Before we get started, let’s take a moment to study pronunciation.
I started pronouncing Kefir “KEH-fear”.
Some USA-based friends of mine pronounced it “KEY-fur”, so I followed in their footsteps.
After some investigation, I find that the correct pronunciation in Russia and Turkey (where Kefir is alleged to have originated, depending on which story you follow) would be keh-FEAR (or k’fear if that makes more sense).
Now … onto this post.
Yeast isn’t expensive, but it can cause internal complications/irritations such as the dreaded yeast infection/candida.
Kathryn over at http://www.shaklee.net/gemsoffire mentioned the possibility of making bread from Kefir when I offloaded a bunch of grains earlier this year.
When Eliza had a bout with a UTI (not yeast-related), I fully delved into the topic of making bread from this alternative.
I later discovered that Kefir can be used as a replacement for yeast in beverages too.
Bread
4 c. kefir water
4 c. flour
Slowly stir in the flour to the water so that you have a very very smooth thick batter-like substance.
Allow it to sit for 12-24 hours (24 hours is preferable)
Add:
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tb sugar
3 c flour
Mix well, and then cover surface with:
2 Tb melted butter or oil
Mix again.
You will end up with a thick/gloopy/sticky pile of dough.
It does NOT need to be kneaded.
This is enough to make two loaves of bread, and the dough should be ‘poured’ into two prepared (or non-stick) bread pans.
Allow the dough to sit in covered bread pans for a further 2-12 hours.
Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.
Pizza Dough
The basic dough is perfectly useable for pizza dough.
HOWEVER, as it will need to be formed into a pizza shape, it is advisable to coat the baking surface and your fingers with oil so that the dough can be spread without covering your fingers and/or sticking to the surface.
Garlic and/or herbs can be added to the dough for added flavour variety.
The pizza I made with this would be classed as thin crust, and because of the moisture content of the dough, and the bottom of the pan being solid (normally I use pans with holes for regular dough, but wasn’t going to risk the wet Kefir dough sagging through), the base was very soft.
I expect a person could transfer the pizza to a tray with holes part-way through the baking process so that the base is crispy, but that will be another experiment for another day.
Cream Cakes/ Doughnuts (this is a work in progress, so keep checking back until this text has been removed!!)
1 c. flour
1 c kefir
3 1/4 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Make flour/kefir starter 24 hr ahead of time
Sift together the dry ingredients.
Beat eggs with sugar until light.
Add starter, butter, milk, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed. Do not over mix.
If dough is too soft to roll, chill it for an hour.
Roll dough out 3/8 inch thick on a floured surface and cut with donut cutters.
Fry in 370 degree oil until golden on both sides, turning once.
Remove from oil, hold over hot oil for a few minutes to drain, and then finish draining on absorbent paper.
My first attempt at these resulted in an undercooked greasy doughnut.
As I had to leave them in the oil for ages to cook thoroughly (they were still gooey inside after a few minutes), they absorbed way more oil than they should have.
The doughnuts puffed up really really well – perhaps too well(?), so next time, I might roll them out a bit thinner (just under 1/4 inch?) so that
Ginger ‘Beer/Ale’ (from water kefir) (from http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#gingerbeer)
Ingredients
- 8-cup glass Mason jar or similar with a good strong sealing lid [preserving jars with swing away lids are also ideal].
- 6 cups spring water [hard water-type is recommended, see tip below].
- 1/3 cup raw sugar (or 1/3 c white sugar plus 1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses)
- 2-8 oz fresh ginger root [Young green ginger root is best]. 2 oz will give you a ‘tamer’ ginger flavour, 8 oz will give you a fiery old-fashioned flavour.Optional:
- Slice of Lemon.
- 1 dry Fig or 2 Tbs Sultanas, Sun Muscat or Raisins or a combination.
- 2/3 to 1-cup water kefir grains
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp pure baking soda [sodium bicarbonate].
- * 1 cm or 1/2″ square piece of eggshell from a boiled egg, either used as flakes or coarsely ground to grit.
[Optional ingredient, but provides best kefir growth with bio-available calcium and magnesium, which is desirable. Substitute eggshell with oceanic coral or limestone or a mixture if you wish. Use about 1/4 Tsp coarsely ground grit]
Method
Grate fresh ginger root to a coarse consistency. Mix with 2 Tbs raw sugar in a bowl. With a strong spoon, firmly press the mash against the bowl to extract as much juice as possible from the grated ginger. [The sugar draws out more ginger juice through osmotic pressure. If you have a mortar and pestle, then use it to pound the mixture for a minute or so. This should extract more ginger juice from the pulp].
Put mash in a 15cm [6″] square piece of clean, white cloth and squeeze by hand to express the sweetened ginger juice into the 8-cup glass jar.
Another option is to use grated ginger, and put this in a piece of cotton gauze, tied with string to make a tea bag of ginger. Simply put this in the jar with the rest of the ingredients.
Add sodium bicarbonate, rest of the raw sugar, molasses and eggshell or coral grit in glass jar with 6 cups water.
Stir well to dissolve all the sugar and molasses and then add rest of ingredients including kefir grains.
Seal jar airtight, and let stand for 2 days at room temperature.
Stir contents after 24 hours, and again a few times when possible there after]. Strain liquid water-kefir, and store in airtight sealable bottles. Best enjoyed chilled after 1 to 2 days refrigeration. This shall increase carbonation to give a nice, refreshing fizzy ginger root-beer.
TIps: Try storing the sealed bottle at room temperature for one day before refrigeration. This should increase fizz and reduce sugar content faster than fridge storage.
Water kefir-grains do not grow well, in fact, growth may cease altogether if using filtered water of any kind, including Brita or active carbon filtered water over some 6 or so batches.
Notes: Fresh ginger juice can be left to stand for a few hours to precipitate the starch, seen as a white sediment. This white starch sediment can be separated by decanting the ginger root juice. The sediment can be used to thicken stir-fry dishes, or soups, for it has a similar property to Kudzu [Japanese arrowroot]. The wet sediment can be air dried to a powder and stored in a sealed container for future use.
If using a unrefined dry cane sugar juice such as muscovado, sucanat or demarara etc. omit molasses.
Kefir d’Uva [Grape Juice Kefir]
This can be made in two ways.
1) Mix the grape directly into the water (in which case the grains will not be able to be used in regular Water Kefir again) (see below)
2) Mix the grape into regular Water Kefir liquid (after it’s sat for 2-3 days) and the grains have been filtered off. Allow THIS to sit for another day or two, and then drink.
For the first method:
1 part grape juice to 1 part water (if the grape juice is extra sweet, then it may be diluted more, say 1 part juice to 2 parts water. Add sugar if the juice is too tart).
Suggestions for inclusion: a few fresh mint leaves, aromatic spices such as cinnamon bark, crushed cloves, saw palmetto etc.
Add 1/4 c. spare grains (you will not be able to use these in regular Water Kefir production again – they will not reproduce, but can be used in grape juice indefinitely)
Leave for 2-3 days. Strain. Drink.
Cream Soda Kefir
1/4 c raw cane demerara sugar
1 qt water
1/2 c kefir grains
1 Tb vanilla
Dissolve sugar in water.
Add kefir grains.
Strain after 48 hours.
Add 2 tsp vanilla, lets it sit covered for another 12 hours.
I make a fermented soda pop “bug” with ginger and sugar. It makes a scoby similar to kombucha.