Milk kefir recipe

Method

1. Pour the milk into a glass contained such as a jar or drinking glass
   
2. Stir in the kefir grains
   
3. Cover with a cheese cloth, paper towel, muslin or napkin and secure with an elastic band
   
4. Leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours (the ideal temperature is 21c and takes around 24 hours at this temperature, on hotter days it will take less and will take longer on colder days). Once it has thickened and tastes tangy it is ready. It it has been 48 hours and the mixture hasn’t thickened then strain out the kefir grains and try again.
   
5. Strain
   
6. You can then use the grains to make a new batch of kefir. They should be able to continue making kefir every 24 hours. If you are not going to make another batch straight away then transfer the grains into a cup of milk and store in the fridge (for up to a month), otherwise return back to step 1 of this recipe.
   
7. Enjoy! The kefir can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.
   

Notes

The grains will multiply over time so you may which to discard the old ones as new ones appear or you could pass them onto a friend to make kefir themselves.

The grains do not like metal so minimise the time they have in contact with metal (such as teaspoons, strainer) and always use glass to culture the grains in.

You can buy live or dried kefir grains online. The dried grains need reactivating.