Save money, make your own water kefir!

Those of you who are not working now due to Covid-19, what are you doing with your newly free time?  This is planting time and I usually put in a small garden, so it’s a busy time of the year for me getting ready.  I have also started making my own water kefir.

I have been purchasing water kefir for a couple months now from the Family Cow Farmers (who get it from the Kefir Chicks), and it has helped a lot with heartburn issues.  I used to eat Rolaids like candy and while I still do take them on occasion, I don’t use them near as much as I used to.  It might also be that I am trying to eat more organic foods.

Anyway, I found the Family Cow Farmers years ago when my cat Billie was sick.  I did a lot of reading and goats milk is supposed to be an excellent food for nutrition.  Billie wasn’t eating much, so I started buying the goats milk from the Family Cow Farmers to supplement his food.  I would always buy extra to freeze to be sure I would have some on hand, as they do run low at certain times of the year.  After Billie passed away, I quit ordering altogether from the Family Cow Farmers.

When we started finding out about Covid-19 and the governors started making rules of closing down businesses and social distancing, I decided to start purchasing again from the Family Cow Farmers.  I wanted to boost my immune system and start back at eating real organic foods as well water kefir  and their lacto-fermented foods.  Their foods are more expensive than local stores, so I did stock up while I still had some extra money … right now, I have very little income with just residual affiliate income.  I know that many of us are in this situation.  I did want to keep purchasing the kefir water though as that won’t keep like the frozen meats, but money is getting tight.  So, I decided to start making my own kefir water.

I ordered the “grains” from the Kefir Chicks.  I already have a bunch of empty jars from purchasing their kefir water through the Family Cow Farm, so all I really needed was the grains and some organic cane sugar.  Well, the grains was the easy part!  Trying to find organic cane sugar was a little harder.  The organic juice was hard to find too.  Juice isn’t necessary, but it does give it a nice taste and a bit of fizz during a second ferment.

If you live in Pennsylvania or Maryland, you can check out the locations for pickup from the Family Cow Farmers.  It’s really convenient as you order online and then pickup in the Walmart parking lot on your pickup day.

If you are interested, you can purchase the grains here:

Kefir Chicks Water Kefir Grains

Since I am not going to stores, I had to find the organic cane sugar online.  I tried Walmart grocery pickup and ours did not have it, but you might get lucky and find it locally.  I did order the organic juice for Walmart grocery pickup, but the ones I ordered were out of stock and they substituted sparkling grape juice.  Of course, I refused the substitution.  I’m not knocking them though.  I really think the workers at Walmart are doing a great job!

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So, I ended up ordering organic cane sugar from Amazon, and unfortunately, I had to buy a 4 pack of 32-ounce NOW Foods Sucanat Cane Sugar as nothing else was in stock.  This was weeks ago and I think it finally shipped last night.  But, in the meantime, I put in an order at Vitacost for organic juice and sucanat organic cane sugar.  Vitacost has pretty quick shipping too and I have always been pleased with their products and how they carefully packed.  I can’t remember who turned me on to Vitacost, but I have been buying castille soap there for a couple years now.

So, onto making the water kefir!  I had a problem with my first batch.  There was a white film on the top of the water after the first day.  After straining and rinsing the grains really well, I did more reading.  From what I read, if you are using filtered water, you must add something for trace minerals.  So, not only did I have my husband change out the filter on our water, I also added 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the next jar.  This jar turned out perfect and the grains grew!  I split the grains into TWO new jars!

You can see the grains in the bottom of the first two jars.  The third jar is the one that I strained out the grains and then I added a 1/4 cup of organic tart cherry juice and squeezed a lime wedge in it.  The second ferment on that jar was only 24-hours and then I put it in the refrigerator.  I will strain the grains from the other two jars today and make more.

So, the recipe is simple.

4 tablespoons of hydrated water kefir grains

1/4 cup of organic cane sugar (I use sucanat, so it is darker than what some people make.)

1/4 tsp baking soda

Filtered or spring water to fill a quart jar

I put the sugar in about a cup of water and microwave it to dissolve completely.

Add the hot water mixture to the jar … then fill the jar with water a few inches from the top.  You do not want to add the grains to hot water.  Then add the grains and finish filling with water to the bottom of where the lid threading is, so there will be about a  1/2 inch of space left.  I use plastic lids.

48 hours later, you strain out the grains and you CAN drink it just like this.  It doesn’t have a lot of taste, but it’s kind of smooth on the mouthfeel.  I drank a small bit like that and then added the juice and lime for the next 24  hours.

When you strain the grains out, you want to use a nylon mesh strainer … you are not supposed to use metal.  If you don’t have plastic measuring spoons, you might want to get those too.

If you already have a nylon mesh strainer, plastic measuring spoons, jars, and lids … your out of pocket will only be for the grains and the cane sugar.  You might want to do a search on how other people make their water kefir, I prefer organic ingredients.  The way my grains are multiplying, I think this will be much cheaper than buying the already made kefir water!

1 lb of sugar = approximately 2 1/4 cups (makes 9 jars) 42¢ per jar if you pay $7.50 for a 2 lb bag of organic sucanat cane sugar.  I am paying $8.19 for each quart jar of kefir water now from the Family Cow Farmers.  So, after my first 3 or 4 jars of my own, the investment is paying off.

If you don’t want the cost of adding juice, you can add a piece of ginger or lemon … there are lots of possibilities!

Happy kefiring!