How long does the culture live?
The grains or plant live, with proper care as long as their owners. Kefir cultures reproduce themselves and do not know a physical death. Normal Care & Operation 1. Place Kefir grains in container and fill with your choice of milk you wish to make into Kefir. We recommend making one litre (1½ pints) each time, though quantities of up to 2 litres is possible. 2. Wait 24 hours or until the milk is soft set, then refrigerate. 3. Clean the Kefir grains daily by placing them in a sieve then allow medium flow of water to wash through the grains. 4. Repeat Steps 1 to 3.
The grains or plant live, with proper care as long as their owners. Kefir cultures reproduce themselves and do not know a physical death. Storage and Care for the Kefir Culture There are many brief information sheets given to friends along with the Kefir culture and the recommendations of care for the culture and storage vary dramatically. Most recommendations advise to wash the culture before every use. Some say with cold water, some with water around 20o C. Washing is recommended to clean up unwanted or unfriendly bacteria which may settle on the sibiotic system. The advice to wash a culture, you only find in Western literature. The people I know from Russia, Poland, Romania and Hungary who have known about Kefir fermenting from childhood do not recommend washing. They say that the beneficial micro flora around the culture will be disturbed or destroyed – definitely with chlorinated water and fluoridated water – and don’t wash the culture except for drying purposes or if fermentation
