For everyone who guessed and wondered what this is:
Kefir Grains
I will keep you from your suspense….
it is Kefir grains!
(good job Tiff)
A neighbor generously gave me some of her extras and I am so excited to start making Kefir using my own grains. I have been making Kefir for years now using freeze dried starter, but it doesn’t grow grains, and only lasts for about 7 batches. However with Kefir grains I can use them forever as long as they are taken care of.
You may wonder what Kefir is. Kefir is a yogurt like cultured dairy (or other liquid) product. I say yogurt like, because it isn’t yogurt, it is thinner and a little tangier, it will even produce bubbles if cultured a certain way. It is like yogurt, in that it is full of wonderful pro-biotics, like yogurt, in fact the “grains” are the colonies of pro-biotic producing bacteria.
For more information you can go here, and read all about Kefir.
So would this be considered, “Gluten Free?”
Yes it is gluten free, they aren’t “grains” as in grass seed, it is a colony of bacteria, sugar, protein and yeast.
We have been culturing and consuming kefir for about 9 months or so. My husband feels that it is really helping him.
My mother in law has been drinking it for more than a year now. She swears by it. I can’t bring myself to smell it… 😉
I make them into smoothies, I can’t drink it straight either
Lol, I just commented on the other post and then found this one.
I’ve just started water kefir, but I don’t know if I could find enough uses for milk kefir. Are you going to post recipes?