Tools Required:
- Plastic or stainless steel strainer
- Plastic or stainless steel measuring spoons
- Plastic or stainless steel measuring cups
- Half gallon mason jar
- Glass or plastic pitchers
- plastic lids
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup water kefir grains
- 1 cup organic sugar
- 1/2 a organic lemon
- 1 thick slice fresh organic ginger, peeled
- 1/2 gallon filtered water (never use tap water because it contains chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride which will kill the grains)
- 1/2 rinsed pastured egg shell (water kefir grains can not survive without plenty of minerals. Pastured egg shells are a great source of minerals for your grains)
Directions:
Fill your half gallon mason jar with filtered water not quite to the top.
Add the sugar, lemon, ginger and rinsed egg shell. Stir or put a lid on and shake until the sugar is dissolved. Be very careful not to crack the egg shell.
Add the kefir grains.
Cover very loosely with a plastic lid (putting the lid on tightly could cause the jar to explode due to the natural carbonation process taking place). Put the jar in a cupboard for 24 hours but no longer than 72 hours. Leaving kefir grains longer than 72 hours is not good because at some point they will run out of sugar to eat and begin to starve. This can damage and even kill the kefir grains. Shake your jar 2-3 times per day during this process.
To start a new batch of water kefir, remove the lemon, ginger and egg shell. Strain the water kefir into a glass or plastic jug through a mesh strainer to collect your kefir grains. I use this beautiful fruit infusion jug.
Set the grains aside and follow the instructions above. Replace the egg shell after every new batch.
Please be careful not to allow metal to come in contact with your kefir grains since metal is reactive and may kill your grains. I use these plastic storage caps on all my fermented foods.
Read how you can make probiotic soda with your water kefir here.
I have milk Kefir grains for sale here.