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It can be cultured with very little or no dairy exposure. This sample was prepared with differential stain to distinguish the organisms.
To make your non dairy kefir put your nut milk in a glass jar fully stir in the raw sugar and then add in the kefir grains.
Non dairy kefir grains. Coconut milk kefir a popular alternative to dairy milk kefir is a tangy coconut flavored cultured milk. It can be cultured with very little or no dairy exposure. How to make it.
Coconut milk kefir can be cultured using milk kefir grains kefir starter culture or finished water kefir that has been cultured using water kefir grains. While you can use practically every nut out there to ferment kefir some of them are more popular for being tastier and healthier. Here is a list of nuts you can use to prepare non dairy kefir.
Water kefir grains or we call them kefir crystals are unlike milk kefir grains as they thrive on sugars and not lactose the special probiotic yeasts and beneficial bacteria in the water kefir crystals consume the sugar in the sugar water and they produce probiotics new enzymes vitamins and help repopulate your gut flora. They are dairy free and gluten free despite being called grains. Sometimes kefir grains will require an adjustment period when changing milks so the first batch of coconut milk kefir may not culture as desired.
Use the non kefired coconut milk for cooking and place the kefir grains in new coconut milk. An adjustment period isn t uncommon whenever kefir grains are switched from one type of milk to another cow to goat pasteurized to raw dairy to coconut etc. We recommend only using grains in this way once you have had them for a few weeks.
Vegan non dairy kefir is commonly made with coconut or almond milk or with coconut water. But choosing your non dairy milk isn t the only thing you need to consider when making your vegan kefir. Remember kefir grains are needed in order to kickstart kefir and these grains aren t something you can make yourself.
This presents a problem for those who want to make non dairy kefir. Milk sugars are needed to keep the grains alive and non dairy milks such as coconut almond sesame seed walnut and cashew don t have these sugars. This also results in lower benefits since there is less sugar to convert into probiotics.
To make your non dairy kefir put your nut milk in a glass jar fully stir in the raw sugar and then add in the kefir grains. Once the mixture is made take a cloth and a rubber band and then seal the top of the jar. Once the jar is sealed place it in a warm place with no sunlight.
Pour the sugar water into the jar and add the lemon and the dried figs. Close the lid but led some air enter to the jar. Allow the water to ferment about two or three days.
Finally strain the water kefir through a wood plastic or stainless steel strainer. Save the grains and enjoy the dairy free kefir. However this milk is considered to be cooked so you can t use it for kefir making.
The grains will simply have no food. You can find either homogenized or non homogenized. In dairy milk the cream can separate from the actual liquid.
In order to avoid that the milk undergoes a homogenization procedure. Water kefir grains and non dairy kefir. Click photo for enlarged view.
Photo of a tiny fraction of a sugary kefir grain skg magnified 1 500 times revealing encapsulated lactic acid bacteria lab and yeast cells among a transparent dextran matrix. This sample was prepared with differential stain to distinguish the organisms.