lactose in their kefir . Ripening improves overall flavour, increases specific vitamins of the B group, and carbon dioxide and alcohol content is increased also.
Kefir grains increase in overall volume, numbers of and in weight, as the grains are continually cultured in fresh milk to prepare kefir [biomass increase]. Because of this, the need to prevent overcrowding of the grains, and in order to maintain a reasonable constant grain-to-milk ratio it becomes essential to remove a portion of kefir grains from the batch. Apart from the obvious advantage in preventing overcrowded, the other advantage is to produce a kefir with a reasonable constant character and consistency on an ongoing basis. Traditionally, excess kefir grains were either eaten [which I highly recommend], dehydrated and stored as a back-up source, shared among family members, or traded among the tribes-people of Caucasus, in exchange for basic essentials.
Except for refrigeration, the culture-art of kefir has been practiced over many centuries by the people of the Caucasus Mountains. In fact, this is why kefir came about, for the preservation of milk without any refrigeration.
