KEFIR, laban, YOGURT and ayran INSTRUCTIONS
1 CHOOSE A DRINK
Milk
All full cream milks ferment well.
-Most brands of good quality skimmed and semiskimmed milk pro-duce a good yogurt with our cultures, but with less consistency.
-Lactose free milks also ferment well since they contain the free sugars present in lactose, broken enzymatically. These milks are sweeter and tend to need less culturing time.
-The better the quality of the milk the tastier the yogurt or Kefir.
Vegetable drinks
-SOY. All soy drinks produce a thick yogurt and kefir with our cultures. Choose a non GMO brand with no additives and sugars added.
-NON SOY VEGETABLE DRINKS - Most non soy vegetable drinks ferment well with our cultures, but remain almost liquid. To gain thickness, see our thickeners list in section 3
2 CHOOSE A CULTURING MACHINE
General considerations
Temperature varies depending on the room, time of day and season. Get a food thermometer and adjust the machine temperature regulator if necessary. If the machine has no regulator, you can lower the temperature by changing the yogurt maker glasses for bigger jars, covering it with lids and/or cloths, moving it to a cooler or hotter place or room, etc.
Traditional Kefir and Laban:
They can be cultured at room temperature (over 25ºC/ 77ºF).
If the room is too cold, or if you want to accelerate or control the process better, you can use:
A standard yogurt maker. They normally work at about 40-42ºC. In order to lower temperature, remove the original glasses and replace them by taller glass jars, of about 18-20 cms, no matter the diameter. This way, part of the heat will be lost and temperature will go down, up to 25º or 30ºC aprox.
A temperature adjustable yogurt maker, cooking robot or electrical pot. Regulate them at 30ºC.
- A good husk. Heat drink at 35ºC and pour drink into the husk. Use a food thermometer.
L. Casei, Acidophilus, Acidophilus with Bifidus, Bulgarian with Bifidus,
Kefir with Bifidus, Bifidus Complex, Biovegan and Ayran. USE:
- Standard yogurt makers, with no temperature regulation. They normally work at about 40-42ºC, which is the temperature all these cultures need.
- Adjustable yogurt makers, electrical pots or cooking robots. Regulate them at 40º C.
Original Bulgarian and Western. USE:
- A Yogurt maker, electrical pot or cooking robot adjustable to 45ºC.
- A standard non adjustable yogurt maker, covered with several cloths, to raise temperature.
Mild Kefir without Bifidus
- It can´t be cultured at room temperature.
- A standard yogurt maker will be needed. They normally work at about 40-42ºC. In order to lower temperature, remove the original glasses and replace them by taller glass jars, of about 18-20 cms, no matter the diameter. This way, part of the heat will be lost and temperature will go down, up to 25º or 30ºC ap.
- A temperature adjustable yogurt maker, cooking robot or electrical pot. Regulate at 30ºC.
3 PREPARE THE DRINK IF NECCESARY: HEAT AND THICKEN
- If the drink is very cold or if it has been kept in the fridge, you can heat it before culturing at the required temperature. Use a food thermometer. If the drink is at normal room temperature, you can either pre-heat it to accelerate the process (you will save about an hour) or use it as it is.
- If you want to add thickness to a vegetable non soy drink, you can use:
COLD THICKENERS
- Mix one third soy drink with two thirds of the other drink. Or half and half.
- Mix it with milk, if you don´t mind having some dairy.
- Add guar gum. Mix drink with 1-1½ tea spoons guar gum in a blender for a minute at room temperature or at about 40º C. Add the culture.
- Blend one or two fruits before or after culturing. Banana, pear, apple or berries work fine. You can also try other fruits, but not citrics.
“HOT” THICKENERS
- Add agar. Dissolve about 1 teaspoon agar per litre at 90º C for 10 minutes.
- Add Tapioca starch or arrowroot starch. Dissolve 3-4 tablespoons per litre at about 90º C for 10 minutes.
- Add kuzu. Dissolve 50 grs per litre at about 90º C for 8-9 minutes.
After thickening drink, cool to culturing temperature and add culture.
4 INOCULATE THE DRINK WITH THE STARTER
First incubation
Add the starter. Use the whole content of the sachet, trying to spread it as much as possible onto the drink. Remove after a few minutes. CLOSE WELL THE LIDS OF THE CONTAINERS.
Re-culturing
Add 5-6 tablespoons of the yogurt or kefir you made with our cultures for every litre of the new drink. Non soy vegetable drinks do not re-culture so well as soy drink or milk. Re-culture always into clean jars. Maximum reculturing batches recommended for high probiotic efficacy: 5-6
5 LET THE DRINK CULTURE
L. Casei, Acidophilus, Acidophilus with Bifidus, Bulgarian with Bifidus, Bifidus complex, Biovegan and Ayran:
First incubation: Between 8 and 10 hours (or until thickening)
Re-culturing: Between 4 and 6 hours (or until thickening)
Traditional Kefir, Kefir with Bifidus, and Mild kefir
First incubation: Between 16 and 24 hours (or until thickening)
Re-culturing: Between 8 and10 hours (or until thickening)
Traditional Laban
First incubation: Between 14 and 18 hours (or until thickening)
Re-culturing: Between 7 and 9 hours (or until thickening)
The longer you let it culture once it has thickened, the tarter the flavour will get. Since culturing time varies with drink quality and environment temperature, check the process when having reached suggested minimum fermentation time and decide if the yogurt or kefir is to your liking.
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6 REFRIGERATE YOUR YOGURT OR KEFIR
Put it into the fridge for 4 hours, and it will be ready to eat!
The fermented drink will remain fresh for about a week. To preserve it better, split the yogurt or kefir between several jars before putting it into the fridge. This way you will be only opening the jar you are using each time. Change the fermented drink to a new jar if the inside of the old jar gets too dry.
7 SWEETEN IT, IF DESIRED
Fresh season fruit or high quality stevia make the best sweeteners.