Kefir Starter Culture - Pack of 10 Freeze Dried Sachets (10)

This is a great starter, does its job perfectly, the resulting kefir turned out to be awesome. It took me a little bit longer to produce the first batch than predicted in the instructions - I would say between 72 and 96 hours. I used organic whole ultra-pasteurized milk without boiling it, just warmed it up a little bit to make the bacteria happier. Highly recommend.

It's great. You can reculture this many times. Its like a thin yogurt when done. 100 times easier than use kefir grains.

I've made dozens of batches of delicious coconut milk kefir from my 5-pack of sachets and I still have a sachet left. Easy recipe: Pour 1 can Native Forest Simple coconut milk into a pint mason jar. Add 1/2 tsp raw sugar. This is the "food" that the kefir bacteria will eat. Regular milk has lactose but coconuts don't, so the bacteria need sugar added in order to live. Add 1/2 sachet of the kefir starter. Stir. Keep at 65-80 degrees for 12-24 hours (shorter time at warmer temps). If it separates, stir. Put in fridge when the taste has the right tang for you. Done! If you want to conserve sachets, use one sachet to make 2 cans of coconut milk into 2 pints of coconut milk kefir. Then pour those 2 pints of coconut milk kefir into an ice cube tray. This will make 32 ice cubes. From then on, when you make your kefir, use 1 of these ice cubes instead of 1/2 of a sachet. So... 1 can coconut milk into a Mason jar with 1/2 tsp raw sugar and 1 kefir ice cube. Stir. Keep at 65-80 degrees for 12-24 hours until kefir is done. Then refrigerate. You can make more kefir ice cubes from these batches. After a few generations of kefir batches, the kefir ice cubes lose effectiveness. If you want to save more $$, make your own coconut milk from coconut flakes with a Vitamix and a nut bag - many recipes online. Best if you make the coconut flakes into coconut butter in a Vitamix first by blending the flakes on high and tamping with the tamper for a few minutes until the flakes become powdery and then become a liquid. Coconut butter can be stored in the pantry for months. Then, as needed, use the coconut butter plus water in a Vitamix to make batches of coconut milk. This is tasty, but it does separate in the fridge into solids and milky water that are hard to recombine to a creamy texture -- it remains lumpy. To avoid that, make a half almond half coconut milk which separates but can be stirred back to a creamy texture.: Cover 1/2 cup of raw almonds in water and refrigerate overnight. Then put the almonds and 1/2 cup coconut butter in the Vitamix with 5 cups water. Blend a few minutes. This makes super creamy milk that can be used for tasty kefir too. If it separates, just stir and it will be creamy again. To make kefir with the half/half almond coconut blend, I add a heaping 1/2 tsp of sugar to a pint of the milk rather than a perfect measure 1/2 tsp because the almonds have no sugars in them but the coconut butter does, so the kefir bacteria will need an extra sugar boost to make up for the lack of sugars in the almonds. Again, many recipes online. Have fun!

I'm a kefir newbie. I've been making kombucha for a couple months now so I've graduated to kefir but what I ordered here was not what I thought I was purchasing so here is where I went wrong.All my kefir research was based on kefir grains. THESE ARE NOT GRAINS! If you are looking for grains make sure you read the description and/or comments before purchasing.I followed the instructions as best as I could, they are confusing and difficult to understand. After I made my initial batch I strained it allowing the liquid to go directly into the drain. I was shocked that I didn't find any grains but I did see a thick layer of solid mass in the bottom of the jar so I filled it up with milk again and let it sit overnight again. I strained it in the dog dish but no grains yet again. This is when I started to read the comments and realized I hadn't purchased the kefir grains. I immediately started to research what I had purchased and figured out how to use the culture I had purchased.Here's how to make your kefir using this culture, it's very easy and very quick!Warm up milk in a quart mason jar to 95 degrees and introduce the content of the package, give it a good shake and set on the counter overnight. Check the consistency of the milk in the morning and give it a taste. The initial batch can take up to 48 hours to set but my batch was ready in less than 24. ALL DONE if you just want one batch!If you would like to create multiple batches from one packet follow these steps.According to the manufacturer, you can take 3 tablespoons of your first batch and put them in a plastic container and freeze them. This will allow you to make several batches from one packet. I froze 6 portions so one packet should give me kefir for at least 6 months.To make another batch immediately simply take about 3 tablespoons of your first batch and put it in a new jar and fill with milk, leave overnight and it should be ready in the morning. You can continue this step up to 7 times, after that your culture will weaken and wont provide the best product. At this point you can pull out one of your frozen portions and put it in milk in the fridge for a few hours then take it out and set on the counter overnight. It may take up to 48 hours to set.Store your finished kefir in your fridge for a couple of weeks. The longer it sits the more sour it will become but the fridge will slow down the bacteria.This review is based on my own experience and research. Others may have different results or different methods but this is what worked for me and I'm happy with the results. I gave it 4 stars because the instructions were terrible.