Ask Allie!
Ask Allie is our advice column, where you can ask all your food-related questions to get digestible answers! No question is off limits!
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A few more questions please regarding milk kefir grains. I appreciate your help not long ago but I’ve noticed maybe a few potential issues? I’m on the 5th day of new grains. I increased the milk by a 1/2 cup since it looked like separated curdled milk by the end of 24 hours. Plus the milk is not thickening at all. Still has a pleasant yeasty maybe a touch sour smell. Am I being way too impatient (thinking so..lol) or do I need to adjust to tweak something? Thank you again!
— Tammy
What’s the temperature where it cultures? This sounds to me like winter fussiness (which still often happens even with climate control. I have NO idea why, but it’s totally a thing), so I would give it more batches and see if it stabilizes. If it doesn’t stabilize w/in 3 from the increase, drop it ¼ cup so the increased milk is in smaller increments.
Follow-up from my last to Tammy:
The temperatures here in NE Oklahoma have been all over the place (which is typical) so the days can be in the low 30’s or in the upper 50’s. Inside the house can around 65-75. I can understand the fussiness regarding the temperature. We all get cranky with the back and forth too lol
I keep my jar wrapped with a dish towel on my kitchen counter. I also noticed that the organic milk I was using was ultra-pasteurized so I purchased a different brand of organic milk that was just pasteurized. Possibly a factor?
Thank you again for the advice! I will keep tweaking it and giving it more time to adjust.
Have a good day!!!
I only use UHT now because it’s easier with the thermophils when I use the Instant Pot, so I wouldn’t about that factor at all. The denatured proteins will generally result in a nice, creamy finished product once the culture stops acting crazy. You have a good day, too!
i started my starter with whole wheat and am now using allpurpose unbleached flour. It's been about 5 days and while i see bubbles, it's definitely not even close to doubling in size despite feeding every 12 hours. temperature here is 72 degrees.
Can I add the sourdough starter that I got from you to my mix or is best to start all over again with your starter? Not sure why i can't get it from scratch, but this is my third try....
— Allan
Don’t use doubling as a sign. Not all sourdoughs will do it, and the ones that do don’t do it every time. I also don’t use the float test. I would say to go on ahead and bake a loaf and see how it goes, but I routinely bake with un-doubled sourdough and my loaves still rise. If doubling is important to you, you can put a koozie on your jar and see if that helps with a bit of insulation, but doubling is one of those things people look for but doesn’t matter in a practical sense.
Hi Allie!!! First off I’m loving my cultures. I have been making yogurt for a while. Right now I’m working on the Swedish Cream and am having grainy issues? Help? The taste is amazing on it but am not a fan of the graininess.
I warm the milk to 191, let drop to 105 and add culture from prior batch. I pour thru a fine mesh bag to get out anything that would be a hang up and pour into individual 8oz jars. Place in my oven or sometimes my dehydrator on 85 for 12 hours. Then place into the fridge and let cool for 12 hours. What am I doing that could be causing grains?
— RaeAnn
Do you mean the cream top yogurt, or the Swedish sweet cream? There’s no reason to heat that milk/cream/half-and-half (people do this different ways) for the Swedish at all, but if you are doing so your temperatures are way too high and you may lose the culture. All sour creams, including the Swedish, should be done at room temperature.
