Milk kefir usually doesn't require any temperature control, it just goes faster when the ambient temp is higher. I believe the idea is that the kefir 'team' is able to easily outcompete any weed microorganisms. For me it's as simple as: Strain in plastic colander, rinse jar, put grains and fresh milk in jar, then place in cupboard. If I want to delay then it can be placed in the fridge instead for months/years and still be able to be revived later.
Apologies, should have read the link.. which is indeed about following a yoghurt-like process using milk kefir grains! But you don't have to do it that way, it can be really easy!
That's great. If you don't mind, I have two follow-up questions:
1. I believe kefir is usually the same consistency as buttermilk, not yogourt. How do you make them as thick as yogourt?
2. How do you keep your kefir grains alive? I don't use a huge amount of yogourt. Can you freeze grains between uses? How often do you need to make a new batch to keep the grains alive?
Yeah Kefir is usually only slightly thicker than buttermilk, but it can be strained to make it thicker. It doesn't form solid curds like yoghurt though, but has its own particular fractal-y curd structure.
When not in use I just put the jar in the fridge (as long as it's only been at room temp for <24h) and it can stay there for weeks slowly getting more sour. At some point the kefir becomes too sour to be palatable, but will recover just fine after a feeding or two. I also keep backup grains in water in the fridge for years and have revived one of those after 5 years or more! Apparently the grains can also be dried and revived after years as well but I haven't tried that.
There's lots of info about milk Kefir on Dom's Kefir In-Site (straight from the nineties web!):
you strain the grains and add them to fresh milk every day. you can get them to make less by dividing the grains and tossing or eating some. It will get pretty thick if your bacteria are chugging out acid. My kefir would always end up not sour after a week or so. I could revive it for a bit by adding some lifeway kefir, but the ambient temp favored the yeast. A less cold fridge might let the grains run and favor the bacteria to keep it sour. Also lifeway kefir makes a good yogurt starter.
