What Can I Do With Leftover Water Kefir Grains?
I bet you’re asking yourself, “What Can I Do With Leftover Water Kefir Grains?” Your water kefir is started and doing really well. You are having fun trying different flavors and enjoying making beneficial drinks for your family.
Only problem is you have SO MANY water kefir grains now and you don’t know what to do with them! Join me as we explore a few different ways you can put that abundance of kefir grains to good use.
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Healthy water kefir grains will continue to grow and produce more grains. These grains require sugar, water, and minerals to continue to thrive and properly ferment water kefir soda. Since you only need so many grains to produce a batch of kefir soda, there are many things you can do with leftover water kefir grains.
Why Do I Have Extra Water Kefir Grains?
When given an ideal environment, water kefir grains will grow and multiply. What is an ideal environment for a kefir grain? Glad you asked!
Water kefir grains grow best in a mineral rich, room temperature, adequately sugar-water solution. Keeping the temperature between 68 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and keeping the grains well fed with sugared water should be perfect for your little pearls of probiotics.
Your grains should be moved into fresh organic cane sugar water every 1-2 days using a fine mesh strainer. Or every day, if your home is particularly warm. Adding a dried fruit such as raisins will provide beneficial minerals to your little grains, encouraging them to grow and multiply if you seek to do so.
What Can I Do With Leftover Water Kefir Grains?
By far, the most common thing to do with excess grains is to give them to family and friends.
But after a while they will all either have their own overgrown collections of water kefir grains or they just aren’t interested.
This is somewhat akin to growing zucchini, pretty soon no one wants your extras. And that’s why I have included a few more ideas!
- Offer the grains on your local Facebook groups! There are buy, sell, trade groups for most areas now. Even my tiny little town has a few!
- Store extra grains in your fridge or freezer. They will store well in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator and 2-3 months in your freezer.
- You can add your bonus grains to smoothies for a nutritional boost.
- Don’t want to eat them? Your chickens might! The beneficial bacteria is great for everyone!
- No chickens at your house? Mine either. So you can feed the extra kefir grains to your plants instead. Just mix into your soil and the grains work as an organic fertilizer to keep your garden happy.
- Too many grains for your plants? Add them to your compost bin!
Ideas I haven’t tried
- Making cheese with water kefir grains
- Using kefir grains in hair care
- Adding water kefir grains to your body wash as an exfoliant
- Including kefir grains in your child’s bath as a mineral rich alternative to bubbles
one last thing…
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