Kefir

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Kefir

Kefir (alternately kefirs, keefir, kephir, kewra, talai, mudu kekiya, milkkefir, búlgaros) is a fermented

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast under anaerobic conditions. A more general definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into alcohols or acids....
milk

Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
drink

Drink

A drink, or beverage, is a liquid specifically prepared for human consumption. In addition to basic needs, beverages form part of the culture of human society....
that originated in the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
region. It is prepared by inoculating cow

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
, or sheep

Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
's milk with kefir grains.

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Overview

Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
and yeast

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
s in a matrix of protein

Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
s, lipid

Lipid

Lipids are broadly defined as any fat-soluble , naturally-occurring molecule, such as fats, oils, waxes, cholesterol, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins , monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others....
s, and sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
s. This symbiotic matrix forms grains that resemble cauliflower. Today, kefir is becoming increasingly popular due to new research into its health benefits. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organisms.

Traditional kefir is fermented at ambient temperatures, generally overnight. Fermentation of the lactose

Lactose

Lactose is a sugar that is found most notably in milk. Lactose makes up around 2?8% of milk . The name comes from the Latin word for milk, plus the -ose ending used to name sugars....
yields a sour, carbonated

Carbonation

Carbonation occurs when carbon dioxide is solvation in water or an aqueous solution. This process yields the "fizz" to carbonated water and sparkling mineral water, the Beer head to beer, and the cork pop and bubbles to Champagne and sparkling wine....
, slightly alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and distilled beverage....
, with a consistency similar to thin yogurt. Kefir fermented by small-scale dairies early in the 20th century achieved alcohol levels between 1 and 2 percent, but kefir made commercially with modern methods of production has less than 1% alcohol, possibly due to reduced fermentation time.

Variations that thrive in various other liquids exist. They may vary markedly from kefir in both appearance and microbial composition. Water kefir
Tibicos

Tibicos, also known as tibi, water kefir grains, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals and California Bees, are a culture of bacteria and yeast held in a polysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria....
(or kefir d'acqua) is grown in water

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
with sugar (sometimes with added dry fruit such as fig

FIG

FIG may refer to:* F?d?ration Internationale de Gymnastique* International Federation of Surveyors...
s, and lemon

Lemon

The lemon is the common name for Citrus limon. The reproductive tissue surrounds the seed of the angiosperm lemon tree. The lemon is used for culinary and nonculinary purposes throughout the world....
juice) for a day or more at room temperature.

Making kefir

Production of traditional kefir requires kefir grains which are a gelatinous community of bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
and yeasts. Kefir grains contain a water soluble polysaccharide known as kefiran

Kefiran

Kefiran is the clear or pale yellow polysaccharide gel exuded by dairy kefir grains.Dairy kefir grains are symbiotic consortia of bacteria and yeasts which ferment milk containing the complex sugar lactose....
that imparts a rope-like texture and feeling in one's mouth. Kefir grains cannot be produced from scratch, but the grains grow during fermentation, and additional grains are produced. Kefir grains can be bought or donated by other growers. Kefir grains appear white to yellow and are usually the size of a walnut, but may be as small as a grain of rice.

Health and nutrition

One can change the nutrient content by simply fermenting for shorter or longer periods. Both stages have different health benefits. For instance, kefir over-ripened (which increases the sour taste) significantly increases folic acid

Folic acid

Folic acid and Folate are forms of the water-soluble B vitamins. Vitamin B9 is essential to numerous bodily functions ranging from nucleotide synthesis to the remethylation of homocysteine....
content. Kefir also aids in lactose digestion as a catalyst, making it more suitable than other dairy products for those who are lactose intolerant

Lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance is the inability to Metabolism lactose, a sugar found in milk and other dairy products, because the required enzyme lactase is absent in the intestinal system or its availability is lowered....
. The kefiran

Kefiran

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as it moves away from the heart through artery and capillary, and toward the heart through veins....
and reduce serum cholesterol

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy alcohol found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and membrane fluidity....
levels in rats.

Drinking kefir

While some drink kefir straight, many find it too sour on its own and prefer to add fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s, honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet fluid produced by honey bees , and derived from the nectar of flowers. According to the United States National Honey Board and various international food regulations, "honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance?this includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners...
, maple syrup

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees. In Canada and the United States it is most often eaten with waffles and pancakes. It is sometimes used as an ingredient in baking, the making of candy, preparing desserts, or as a sugar source and flavoring agent in making beer....
or other flavors or sweeteners. Frozen banana

Banana

File:Banana and cross section.jpgBanana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce this commonly eaten fruit....
s, strawberries, blueberries or other fruits can be mixed with kefir in a blender

Blender (device)

A blender, or liquidiser in British English, is a kitchen appliance used to mix ingredients or puree food. The term typically refers to a stationary, upright electrical device, which is to be distinguished from a hand-powered or electric mixer that may be used for similar purposes....
to make a smoothie

Smoothie

A smoothie is a blended, chilled, sweet beverage made from fresh fruit. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or frozen yogurt, although some smoothies are 100% fruit....
. Vanilla, agave nectar and other flavorings may also be added. In Poland Kefir is sold with different varieties of fruit and flavors already added, both in the organic/ecologic

Organic food

Organic foods are made according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers, free from contamination by human or industrial waste, and processed without food irradiation or food additives....
and non-organic varieties. It is a breakfast, lunch and dinner drink popular across all areas of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland (second largest producer after Russia), Norway, Sweden, Finland (especially Russian and Estonian minorities), Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania where it is known as an affordable health drink. In Southern Slavic countries kefir is consumed anytime in the day, especially with zelnik

Zelnik

Zelnik is a traditional pastry made on the Balkans of thin crusts filled with either cheese and eggs, spinach, sorrel, crumbled meat, leaks and rice, or very often in the winter period, brinned cabbage, that's why it's called Zelnik which means cabbage....
, burek

Burek

Burek is a type of baked or fried filled pastry, popular in some countries around the Mediterranian Sea, the Slavic cuisines, throughout the Balkans and the former Ottoman Empire....
and banitsa.

Different milk types

Kefir grains will successfully ferment the milk

Milk

Goat

Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
, each with varying organoleptic and nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with good nutrition....
al qualities. Raw milk has been traditionally used.

In addition, kefir grains will ferment milk substitute

Milk substitute

A milk substitute is a liquid that replaces milk in a Diet or recipe. This overlaps with but is distinct from the group of milk-like liquids called "milks" because of their similarity to the liquid produced by mammary glands....
s such as soy milk

Soy milk

Soy milk and sometimes referred to as soy drink/beverage is a beverage made from soybeans. A stable emulsion of oil, water and protein, it is produced by soaking dry soybeans, and grinding them with water....
, rice milk

Rice milk

Rice milk is a kind of grain milk processed from rice. It is mostly made from brown rice and commonly unsweetened, the sweetness in most rice milk varieties is generated by a natural enzymes process, dividing the carbohydrates into sugars, especially glucose, similar to the Japanese Amazake....
, and coconut milk

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a mature coconut. The color and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high coconut oil content and sugars....
, as well as other sugary liquids including fruit juice, coconut water

Coconut water

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts , not to be confused with coconut milk. As the fruit matures, the coconut water gradually is replaced by the Coconut#The fruit and air....
, beer wort

Wort (brewing)

Wort is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars that will be Ethanol fermentation by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol....
and ginger beer

Ginger beer

Ginger beer is a carbonation soft drink that is flavored primarily with ginger, lemon, and sugar. It is rarely produced as an alcoholic beverage....
. However, the kefir grains may cease growing if the medium used does not contain all the growth factors required by the bacteria.

Milk sugar is, however, not essential for the synthesis of the polysaccharide that makes up the grains (kefiran

Kefiran

Kefiran is the clear or pale yellow polysaccharide gel exuded by dairy kefir grains.Dairy kefir grains are symbiotic consortia of bacteria and yeasts which ferment milk containing the complex sugar lactose....
), and studies have demonstrated that rice hydrolysate is a suitable alternative medium. Additionally, it has been shown that kefir grains will reproduce when fermenting soy milk, although they will change in appearance and size due to the differing proteins available to them.

Culinary uses

Kefir is one of the main ingredients in Lithuanian cold beet soup šaltibaršciai (Polish chlodnik), commonly known as cold borscht

Borscht

Borscht is a vegetable soup from Eastern Europe. It is traditionally made with beetroot as a main ingredient which gives it a strong red color....
, and Russian summer soup (okroshka
Okroshka

Okroshka is Russian cold soup. The name originates from the Russian "kroshit" which means to chop into small pieces.The classic soup is a mix of mostly raw vegetables , boiled potatoes, eggs, ham with kvass or so called bread drink, which is a fermented mildly alcoholic beverage made from black or rye bread....
). Other variations of kefir soups and foods prepared with kefir are popular across the former Soviet Union and Poland.

Others enjoy kefir in lieu of milk

Milk

Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
or granola

Granola

Granola is a breakfast and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nut , honey and sometimes rice, which is baked until crispy. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast-cereal-type consistency....
.

External links

, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation
(listings by area)

Kefir

Overview

Making kefir

Health and nutrition

Drinking kefir

Different milk types

Culinary uses

See also

Further reading

External links