Hi Holly, I would keep it simpler than this and just buy some organic raw cacao powder (rich and bitter) or carob powder (sweeter and lighter in colour) for a chocolate taste. There’d be no need to second ferment using this method. Nice’n’easy and as healthy as you can get. 🙂 If you find raw cacao too bitter, you can mix it with carob and always add a date or two into the mix (or any fruit that goes well with chocolate) and blend them all together to make a tasty milk.

Apologies for the delay in response Ben. And Happy New Year to you!

To answer your question … you can do either.

We strain my husband’s grains by simply using the normal method and just pouring the whey over the curds several times (after it’s strained through the sieve) to gently separate the grains from the curds. You can then either stir or blend the curds and whey back together.

Alternatively, you could pour the mixture through muslin (hanging over a jug) and allow the curds to fully separate and use them to make cheese.

Remember that whatever you do at this stage, the milk will be more sour than usual. You can overcome that by adding a little fresh milk (after removing the grains) – just for that batch – or second fermenting the milk with some fruit, to sweeten it up again. I have a blog post about that her on this blog. You will find it in the KEFIR series on the Main Menu Category list.

Some people like to use whey for fermenting vegetables. I’d rather use salt and water myself, but it’s a personal preference. I’ve read that it can be quite oderous and perhaps the ferments don’t seem as appealing or maybe last as long. I don’t know for sure, as I’ve never used this method myself.

Either way, if it happens again, have a play and see what you like best!

Oh .. and to prevent this happening .. keep an eye on your ferment because you have either:

* Fermented for too long
* Are fermenting in a room that’s too warm so the process has speeded up
* Have not used enough milk for the grains

By reducing the grains in the jar from the start, you won’t strain the grains. They need milk sugars to survive and the milk can separate fairly quickly when you use too many grains to the volume of milk because there is too little food for them and that speeds the whole process up.

I hope this helps!

Absolutely Kara. Experiment with flavours until you find what suits you. Orange works really well!

Hi Veronica. I have added fruit to the fridge jug (which has a loose lid – ie an open aperture through which to pour the milk) poured the freshly fermented milk over it and left it on the worktop at room temp, then left it the same way in the fridge. I would imagine if you use a canning jar it may fizz more and potentially become more explosive, like water kefir. Not sure if the milk would keep it calmer. Anyway, this method worked for me, so I stuck with it. I used thick sliced of fruit and also, on some occasions, squeezed a little juice in directly from the orange as well. It takes time to infuse and strengthens in the fridge.

When I’ve second fermented, I’ve left mine in the jar and it’s worked perfectly Gail. The flavour increases that way, whilst the milk is sitting in the fridge. My feelings about fermenting is that there is no ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t.’ There are certain practices that are required to create successful ferments. Within those practices there’s also room for creativity and experimentation. Try it both ways and see which you prefer and that will be perfect for you. 🙂

I haven’t Gennie. I don’t use cow’s products and didn’t enjoy either goat or sheep’s kefir when I made them, so I don’t make sour cream. I have, however, made chutneys without the use of vinegar. I’m sure if you used this type of chutney it would be fine. I’m going to put together a mini Ebook/PDF soon that you’ll be able to buy for a small sum .. and will include a chutney recipe for you to try. 🙂