Raspberry Gobsmacking Delicious Water Kefir

I first tried water kefir in the spring with a friend here on the page. It was very tasty. I decided to try my hands at making my own & I am so hooked! 

The last 10-14 days I have been experimenting and working with water kefir grains.
First, I order some organic water kefir grains from Amazon.



The kefir grains arrived in this package, which included a website to get download and print a pdf with instructions. All I did was follow the instructions. Easy enough. 1 quart non-chlorinated water, 1/4 c. sugar and the water kefir grains.

 
Aren't they cute?

Since it was the first batch, it took about 5 days to become effervescent enough. I had it fermenting in a warm place, out of direct sunlight. I tasted the kefir water every 24 hrs., until I thought I liked the level of effervesce. 

After five days, I stained the grains out and added another quart of water, 1/4 cup sugar to the kefir grains to get batch 2 rolling. 

The first batch, second fermentation...I split the water kefir in half. Added ginger water ice cubes (melted) from when I was processing ginger the previous week & the other half I added hardy kiwis. 

Honestly, these batches we just o.k. Operator error I am sure, but good enough. But, the second batch, oh my goodness!!!

The second batch took 5 days days to effervesce. I drained out the water kefir grains added 1 quart water, 1/4 sugar to the grains and started the third batch.
Then I added dehydrated raspberries to the second batch, for a second fermentation...  

The second fermentation with the raspberries added took two days to reach the right level of happiness (you are tasting a little bit each day).

Let me tell you. This raspberry batch is gobsmacking delicious!!! I needed add just a little more sugar for my taste. now my only concern is having enough kefir water in process to keep up with drinking. 

I still keep up with my milk kefir, but I find for me I prefer not to drink it. But, that probably has to do with the fact that I am not a fan of drinking milk to start with. I continue to grow it slowly and use the well drained milk to add to various dishes I cook, like lasagna.

Water and milk kefir are a great way to add probiotics to your diet, which in turn get your "gut" healthy. This is one of the steps I am actively pursuing to build my immune system into tip top shape to help me protect myself from various illness and "viruses" that are abounding currently. I also hope Mr. Perky likes it enough to cut back on his strong soda/pop addiction. 

In conclusion, this is something I really glad I tried. These same grains will continue to multiply and can have an unlimited life span if taken care of properly.

Water Kefir Part 2

How To Make your own Vinegar (it's easier than you think)

The first week of December 2013 we were talking about things we do not store and Donna Hoaks shared: “Learn to make vinegar, etc. also. NO matter how much you store, if a bad situation lasted long enough, you will run out. True self reliance means having the ability to renew supply. Learn to make lye, compost tea, etc. Challenge yourself to use every ounce of every thing. 
PPG, vinegar was something I thought about for years, and this is the first year I have done it. Like everyone else, I am on a journey. Here is the info I used.“So, true to my word I am making my own ACV (apple cider vinegar) & sharing my results.
Here is the first day for “making vinegar”. Made with organic Fugi apples & raw honey. I started it on December 10th. Quart jar with an apple, 1/4 cup raw honey and the filled the jar with water. TIP: I figured out real quick, instead of a rubber band to hold the cheese cloth on, I simply used a canning ring.

Stored in a warm, dark place. The jar(s) were wrapped a thick dish towel with a rubber band and storing it on a shelf near my back door. Next batch will be placed on top of my fridge.
"Stir the jar every day or so and check to make sure the fruit is submerged. Don’t worry about yeasty white growth on top; scrape off any other colors of mold and toss that into your compost bin."

When it started to smell like booze (this would be hard cider), I strained out the fruit through cheese cloth & put that in my compost bucket. Then continued to allow the vinegar to ferment. Leave undisturbed if possible. Again; don’t worry about yeasty white growth on top; scrape off any other colors of mold and toss that into your compost bin.

It is taking longer than I anticipated.  Still cloudy. Note the Mother of Vinegar floating around near the bottom. 

Interesting note: While I was in the process of making the vinegar, I was talking to the mom of my 7th grandchild. They had been discussing acetic acid bacteria in home school that week. Which is exactly the ubiquitous bacterium in the air that enables this process of fermentation to occur. Pretty neat.

This is what it looks like today 02/22/14. At this point I removed all the yeasty stuff on top, strained it & poured it into another jar, placed a lid on it to see if it will clear up...

I took the Mother of Vinegar at the bottom and started another batch today.Here we go again.

     

For more simple DIY projects: Perky Gramma's DIY
What you see here, is what I actually do. If you liked this article, please feel free to like me (Perky Prepping Gramma) on Facebook & keep up to date on things I post. Simply sharing my journey of preparedness. Remember if you are prepared, it isn't an emergency. ~Perky Prepping Gramma~

Thank you Donna. I used the reference that Donna suggested from the Rock Farmer Blog

Top Three Picks (associates links)

When it comes to the items that I use the most, it would have to be my All American Pressure Canner, FoodSaver and Excalibur Dehydrator. I use at least one of these each week in my preparation for emergencies. I only recommend items that I use personally.

  

Ye Lovely Fermenting Crock (adventure in making saurkraut)....

My lovely mother-in-law lived with us for the last few years of her life. Afterwards, everyone came and took what they wanted from her belongings & I got the "leftovers".

Actually, I got what I consider to be the most important stuff by default, like this wonderful crock.

But, I didn't realize how lovely a gift it was until I decided to make my own sauerkraut.

I use the instructions from Canning Granny's Blog. The instructions are there, so I won't repeat them. I'll just add a couple highlights. I have always like to cut my cabbage in 6ths & cored them.

 

Then you slice the cabbage up. I highly recommend that if you use a mandolin slicer, like I use, purchase a kevlar glove. Even being careful you can end up cutting yourself badly, like I did the first time.

 

Keep your hand firmly inside the grip/handle. :)

 

I don't have the actually top stones for my crock. The main thing you want to accomplish is to keep the cabbage pushed under the brining solution. I took a zip lock bag with additional brining solution in it, is case some leaked out. Then I added my canning stones.

Now it is sitting for 6 - 8 weeks in a cool place. Every few days, I will skim any scum that has developed on top.