Homemade Kefir Recipes

kefir

 

 

What is kefir?

 

Kefir is Caucasian origin fermented milk product. Kefir is an acidic, slightly foamy product made from pasteurized and fat-standardized or decreamed goat milk that has passed through a combined acidic and alcoholic fermentation of symbiotic lactic acid bacteria and yeast kefir grains. The finished product Kefir, contains 0.6 to 0.8% lactic acid and 0.5 to 1.0% alcohol. Kefir grain includes mix microbial flora. Its size varies between 0,5-3 cm. Kefir is white or white-yellow colored, and has pop-corn like appearance.

 

The benefits of Kefir

Kefir is easy to digest and help cell growth. Kefir is believed to expend life due to preventing flocculation of materials in intestine. Kefir is rich in protein, fat, lactose and minerals and decrease the bad cholesterol level in blood. Kefir decrease tension, dilute urine, evacuate body toxins, accelerate intestine movement, prevents hepatitis, joint diseases, diarrhea, constipation, blood lost, postpartum problems. It also decrease blood sugar but most importantly prevents cancer.

Kefir is an important nutrient for sick people and children, because it is easy to digest and rich in protein. Kefir is also beneficial for nervous problems, anorexia, ulcer, bronchitis and asthma.

 

How to make Kefir

 

There are so many ways of making Kefir, and there is almost no wrong method! Some people like to culture their grains for 12 hours, and some for 24 hours, or more. Some like to tighten the lid on the jar of fermenting kefir making it a fizzy kefir but, be sure to leave extra air space in there if you do, so the jar does not burst. Some people use raw goats milk, while others use cows milk.

 

Here are some simple instructions to get you started making Kefir :

 

  1. Place Kefir grains in a clean glass jar.
  2. For every tablespoon (approx.) of grains, add 7-8 ounces of goat milk (making one cup total per tablespoon of culture).
  3. Cover jar loosely, and allow to sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. On top of the fridge or in a cupboard are great places to make kefir. Swirl it once or twice a day to agitate the grains and expose fresh surface area to the milk.
  4. After 12-24 hours, strain the kefir using a strainer or colander. You can use a spoon with small holes in it to “scoop” the kefir grains out of the finished bowl of kefir, returning them to the jar.
  5. Enjoy your fresh Kefir, which will keep in the refrigerator for several months. Use the remaining grains to make a new batch, starting over with Step 1.

 

* You may also consider using your excess grains to culture rice milk, coconut milk, soy milk and etc. but kefir grains that are cultured in non-mammalian milk will cease growing.

Kefir is a natural pro-biotic, containing vitamins and enzymes that encourage digestion and live microorganisms (yeast and bacteria) also help with the digestive process. Fermentation also preserves the kefir for a time, discouraging the growth of less human-friendly molds and bacteria.

Researches showed that kefir increase potency of people. Woman use it as face-mask.

 

 

Simple Homemade Kefir Facial

 

Why use cultured milk facial?

 

This homemade cultured goat milk facial happens to be the easiest you can kick start with homemade facials. Honestly, this is one you really have to give it a try!

 

It consists simply of applying kefir to the face, leaving it on for about 10-15 minutes to dry, and rinsing.

 

Kefir is a thick, smooth, creamy substance much like sour cream, but with more body, and you actually feels a lot like facial cream as it is applied.

 

After using this facial continuously for two days, you may realize that your skin is smoother, softer and firmer. Perhaps, even small blemishes had disappeared.

 

 

Kefir is a cultured milk product, so it includes the alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), lactic acid. It has also been shown to have antibiotic effects – among a multitude of other health benefits of kefir, which could potentially be a plus for those with acne problem.

 

If you only want one, simple homemade facial to use, this is it!

 

 

Simple Homemade Kefir Cheese

 

Kefir cheese is a fresh, sweet curd cheese, similar to paneer or cottage cheese . I recommend this cottage cheese because it is quick and easy to prepare, and is a rennet-free cheese.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 gal.  Fresh goat milk
  • 2 cups Kefir –preferably an extra sour kefir brewed for 2 days or 2-day refrigerated kefir, although freshly strained kefir will do
  • ½ tsp.  sea salt to taste

 

Directions:

  • Heat milk to about 140°F.
  • While gently stirring the milk, slowly pour kefir into the milk as a slow steady stream. Do not stir too fast or too vigorously or for too long or the curds will break apart and become un retrievable. The curds should begin separating from the whey– the whey should be reasonably clear and not milky. If the whey is still milky, either increase the heat, or add a little extra kefir (while very gently stirring for a short time only) until the whey becomes reasonably clear. Let sit for 2 minutes.
  • Remove curds by skimming with a strainer.
  • Place curds in either a pre-moistened cheesecloth lined colander, or in a suitable mesh-type strainer. * Optional – (Add a little sea salt in the fresh curd).
  • Let curds drain for about 15 minutes. And that’s it!

 

* Optional – A little sea salt to taste may be added to the fresh cheese. You can add sea salt to the fresh milk prior adding kefir, or, add a little sea salt in the fresh curd.

 

The recipe makes a nutritious, low-fat cheese. Enjoy!

 

 

More Soft Cheeses Recipes for you. Click the link to view the details NOW!

 

Cottage Cheese in a Bowl

Cottage Cheese

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Dr.Fone V13 One-Stop Complete Mobile Solution

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Exclusive Education Savings for Wondershare

New Year's Eve Party

 

 

 

 

 

Handmade Goat Milk Soap Recipes

 

Besides consuming goats milk daily, goats milk is also used to make soap.

 

What are the benefits of goat milk soap?

 

 

Skin Care

Goat milk soap gives a rich creamy feel and will leave your skin feeling very soft. Most people with problem skin, eczema (atopic dermatitis), acne, psoriasis and other sensitive skin find that after using goat milk soap their skin condition improve. The soap will clean and not irritate your skin.

 

One of the most popular additives to goat milk soap is  handmade soap. And rightly so. Goat Milk is a natural emollient that helps soothe and moisturize the skin. It contains vitamins A, B6, B12 and E. Goat milk has 3 times more beta-casein than cow milk. Caseins are easily absorbed into the skin and allow for quick hydration of dry skin. The content of triglycerides, capric, caprylic and caproic acid helps balance the skin’s natural pH and promotes natural exfoliation of dry skin.

 

Scented or fragrant goat milk soaps are like Floral, Oatmeal, Spice and Fruit Fragrances. Special Dermatological and Manuka Honey (unscented soaps) goat milk soaps are for people forced to use soap substitutes or very neutral soaps because of allergies or skin sensitive to perfumes. According to a survey, the demand for such soaps make up almost half of all sales.  Dermatologists commented that unscented goat milk soaps are particularly good for patients with skin problems because they leave no residue on the skin. These problems include eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis and infant eczema.

 

There are basically three ways to incorporate goat milk into your soaps however, each works a bit differently.

  1. Fresh goat milk
  2. Powdered goat milk
  3. Canned/ Evaporated goat milk

 

 

Handmade Natural Goat Milk Soap Recipe

 

Handmade soap is akin to rediscovering the traditional value of doing things yourself, doing them naturally, and enjoying the benefits.

Making soap of any kind is fairly simple. Goat milk soap is no exception. Homemade soap can be a welcome addition to anyone bathing routine, especially for someone with sensitive skin.

Goat milk soap is a very moisturizing, soft soap and not that difficult to make. Follow some simple instructions and make goat milk soap for home use or to give away as gifts.

Lye and Borax are available at the grocery stores, make sure that the lye can states 100 per cent lye. Before you buy the lye, shake the can and listen to it to make sure it is free flowing for easy handling, and has no lumps in it. Borax – this boots cleaning ability, soften the water and helps with suds-ing. Liquid Glycerin is available at drug stores. Glycerin gives the soap more moisturizing qualities.

Lye heats the milk up very hot; the sugar in the milk will “caramelize” and the soap will be tan in colorSoap made with 100% lard will not lather a whole lot, but make a good cleaning, very gentle, moisturizing soap. Lathering and cleaning ability have nothing to do with one another.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 3 pints of ice cold goat milk
  • 1 12 oz. can of Red Devil Lye
  • 5 1/2 pounds of lard
  • 2 oz. glycerin
  • 2 Tablespoon borax
  • 1/3 Cup Honey

 

Instructions:

 

*Cautions, wear rubber gloves when handling lye.

 

Use a stainless steel pot for your soap making. Very slowly pour the lye into the ice cold milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The milk will heat up very quickly due to the addition of the lye. If you add the lye too fast, the milk may scorch and curdle. The milk will turn an orange color and curdle a little bit but do not worry, add the honey. Let the mixture cool down to 85°.

 

While the lye and milk mixture is cooling, warm the lard to 90°. Slowly pour the lard into the lye and milk mixture, stirring constantly, and add the glycerin and borax.

 

The best thing to stir soap with is an electric hand held “stick blender” because you really need to stir the soap mixture to get it to “trace”. The slower your stirring is, the longer it will take to trace. You cannot just stop or go away and let it sit because if you do not stir constantly, the soap will never “trace”.

 

Add the glycerin and borax and keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken like thin pudding nice “traces”. The mixture “traces” when a small amount of the solution drizzled across the top of the main solution’s surface leaves a faint pattern before sinking back into the mass. A trace should be reached within 10 to 20 minutes of hand stirring, or 5 to 10 minutes of stirring with a “stick blender”.

 

Add any essential oils you wish to add to the soap at this point. Stir it in well.

 

Pour the mixture into your molds. Cover the top of the molds with a cloth such as cheesecloth and then cover it with a blanket. Leave it undisturbed overnight.

 

The next day you can cut the soap into bars using fishing line. Stack the bars on a cookie sheet lined with a large paper bag. It is not ready to use yet; the mixture needs to saponify and cure. Let the soap cure by air-drying it for at least 6 weeks before using or giving away.

 

 

Handmade Organic Goat Milk Soap Recipe

 

Since I posted a topic about the benefits of goat milk soap, I have been asked “Do you have homemade milk based soap recipe for beginners?” After experimenting a few shortcuts, I recommend this simple Organic Goat Milk Soap recipe.

 

What are the benefits of  organic goat milk soap?

 

Organic goat milk soap offers a natural and less-abrasive form of cleansing bar. And organic goat milk soap aids in the treatment of mild to moderate acne.

 

Recipe:

 

Light essential oil scent can be added to the soap and oatmeal mix, if desired. The recipe yields approximately 12 bars of organic soap.

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 15 oz. organic olive oil
  • 5 oz. organic palm oil
  • 5 oz. organic coconut oil
  • 3.5 oz. lye
  • 8 oz. goat milk
  • 1/2 cup organic oatmeal
  • 1 oz. lavender or lilac essential oil for fragrance (optional)
  • Soap molds

*Cautions, wear rubber gloves when handling lye.

 

Instructions :

  • Purchase molds. Chocolate or candy-making molds are permissible for use in soap making. Do not reuse molds for chocolate making once used in the soap making process.
  • Combine 1/2 cup organic oatmeal with 1 oz. fragrance oil, and set aside. Lavender scent is recommended.
  • Mix all remaining soap base materials together in a stainless steel bowl.
  • Heat inside a slow cooker on medium heat until melting occurs. Do not reuse the slow cooker for food preparation.
  • Mix fragrance mixture into the slow cooker.
  • Pour soap mix into molds once it is warm enough to handle safely.
  • Cool soap mix for 24 hours. Remover from molds and use. Clean molds with warm water, dry and store.

 

I love making this organic goat milk soap recipe because it is easy, good for your acne skin and shows my love for goats.

Want more fun DIY Skin Care recipes?  Check out my other DIY post as well.

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Dr.Fone V13 One-Stop Complete Mobile Solution

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Exclusive Education Savings for Wondershare

New Year's Eve Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goat Milk Cheese Recipes

 

Creamy and distinct in flavor, goat cheese is a dairy product enjoyed around the world.

 

Goat milk cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from goat milk. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the goat milk is acidified and the addition of rennet causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses also contain mould either on the outer rind or throughout. It has a different color and structure and taste than that of regular cheese. It is usually white and breaks apart quickly.

Goat milk is highly suitable for the production of different varieties of soft cheeses that are popular in Europe, France, USA, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy, China, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The goat milk can be admixed with buffalo milk at 50:50 level for the manufacture of Mozzarella cheese. The cheese made from goat milk had higher retention of moisture and lower sodium content, higher fat and dry matter content and the organoleptic quality is definitely superior when compared with cow milk cheese.

In Italy, cheese made from goat milk are either consumed fresh or ripened for 2 months. For ripening the cheese, white or blue moulds are used in order to produce a strong flavor and proper rind formation. The cheese made from goat milk is known for the desirable sharp flavor due to the presence of higher concentration of medium chain fatty acids. In many states of European Union, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the goat milk cheese is marketed as premium quality.

Trials have been carried out by mixing 10-25% of goat milk in buffalo milk to produce cheddar cheese, which developed sharp and balanced flavor within 6 months of ripening. At 15% replacement in buffalo milk, the Gouda cheese developed pronounced flavor. Domiati cheese made from fresh goat milk and ripened for 90 days exhibited that the rennet type had little effect on the yield, acidity, moisture content, fat, salt, ratio between soluble nitrogen to total nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids and non protein nitrogen of cheese.

Summer is also the natural season for fresh goat milk cheese such as chevre. A word about storing cheeses in warm weather. All of them should be kept in the refrigerator. Creamy or sticky fresh goat cheese should first be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Be sure to use a fresh sheet of wrapping paper each time you rewrap the cheese.

 

 

Nutritional facts:

A one-ounce (28 gm) serving of soft goat cheese contains 102 Calories; – Protein 6 gm, Fat 8 gm, Vitamin A 8% of the RDI, Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 11% of the RDI, Calcium 8% of the RDI, Phosphorus 10% of the RDI, Copper 8% of the RDI, Iron 3% of the RDI

 

 

 

 

Fried Cheese Sticks Recipe

 

The recipe is one of the quick and easier cheeses to make at home, using only 3 common ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 gallons fresh goat milk
  • 1/2 cup or more vinegar
  • Batters

 

Directions:

 

  • Heat milk to 185°F in a stainless steel pot.
  • Add vinegar until the milk begins to curdle, approximately 1/2 cup for 2 gallons of milk. Once the milk begins to curdle, stir well, and cover and let sit with no heat under it for an hour or more.
  • Then ladle cheese curds into a lined colander (cheese cloth) and let drain over another pan to catch the whey. Drain longer for a drier cheese.
  • Mold the cheese after draining fairly dry into carrot-stick shapes or into a rectangular box lined with parchment paper.
  • Cut into strips and freeze individually on cookie sheets.
  • Take from freezer and batter with your choice of batters, then fry quickly in hot oil.

 

There are a million variations on homemade cheese, though most require rennet, and often culture. If you want to have more fun, perhaps, you can dedicate time on making other cheeses like Mozzarella as well.

 

 

 

Nutritional facts:

The fried cheese sticks contains 197 Calories; – Carbohydrates 9g, Protein 10g, Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 5g, Cholesterol 38mg, Sodium 445mg, Potassium 59mg, Sugar 1g, Iron 0.6g.

 

 

More Goat Cheese Recipes , for you.  Click the link to view the lists NOW!

 

 

Vinegar Cheese

 

 

 

 

Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe

 

Cottage Cheese in a Bowl

 

Do you know that every time you choose to eat some cottage cheese as your bedtime snack, you are providing your body with a wide array of vitamins and minerals it needs such as Vitamin B. So, with  those benefits, wouldn’t you like to learn how to make your own cottage cheese?

 

This is a dry cottage cheese, if you like it wet, you may add some cream to it.

 

Ingredients :

 

  • 2-3 gallons raw goat milk
  • 1 cup. Buttermilk
  • 1/2 tablespoon  liquid rennet,  dissolved in 1/4  cup water
  • 1-2 teaspoons  kosher salt

 

Directions:

 

  • Bring the milk to 86° and add the buttermilk. Stir well and let set, to ripen, for 1 hour. Add the rennet and stir briskly for 15 seconds. Cover the pot and let the milk set for 45 minutes, or until you get a clean break. Hold the milk at a temperature of 86° for the entire time.
  • Cut the curds into 1/2? pieces with a stainless steel knife. This always seem to be the trickiest part of cheese making, but take your time, and don’t worry if all the curds are cut not exactly 1/2?. After you have cut the curds, do not stir them yet. Let them rest, undisturbed for 10 minutes.
  • Now you can stir the curds gently and cut any that you had missed. What you are doing here is making the size cottage cheese curd you like. Raise the temperature of the curds to 95° over the next 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the curds do not stick together. Let the curds settle for 5 minutes, undisturbed.
  • Drain the the whey until it in level with the curds (about 1/2-3/4 of the whey). Add enough cold water to lower the temp to 85°. Stir as you add the water. Now, leave the curds in this cheese 85° water/whey for 10 minutes, stirring with your hand occasionally so that the curds don’t stick together.
  • Pour the curds into a colander and let drain. Carefully stir occasionally so it dose not stick together. After about 1/2 hour, you can carefully separate or break up the curds into a bowl and salt to taste. Cover and let sit in the fridge at least 2 days. The curds may be squeaky at first, but with the aging, they loose their squeak.

 

 

 

 

How to Enjoy Goat Milk Cheeses

 

Delicious in many ways:

 

There are a varieties of goat milk cheeses available, like the Sweet combination, Wine combination and Chevre chaud. However, the varieties of goat milk cheese are not merely due to the various tastes but also partly due to the flexibility the cheese offer with its combination. Goat milk cheese can be savor both cold and warm and the way it is served will normally indicates the time of the year. Throughout the year, only during winter production of goat milk is temporarily suspended, at least for a few weeks therefore, it  is not available at year end.

 

Sweet combination

Chocolate mousse is not the only option for dessert, goat milk cream cheese combined with fruit is surprisingly tasty. The combination of mild soft goat milk cheese and strawberry or raspberry mousse  is a very harmonic combination. Exotic fruits are also a very compatible match to French goat milk cheese. You can also try pineapple with a Chabichou or mango with goat milk cream cheese.

 

Wine combination

The enjoyment can be completed with a matching wine. Particularly compatible wines are chosen from the same region as that of the goat milk cheese. A light Cotes du Rhone to Picodon , Tourraine Sauvignon to Sainte-Maure, Cotes du Ventoux to Pelardon , just to name a few. Champagne and fresh goat cheese also complement one another.

Additionally, it is also the taste and the maturity of the cheese that determines a suitable wine. Generally, goat milk cheese taste better with white wines than red wine especially salty goat cheese.

 

Chevre chaud

Chevre chaud is a French dish consisting of Chevre cheese served hot, the warm goat milk cheese which is coated in breadcrumbs or wrapped in bacon and is warmed in the oven. Several other variations are also available and are usually served on  baguette, so let’s ENJOY!

 

 

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Dr.Fone V13 One-Stop Complete Mobile Solution

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Exclusive Education Savings for Wondershare

New Year's Eve Party