How to Get More Kefir from Powdered Kefir Starter

It probably goes without saying that I am interested in sustainable food ways. I like nourishing food that we can make over and over again from simple ingredients. I like making things myself and believe that homemade anything is better than store-bought everything. I like to reduce waste in my kitchen and in my landfill.

So you might think that something like a powdered kefir culture wouldn’t make it into my kitchen on a regular basis, at least not when milk kefir grains are available. Right now I actually have both milk kefir grains and powdered milk kefir culture creating quarts and quarts of probiotic goodness. I’ll get to the reasons I’m a fan of this powdered kefir culture in a minute, but first let me tell you something else that I recently figured out.

I’m sure I’m the last person to have thought of this, but just in case I’m not, here’s how I am making way more milk kefir than I initially thought I could get out of a single packet of kefir starter.

Generally speaking, powdered kefir culture is cultured and then used as the culture to make subsequent batches. Eventually the culture goes weak or something infiltrates it and you are no longer culturing kefir. You’ll notice a change in consistency or smell and then you open up a new packet and start over.

In this way, assuming you end up making four quarts from a kefir culture packet, you would get maybe four gallons of kefir from an entire package, assuming it comes with four packets (a rough average). This is actually a significant amount of kefir and well worth the price, when you consider what you might pay at the store for sub-par kefir.

This might actually be plenty of kefir for you, so you wouldn’t even consider making more. If you have a larger family, or just drink a ton of kefir – both of which are realities in our home – then you may want to try to make even more kefir at a time. I sure did.

In order to make more kefir from a single culturing I simply take two quarts of fresh goat milk and add the recommended amount of kefir to each quart. So on the second culturing I am getting a half-gallon (or more!) of kefir. You could actually do even more than this, but I find that keeping the quarts separate helps. So you could realistically get a gallon of kefir for each subsequent culturing. Going with the analogy above, we would then get 16 gallons of kefir from a single package of starter, which is four times what I initially assumed I could make! The main issue is then either consuming the kefir in time or having enough storage space in your refrigerator to store as much kefir as possible.

One final tip that I have found helpful is that the powdered kefir cultures I have worked with seem to give you more subsequent culturings when the kefir is used immediately to make the next batch. So, as soon as a batch is done culturing and is tangy and thick, I plop that into 2-4 new quarts of milk for my next culturing. Somehow the lack of refrigeration and time spent since the initial culturing seems to result in a stronger culture.

I should also mention that the reason that I really like the powdered kefir culture is that it is really simple to use, especially in times of stress or flux. With a new baby entering our home soon, I am glad to have something on hand that is simple enough to use – with no possible “killing” of the mother culture – which will provide for some deep nourishment during an intense and blessed time of transition for our family.

Do you use powdered kefir culture? Have any tips?

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Ginger Tooth Powder

This tooth powder recipe is great for people who don’t care for mint flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon xylitol
• ½ teaspoons ginger powder
• ¼ teaspoons sea salt

Instructions:

1. Mix ingredients well and powder in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.
2. Store in a sealed jar.

How to Use Ginger Tooth Powder:

1. Scoop approximately ¼ teaspoon tooth powder into your hand.
2. Using a wet brush, scrub up the powder from your hand and brush as usual.

Makes about ¼ cup

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Gluten-free Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Free Sourdough Starter ($12.99 value) shipped with every order placed 12/13/15 to 12/16/15

This gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe is a great way to use discarded starter. Sour the dough until they are as tangy as you like, or make them immediately if you’re in a hurry.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, very soft
• ½ cup gluten-free sourdough starter
• ¾ cup superfine white rice flour
• ¼ cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup potato or tapioca starch
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

1. Mix butter and sourdough starter together in a medium bowl beating until well combined. Add superfine rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum and mix together until a very stiff dough comes together. If the dough doesn’t reach this stage, add a little bit more sorghum flour until it does.
2. Cover bowl and sour 4-8 hours, if souring is desired.
3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking sheet with butter or cover with parchment paper.
4. In a small bowl, beat eggs. Add honey, vanilla, and salt; mix well. Blend mixture into the soured dough. Pour chocolate chips over the mixture and sprinkle the baking soda on top.
5. Blend until everything is well combined. Drop dough by the spoonful onto prepared baking sheet. Bake approximately 12 minutes, or until cookies are just set on top and golden-brown on the bottom.
6. Cool briefly on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack.

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Bottling My Homemade Cider

Of all the steps involved in home brewing beer or cider, bottling is often the most intimidating part. I certainly experienced a little pre-bottling anxiety myself. However, I have good news! After all was said and done, and my fridge overfloweth with fine cider, bottling really didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. Sure, it’s going to be a little messy and it takes some time, but my advice is to try to enjoy the process and focus on the imminent rewards. So put on some music or a podcast, roll up your sleeves, and get to it.

First, let’s talk bottles. Since this was my first round of making cider ever, I really wanted to pull out all the stops. I wanted a carbonated dry product that I could reseal if I didn’t want to drink an entire bottle at once. With these considerations in mind, I opted for 16 ounce Grolsch-Style flip-top bottles. However, when bottling day came, I quickly realized I didn’t have enough bottles on hand. I lucked out when I ran into some 64 ounce growlers at a local supply store with a screw top lid. While these saved my bacon in this case, I can’t say I really recommend them. They didn’t produce quite the same amount of carbonation and once opened, you were pretty well committed to drinking it all at once. They have been a hit at parties, though! With bottles and growlers ready to go, I mixed my sanitizing solution and prepared my bottling station. I decided to use a big plastic tub for submerging all of my bottles and growlers and then placed them on a dish rack (dedicated to brewing bottles only) to dry in batches.

Next, I cleared and sanitized plenty of counter space to work with and opened my pouch of dextrose to use as a priming sugar for my bottles. At this point, I did something that in retrospect was a batch-saving idea – I tasted a little cup of the cider. The cider was pretty ok: dry, flavorful, clean and alcoholic, but there was no trace of sweetness at this point. I probably let my first fermentation go a day or two longer than I should have, but I was relying on my hydrometer to steer me correctly. Tasting the cider, I determined that using dextrose alone as a priming sugar would only create a carbonated version of what I was drinking. I needed a somewhat non-fermentable sugar and decided maple syrup would be the best choice. Having used some maple syrup in the past as a priming sugar for brewing beer, I knew from experience that it would ferment only somewhat and impart a sweet syrupy flavor to the beer. It isn’t quite fermentable enough on its own to produce nice carbonation, but in combination with the dextrose I gambled that it would create a dry, semi-sweet, carbonated cider in the end. This gamble really ended up paying off in the end.

Once my bottles had air dried completely, I sanitized my autosiphon and experimented with siphoning a little of the sanitizing solution into a separate vessel. It took a few pumps to get it going, but ultimately created a more rapid flow than I would have liked. Despite the handy plastic crimping mechanism to cease the flow, I simply wasn’t altogether comfortable using the siphon. Of course, this was my first siphoning experience in a long while and I’m sure there is an easier way to use it, but for the sake of time and cleanliness, I decided to take an alternate route. Seeing that I had a second fermentation bucket and a spare spigot, I drilled a whole in the premade spigot insert and attached my sanitized spigot to the second bucket, which of course was sanitized thoroughly as well. At this point, I simply transferred my cider from one bucket to the other, but it may be wise to have a friend help you execute this move as the bucket does have some heft when it’s full of cider. I then let the yeast settle once again to the bottom for about an hour before returning to my bottling station.

By this point, I had a fair number of my bottles sanitized and air dried to where I could start priming and filling the bottles systematically. At first, I struggled finding a way to add the dextrose to the bottles without creating a powdered mess down the sides and on my counter space. I tried using small spoons and tips of narrow knives with some success, but this made it pretty difficult to measure how much dextrose was being added to each bottle. After priming about a dozen bottles, I opted to create an easy funnel made of notebook paper. This saved me so much time and a lot of dextrose as well. I then carefully measured what I thought would be a good amount of maple syrup – probably about ½ tablespoon per bottle – into each bottle and began to carefully fill each bottle out of the spigot. I opted to set my fermenter bucket on the edge of my counter top to make it easier to use the spigot (again, it would be good to have someone help you lift it onto the counter). I found that I could fill each bottle up about ¾ of the way and then it would foam to the top. Once the foam resided, I could top it off by opening the spigot only slightly to create a slower flow and produce less foam. Once filled, I clamped each bottle top down securely and placed the bottles in a big plastic container so that on the off chance that a bottle would become super carbonated and blow the top, the container would catch the mess instead of my hardwood floors.

This turned out to be a very easy and efficient system. My wife helped by sanitizing, drying and adding the priming sugar and syrup to each bottle while I filled them with the spigot and clamped them shut. In about an hour, we had all of our growlers and bottles filled. Fortunately, the spigot sits high enough in the fermenter bucket to where the yeast can settle below it, so we didn’t run any risk of sediment in our bottles. So far, we’ve opened and drank about 75% of the bottles after they sat for an additional two weeks at room temperature and a week in the refrigerator. Each bottle has been somewhat unique in that we didn’t measure the dextrose or maple syrup with extreme precision, but all in all they have been wonderfully flavored and nicely carbonated. I haven’t detected any contamination in any of the bottles I’ve opened, which was a worry with the spigot system. Whether you use a spigot or the siphon, be sure to give yourself more time than you think to fill the bottles and expect a little bit of spillage no matter how careful you are. Personally, I find the aroma of a little spilled apple cider in my kitchen to be quite pleasant. I hope you find a way to enjoy the whole process knowing that the fruits of your labor will be well worth the effort and mess. Cheers to you and yours!

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A Closer Look: Kombucha Tea Starter Kit

“I bought this as a gift, and I couldn’t ask for a more quality product! It gave you the tools you needed (minus the sugar and jar, of course) to make your own kombucha exactly as stated. I would highly recommend this product.” -Marie

Today we are going to take a closer look at the Cultures for Health Kombucha Tea Starter Kit.

Product Highlights

Brew delicious organic kombucha at home! Save money! Commercial kombucha sells for $3+ per bottle. Using our kombucha starter culture, brew your own kombucha for $2 per gallon or less. A kombucha starter culture consists of yeast and bacteria existing in a symbiotic relationship. When combined with sweetened tea and fermented for 7 to 30 days, the resulting kombucha beverage has a slightly carbonated zing and is packed full of B vitamins.

• Gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
• Reusable culture; transfer the culture from batch to batch.
• Initial batch requires 30-day culturing time. Subsequent batches culture in 7-30 days.
• With proper care, the culture can be used indefinitely to create delicious fermented tea
• Easy to make; can be flavored in a variety of ways.

This Kombucha Starter Kit includes:

• Kombucha starter culture (includes culture and 10 pH strips)
• Organic black tea (enough for the activation batch)
• Plastic mesh strainer (3.5″)
• 16-page instruction booklet, including bottling and flavoring ideas

Kombucha Instructions and Troubleshooting: 

• Instructions for using this culture are included and may be found here.
• Having trouble making kombucha? Browse our Kombucha Troubleshooting Articles or contact us for assistance.

 Kombucha Tea Starter Culture Ingredients: Organic sugar, Organic black tea, Live Active Cultures

This product contains no GMO ingredients.

Shipping Information and Shelf-life: Our Kombucha Tea Starter Culture is shipped in a dehydrated state and must be rehydrated. The starter keeps

• At room temperature (68° to 78°F): 3 to 4 weeks
• In the refrigerator (40° to 45°F): 9 months
• In the freezer (0° to 25°F): not recommended

Allergen Information:

Our Kombucha Tea Starter Culture is a gluten-free product. It is manufactured in a facility that also produces products containing soy and dairy.

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I had a great experience with Cultures for Health. The kit comes with most everything you need to brew your kombucha, and the eBook that you can download for free from the website was very informational! I hydrated my scoby in a quart size mason jar, and that first batch tasted pretty strongly like vinegar. The first batch after that (still brewing with vinegar rather than tea from the previous batch) also didn’t taste quite like kombucha that I’ve bought from the store in the past. Now, I am finally ready to bottle my third batch of kombucha (and the first batch using tea starter rather than vinegar starter) and it tastes great! I emailed and used live chat with customer service a couple times throughout the process and each time they responded quickly and were very helpful! Overall a great experience!
-Emily

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Product Q&A

Q. Once I have a culture from my first batch of kombucha How and where do I store it for the next batch. Thank you.

A. As a live culture consisting of active yeasts and bacteria, Kombucha Scobys do best if they are allowed to sit on the counter culturing one batch of sugared tea after another. However, life can interfere at times and if you are facing the possibility of needing to take a break from making Kombucha, here are some guidelines for how to take a break without damaging the Scoby: http://ift.tt/1HhhBrt

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Q. Would you recommend filtered water versus tap water for a cleaner healthier Kombucha? I’m very interested in trying this drink and the video was great. Thank you!

A. We do recommend using the best water you can. If your water supply has chlorine, you can remove it by filtering, boiling, or aeration. You can read more about choosing water for your ferments here. http://ift.tt/1lIfWGP

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Q. Does this work with any tea or only black tea?

A. While black tea is the traditional tea used for brewing kombucha, there are a variety of teas or combinations of teas that will work fine. Check the link here for further information:

http://ift.tt/1P33udO

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Learn more about the Kombucha Tea Starter Kit.

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That Time I Figured Out What Calcium Chloride Could Do For My Cheesemaking

I’ve been making cheese now for a few months. These aren’t complicated, hard cheeses of which I’m still slightly frightened of. No, my go-to options are a soft chevre and a flavorful feta. I have been making both of these exclusively with fresh goat milk and so far it’s been fun to take on another DIY kitchen project.

It all started when I received the Goat Milk Cheese Kit. I love kits like this that take the fear out of DIYing it for the first time by assembling everything that you need. Everything in that kit was familiar and got me off to a great start.

Well, everything, that is, except the calcium chloride. I had heard some vague thing about this stuff long ago and kind of figured it was like putting together a bookshelf and having one extra screw when all is said and done. It’s working, right, so I’m probably not missing out on much.

That is until I talked to my friend Tracy who is an actual cheesemaker with actual experience who actually knew about this little bottle.

She came over one day and we were sorting through some of our Cultures for Health equipment and starters. When I came across the calcium chloride she told me what she remembered it being used for. Essentially, she said you add it to store-bought cow’s milk or goat milk to firm up the curd. Do you remember how I found my goat feta to be too soft to brine and couldn’t quite figure out why? Well, after some research I found out that indeed, calcium chloride is used to help firm up the curd of goat milk cheese.

According to this article from Curd Nerd…

But it’s not just store bought milk that can benefit from Calcium Chloride. If you are using Goat’s Milk for cheese making, particularly when making hard cheeses, you may need to add Calcium Chloride to get a firm curd as Goat’s milk goes through a natural homogenization process in the animal’s body and without CaCI2 it may produce a curd that is too weak to cut properly.

Continuing on in that particular article – and cross-referencing with other online sources, I believe Calcium Chloride is used in the cases of

• Store-bought pasteurized milk which needs a boost in calcium.
• Goat milk which may have lower calcium levels than cow’s milk.
• Raw cow’s milk which may be deficient in the mineral due to poor feed quality.

It also seems that Calcium Chloride should be added only in small amounts – ¼ teaspoon per gallon of milk – and mixed with the milk before beginning the cheesemaking process.

So maybe I could make some cheese without the calcium chloride but my feta and hard cheeses might improve because of it. Which leaves me only to try it out and see what happens next.

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Fermentation Guidelines for Homebrewing Beer

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Michael on the topic of homebrewing.  Learn more about him at the end of the post!

As the old saying goes, “Men don’t make beer. Men make wort. Yeast make beer.” Wort (pronounced vurt) is the boiled and hopped pre-beer liquid that requires the most human effort (you can read more about this in the 10-Step Brewing Guide). This is as far as an individual can go in actively “making” a beer. The next step is allowing fermentation to take control. Though less “hands on” than the brewing process, the fermentation stage is equally important in determining the final flavor of the finished product. Following the guidelines below will ensure that you help your yeast “make” the best homebrew possible.

1. Temperature control is key.

Even if you don’t have a temperature control system (such as a dedicated fermentation refrigerator or a precisely temperature-controlled room) it is still worthwhile to keep your fermenting beer as close to a target temperature as possible (as prescribed by your recipe). Some sources state that yeast get stressed and produce off-flavors if they experience temperature changes of more than 5° F in one day. Most likely a room’s temperature will change by this much from daytime to nighttime. Thus, it’s best to place the fermenting beer in a cool, insulated location, such as in a closet or in the back corner of a basement, away from direct sunlight. Since most environments are warmer than desired, placing the fermentation vessel in shallow water with a wet towel or t-shirt covering it can help lower the fermenting temperature a few degrees, and help buffer against temperature shocks.

2. Keep it clean.

During the fermentation stage, you may want to open the fermentation container to retrieve a sample for a density reading, or perhaps just for a taste. In doing so be sure to sanitize your equipment (a sampling container or spoon) and to only allow it to contact the fermenting beer when necessary. It’s best to retrieve a larger sample than necessary just once than to open the fermentation container multiple times. Another instance when infection may occur is during transferring – some recipes work best with a transfer of the beer off of its yeast sediment into a new fermentation vessel, after primary fermentation of around 3-5 days. Again, be sure at all materials coming into contact with the beer are sanitized, preferably with a no-rinse sanitizer such as Star San.

3. Avoid air contact as much as possible.

Once your wort has become beer, oxygen becomes the enemy. Luckily oxygen bound to carbon in the form of carbon dioxide does not negatively oxidize the beer, and even pleasantly carbonates it. When accessing the beer for retrieving samples, transferring the beer to a new vessel, or bottling the beer, avoid excessive splashing or sloshing of the liquid, since this will push ambient oxygen into the solution. Just be deliberate and quick with your beer contact and be sure to seal everything when finished.

After approximately three weeks, your beer will reach the optimal state for consumption. If you’re having a get together, feel free to open the fermentation bucket and fill glasses straight from the vessel (a la English cask beer). After opening the fermenter, if you’re not able to finish all your brew within a day or so, bottling becomes the next best option to preserve your beer.

Jeffrey Michael, known as The Biking Brewer, is Certified with the Beer Judge Certification Program, having judged over twenty homebrew competitions over the past ten years. Also a trained sommelier and student of the French Culinary Institute, he frequently travels to uncommon parts of the globe in search of new fermented beverages. He tweets at @TheBikingBrewer and posts at http://ift.tt/1N7YoKt.

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Chill Pill

When I try something new, I really, truly, seriously try. Case in point: yogurt.

I’d never made yogurt before, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I had my Greek yogurt starter, the most expensive local dairy milk I could find, and read the instructions until they were memorized. Failure was not an option.

I thought I knew it all.

Then my yogurt turned into something resembling snot. Interesting, I thought.

But I didn’t give up.

The second time around, you would have thought I was assembling a nuclear reactor on my counter top. All of my tools were lined up in the order they were needed. I wore an apron that resembled a lab coat. I wore my extra thick, nerdy glasses. While heating the milk, I kept the thermometer exactly one centimeter off the bottom of the pot the entire time until it reached 180 degrees. I wore rubber gloves to avoid contamination. I used a different spoon everytime I stirred. I logged temperatures and texture observations. I leveled off all measurements precisely, scraping off excess with a butterknife.

Failure. Was. Not. An. Option…

…until it was, and I had a breakdown. You know that scene from Julie & Julia when Julie got frustrated with a whole naked turkey she was stuffing, dropped it on the floor, then collapsed into a ball of tears and regret? It doesn’t hold a candle.

How could I not make this happen? How can I possibly be a good customer support rep if I can’t even make yogurt? What am I doing? Who am I? What is life?

The next day was Saturday. I woke up to a morning chorus of birds and gently falling leaves. I walked to the store and bought the cheapest gallon of whole pasteurized milk they had. I dumped about a quarter of it into a pot, turned on my stove, and made a sandwich. Eventually I took the temperature: 185. Too hot.

Whatever. I’m over this.

I poured the milk into a glass bowl to cool. It splashed on my cabinet doors. I watched an episode of Mr. Robot. I measured the temperature. It was around 110 degrees. I eye-balled two tablespoons of starter. I sloshed it around and put it in my Yogotherm. I went to Target and bought a rug and some yogurt to eat. I read a book, and when the power blinked on and off, I didn’t reset the blinking clock on my stove (apparently a squirrel in my neighborhood had an unfriendly interaction with a transformer).

I made my favorite Spanish soup for dinner, then noticed the Yogotherm out of the corner of my eye. I strolled over, my fuzzy house slippers dragging across the floor. I opened the lid, and the yogurt was perfectly set.

What? No snot? But I didn’t measure! What is this? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

I may have cried.

Before going into a state of shock, I placed the pail in the fridge. In the morning I ate my first bowl of thick, smooth, tangy… perfect greek yogurt. I accepted my chill pill, and swallowed it whole.

Cultures don’t hold grudges. They forgive. They forget. They thrive on love, and never seek perfection. Tips and tricks and measurements and flawless technique are all important, but I’ve learned that intuition and patience are a home-fermenter’s most invaluable traits.

Relax! Have fun. It’s just yogurt. It’ll happen.

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No Coupon Needed! Free $10 Gift Voucher Until 12/9

Do you have a friend who needs a little nudge to start making their own Kombucha, Kefir, Sourdough, Yogurt or more?  Then this is your opportunity to give them that nudge (for free) while you order in the next two days.  Did you know that all of the following products are less than $10 right now?  And there are more on the site!

Organic Cotton Bag

Available in three sizes. Perfect for straining kefir, yogurt, or soft cheese varieties.

Pomona’s Pectin

Useful for thickening non-dairy yogurt.

Traditional Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture

Traditional yogurt flavor; each box makes 4 batches of yogurt

Mild Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture

Mild yogurt flavor; each box makes four 1- to 2-quart batches of yogurt.

Vegan Yogurt Starter Culture

This direct-set yogurt starter can be used with non-dairy milks such as soy and rice milk. Each box makes 4 batches of yogurt.

Plastic Strainer

High quality, dishwasher safe; perfect for straining kefir and kombucha.

Organic Cotton Bag

Available in three sizes. Perfect for straining kefir, yogurt, or soft cheese varieties.

ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops

Use to re-mineralize distilled, reverse osmosis, purified or very soft water (improves the quality of the water for making Water Kefir)

Kefir Starter Culture

Make kefir with this powdered starter culture; can generally be recultured several times

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A Closer Look: Kefir Starter Culture

 “…It’s an awesome product, easy to do and very pleasant, I recommend it to everyone!!!” -Deb

Today we are going to take a closer look at the Cultures for Health Kefir Starter Culture.

Product Highlights

Make kefir at home with this powdered starter culture. With no grains to maintain, this culture is easy to use to make homemade kefir at a much lower cost than buying kefir at the store, and it’s delicious! Drink plain, add flavoring, or use kefir in many different recipes.

• Each box contains 2 packets of kefir starter.
• Use 1 packet with 1 quart dairy milk, juice, or coconut milk or coconut water.
• Cultures at room temperature, 72°-74°F, no appliance required.
• Avoid using ultra pasteurized or UHT milk.
• May be re-cultured 2-7 times, using a small amount from the current batch to make a new batch.
• Instructions for using this culture are included and may be found here.
• Having trouble making kefir? Browse our Expert Advice Articles on Kefir or contact us for assistance.

Ingredients

• Proprietary blend of selected strains of lactococci, lactobacilli, Leuconostoc, and Saccharomyces fragilis bacteria.
• May contain trace amounts of soy and milk.

Allergen Information

• May contain trace amounts of soy and dairy.
• Manufactured in a facility that produces products containing soy and dairy.
• Non-GMO
• Gluten-free

Shipping and Storage Information

Our kefir starter culture is shipped in a dehydrated state in a barrier-sealed packet. The product keeps:

• At room temperature (68° to 78°F): 3 to 4 weeks
• In the refrigerator (40° to 45°F): 6 to 12 months
• In the freezer (0° to 25°F): 12+ months

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Product Q&A

Q. When making kefir with raw milk, is it necessary to make a pure mother culture with pasteurized milk (as is necessary with the piima culture)?

A. No, a mother culture isn’t necessary.

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Q. What is the difference between the Kefir Starter (made out of powder) vs. the Milk Kefir Grains product? They seem to do the same thing but there is a significant price difference.

A. We have a great article that discusses the differences and similarities:

http://ift.tt/21IWJF0

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Q. I want to make fermented grape juice. Would this be the right kind of culture to use? Thanks!

A. You may use the Kefir Starter Culture or if you prefer a reusable culture, you can use Water Kefir Grains to ferment grape juice.

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Learn more about the Kefir Starter Culture here.

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Why We Brew At Home

This is a guest article from Jeffrey Michael.  Learn more about him at the end of the post!

Fermented drinks have been around for millennia. Our ancestors drank crudely fermented fruit, plant, and grain beverages since the start of civilization, and their fermenting innovations may even have “caused” civilization itself. These days, it is easier than ever to stop by one’s local convenience store to buy a commercially produced and packaged version of one of these beverages, most commonly beer or wine. So then why would one engage in the effort necessary to brew at home?

“Brewing beer is a form of cooking”

There are many reasons. The first I can provide is that brewing is simply an enjoyable process. Brewing beer is a form of cooking, and one who chooses to brew most likely attains a similar enjoyment as one who cooks instead of eating out. Understanding the components & the steps required to achieve an end culinary product surely broadens the mind and helps fine-tune the palate.

“A chili beer? A beer with cucumber & mint? A blue beer? “

Secondly, homebrewing provides endless possibilities to create any beer possible. A chili beer? A beer with cucumber & mint? A blue beer? With the skills of homebrewing at hand, you now have the freedom to add whatever ingredients you like to your recipes to make beers that are otherwise impossible to find.

“Homebrewing is typically a social event”

Next, homebrewing is typically a social event. Even if every brew day is not a massive party, having a dedicated brewing partner can result in the development a strong working relationship. Brewing can be as easy or intense as one wishes, and therefore I believe finding a partner with the same expectations is key. A friend’s report on homebrewing in New York City found after surveying that the top reason people start homebrewing is for social validation, and the top reason people stop brewing is because they lost their brewing partner – both profoundly social reasons. The Holy Grail would be finding a life partner who is likewise interested in the mastering of mashing, but that is only for the luckiest of couples.

	Now you can get started brewing beer at home with our collection of beer ingredients, equipment, bottling supplies, books and more!
	SHOP BEER INGREDIENTS		SHOP EQUIPMENT		SHOP BOOKS

“Homebrewing can be a less expensive form of beer consumption in the long run”

Not quite as obvious, homebrewing can be a less expensive form of beer consumption in the long run. Once sufficient equipment is purchased, producing a relatively simple beer with a straightforward recipe will most likely be cheaper per-glass to make it at home than buying the equivalent in a store. For this to be true, you will probably need to produce at least 10-gallon batches.

“What is better than a lively just-finished homebrew?” 

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked, are the health benefits of homebrew. There are several facets to this argument. Most commercial beer is filtered, which removes yeast sediment and vital vitamin B. Unfiltered beer in the store is typically old, so even though the healthy yeast is present, it is dead. I personally believe, along with prominent food writers like Michael Pollan, that there are strong health benefits to food and drink that is still “alive” and naturally probiotic, and what is better than a lively just-finished homebrew. And, much more simply, making beer at home allows one to know exactly what is going into the drink. You can choose to use entirely organic ingredients, to filter the water, and to omit questionable ingredients like fining or clarification agents.

So, for the sake of your health and many other reasons, consider patronizing your local homebrew store (or wine-making store, or pickling) to source the building blocks for your own hand-made beverage.

Jeffrey Michael, known as The Biking Brewer, is Certified with the Beer Judge Certification Program, having judged over twenty homebrew competitions over the past ten years. Also a trained sommelier and student of the French Culinary Institute, he frequently travels to uncommon parts of the globe in search of new fermented beverages. He tweets at @TheBikingBrewer and posts at http://ift.tt/1N7YoKt.

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Making Easy, Homemade, Naturally-Scented Soaps

I admit it, I am a bit of a DIY junkie. Truth be told, I think most of us home-fermenters are. While there are tons of reasons to make homemade breads, cultured veggies, and myriad other foods and personal care products, there are some things I would still make just for the fulfillment it brings. And sometimes these little activities not only ground us, but are just great fun.

Recently I had the opportunity to develop some recipes for homemade soaps that are both fun and so, so easy to make. No mixing lye and fat while donning goggles and gloves, no weeks of curing before use. Instead there is melting and coloring and mixing in essential oils.

And then there is the simple enjoyment of these soaps – fragrant and completely personalized.

Melt and pour soaps are designed with a base that melts down, can be colored, and can then be mixed with various botanicals or natural essential oils.

Some favorite seasonal soaps include this Coffee with Cream bar which mixes whole and ground coffee beans right into a creamy, dreamy bar.

Others include Orange and Clove, Oatmeal and Cinnamon, and super refreshing and simply beautiful Candy Cane. And trying to convince my husband that the above Chocolate-Mint bar was, in fact, soap and not a completely edible fudge was a hard sell.

The melt and pour soap making experience has been fun and fulfilling and a great way to introduce myself to the world of soapmaking without having to jump into the deep end with the old-fashioned methods I hope to one day explore. After all, I wouldn’t be much of a DIY junkie if I didn’t want to try it all.

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The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking: Cinnamon Raisin Muffins – Gluten Free and Egg Free

If you’ve been following Cultures for Health for a while, you know we empathize deeply with our customers when it comes to food allergies. Even more so, we relate well when they have multiple food allergies. It’s bad enough to be allergic to gluten, but to then also have an egg allergy? Gluten-free breads and baked goods just never rival their wheat counterparts. I got over that ideal that you could directly replace traditional sourdough long, long ago. Doomed, we feel doomed! When we can have bread or baked goods again?

But, if you want to make a weary parent of allergen-ridden children very happy this holiday season, I highly encourage you first show her or him this link:

The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

Then wrap up this lovely gem of a sourdough recipe book as a gift:

Sharon Kane has spent years fiddling with and adapting her recipes to make great sourdough treats that are free of xanthan/guar gum, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and other sweeteners, fruit juice, eggs, milk, soy, added yeasts, and large amounts of high-starch flours.

I recently tried this recipe of hers, and loved it. The Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins turned out so perfectly shaped, and tasty! I can’t give out the recipe due to copyright laws of course, but it’s the yummiest mixture of a rice/quinoa flour blend, sweetened with stevia, honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar. Using this book, the baker can then switch things up and create coconut English muffins, banana walnut muffins, poppy seed muffins, and more. There are also recipes for pancakes, buns, pizza dough, crackers, and mini loaves.

Troubleshooting section? You bet. It’s a must-have for the recipe book collection!

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Alcohol-Free Herbal Mouthwash

Using vinegar rather than alcohol to provide refreshing zing and preserving quality, this recipe is great for the whole family. With peppermint zing and the anti-bacterial properties of tea tree oil, this mouthwash is sure to leave your mouth clean and fresh.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup filtered water
• 2 teaspoons dried peppermint or two peppermint tea bags
• 5 drops tea tree essential oil
• 2 tablespoons xylitol powder or 6 drops liquid stevia
• 2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar

Instructions for Making Herbal Mouthwash:

1. Bring water to a boil and pour over dried herbs or tea bags. Steep 5 minutes. Strain herbs off or remove tea bags. Cool to room temperature.
2. Combine tea and remaining ingredients in a pint-sized jar or other container. Shake well to combine.

How to Use Herbal Mouthwash:

1. Shake mouthwash before using.
2. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of mouthwash into a small glass and transfer to mouth. Swish mouthwash around for as long as needed before spitting out and rinsing with fresh water.

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A Closer Look: Spelt Sourdough Starter

“I am a newby to making bread with starter. But when I received the starter and followed the directions, I was pleasantly surprised with my first loaf of bread – also discovered naan and spelt sourdough pancakes (I just couldn’t discard any of it). And the second loaf I made was even better! Can’t say enough good about this spelt starter. It’s terrific!” –PatB

Today we are going to take a closer look at the Cultures for Health Spelt Flour Sourdough Starter.

Details

Our Spelt Flour Sourdough Starter is available as a dried culture. Dried sourdough cultures are shelf-stable and do not have to be fed or cared for immediately. Dried sourdough cultures can be ready to create baked goods within 3 to 5 days.

Detailed instructions will be included with your order. Click here to view our dried sourdough starter instructions.

Click here for a comparison of our sourdough starters.

 What Others Are Saying

“I am SO HAPPY with this product. I have tried bread so many times and I have yet to be consistently successful, until now.” -Elizabeth

“It was so easy to get the sour dough started! I love the product!” -Michelle

Product Q&A

Q. Are the sourdough bread starters organic?
A. While our starters are not certified organic, we use only organic, non-GMO flours in growing our sourdough starters.

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Q. Can you use this starter easily with oat flour? Thank you!
A. The Spelt Sourdough starter must be activated using Spelt flour. Once active, you can separate the starter to change a portion over to a new type of flour. We recommend keeping some of your original activated starter in a sealed container in the fridge as a backup. The refrigerated starter should be fed weekly. You will find instructions for changing the flour type here: http://ift.tt/1Ni6tLR It is important to give the starter plenty of time to adapt to the new food.

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Sneak Peek: Cyber Monday – Save 20% Site Wide

Don’t miss out on the Cultures for Health Cyber Monday Sale!  You can save 20% off site wide… starting now!  Offer expires 11/30/15.  Use coupon code “HOLIDAY” at checkout.

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Testing Out Sprouting Seed Viability

One thing that we have to pay attention to here on our homestead is seed viability. After a few years of holding onto those seed packets, the germination rate in our garden begins to plummet. And so we generally only keep seed around for a year or two at the most, depending on our ability to keep it cool and dry.

Sprouting seeds are no different. After exposure to certain elements and when enough time has passed since the original seed harvest, these seeds begin to lose their livelihood, eventually refusing to sprout under any conditions.

And so when I recently came across a mix of sprouting seeds that we’ve had for literally 4-5 years, I figured things could be a bit hit or miss when it came to their ability to sprout. I also knew that I had a good use for them, even if it wasn’t in our salad.

Here’s what happened…

The first thing I do when sprouting any seed is to give them a good soak. This mix of seeds is a salad sprout mix containing fenugreek, mustard, and broccoli seeds that I had purchased nearly five years ago. Because they are smaller seeds, they only need a 4-6 hour soak.

Have I mentioned how much I love this multi-level sprouter? I am so not a kitchen gadget person but this little tool makes sprouting not only doable, but so easy. You can soak the seeds right in the white base. Then drain and rinse the seeds and distribute them among the four sprouting trays.

After the initial soaking, I poured two cups of water into the top tray of the sprouter and it then trickles down to the other trays, giving each layer a rinse with just the initial pour. You then empty the white base before the next rinse.

So I followed this routine – rinsing 2-3 times per day – for five days. Now, I generally will begin to see a bit of “life” emerge from sprouting seeds after about two days, three at the most. By day four the fenugreek seeds were just starting to open up but even by day five wouldn’t fully sprout. The mustard and broccoli seeds were completely lifeless.

While I was just a little bit disappointed, I kind of expected this result. Five years is a very long time to keep sprouting seeds around, especially when making little effort to keep them in a cool, dry place, as I had.

So what will I do with all of these seeds?

Soak them and feed them to our chickens, of course! They love all sorts of seeds and while they didn’t sprout, there is still some nutritional value to these little guys.

I’ll also be using some new sprouting seeds that I know are viable and healthy.

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