Cutting Edge Cultures Easy Kefir Starter Culture, 4 Pack, 20g

This product helped jump start me into making my own keifer. Super easy and boy did it work! My keifer turned out beautifully. I've since ordered keifer grains and began making it that way. I really appreciate Cutting Edge Cultures for catapulting me into this journey.

It turns out perfect and I love it

I ordered kiefer grains but the end product never came out smooth like this does. I was prepared for them to arrive with whole milk and some knowledge background. What was strained off was always like cottage cheese with no pearled grains present. It smelled slightly yeasty as the forums said it would, but it was never a thick pourable yoghurt type liquid. It was such a small sample, i used about 2 c of whole milk. In days, i was able to use a 1/4 c of these pseudo grains to 4 c of whole milk. I went with a 18-24 hr culture period in a place out of direct sunlight on my counter. Always the same outcome; cottage cheese vs pearl caulifower looking grain. Forums said to let it ride and they'll start to appear. It's been a few months of daily pampering of the pseudo grains and a lot of milk and no pearled grains. Since i never saw pearled grains in what was delivered to me, I suspect now there was something amiss to begin with. i wanted to see if this product changed up the outcome and it sure does! Loving home cultured yoghurt, this product produces a cohesive thicker pourable liquid that is a close cousin to yoghurt. The taste is good; a bit like buttermilk. I add just under a tbsp of pure maple syrup to sweeten it slightly. It's perfect for me. I love adding kiefer to my smoothies. Because i can culture more kiefer from a 1/4 cup of this finished product, i can get quite a bit from one packet of freeze dried grains. I'll roll with this until i decide to find someone local to me who has some pearled grains they'd like to share or sell. Kiefer is a wonderful healthful food. I hope many people learn to appreciate its real benefits and get it in their diet daily. Having dealt with low energy both mentally and physically for the last 8 yrs or so, I am pleasantly surprised and so glad at what it brings to my sense of well being and how healthy i've been. Maybe it wouldn't work for everyone, but it is helping me and i am grateful; to the point i feel i must have it daily. No pill for an ill mentality for me. I'll take kiefer!

I've always loved kefir from the first time I tasted it. I used to buy the brand in the blue and white plastic quart bottle in the store, but got tired of paying store prices. Now that I make my own, I can hardly even drink the store-bought stuff; it has such a chemical taste compared to the fresh, healthy, taste of homemade. $20+ may seem expensive, but I get 80+ quarts of kefir from one 4-envelope box, so it's only about 25 cents/quart on top of the cost of the milk. From the first batch I make with each new envelope, I take out a cup of kefir and divide it among 3 clean quart jars, fill jars with milk. So while my first "generation" is just one quart of kefir, the next generation is 3 quarts. I do this with the last jar from each generation. Each envelope makes about 7-8 generations, so that's 20+ quarts from each envelope, 80+ quarts from a box of 4 envelopes. You could get even more if you do 4 jars instead of 3, re-culture each jar instead of just the last from each generation, etc. I tried making kefir with live grains, but that was too much trouble in my busy life - I've heard people say taking care of kefir grains is like taking care of a pet. I don't have time for that. Easy Kefir gives me most of the benefits of live grains, with almost none of the work. So easy. So inexpensive. So healthy. So delicious!

I have been using this for almost 2 years...never had a problem. But the last package I purchased didn't work at all...never thickened even a tiny bit...it was as if it were just milk with nothing in it...I used 2 of the 4 packets with the same result. I wrote to the company, sending photos of their package which showed it didn't expire until October 2027, but they said no one else had problems with that batch number, so did nothing about it. I think it's best I look for another brand.

This is an easy way to have a tastier and healthier version of kefir if you don’t have the ingredients to do it homemade. I have grains for milk kefir and make it daily, but there are times I need a little more so I just make this. After 24 hours or less, this can be second fermented with fresh fruit. That helps with vitamin content and taste. But know that the taste is already much better than store bought kefir. It doesn’t have that emulsified, thickened taste as the store bought stuff has, and it’s milder. Several probiotics.

I was a little worried after reading some of the other reviews that I would get old, dead cultures, but that did not happen. I added the contents of one packet to a quart of ice-cold milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized), stirred it, put a lid on, and left it for somewhere between 12 and 15 hours at 78 degrees. It turned out perfect, and I have since re-cultured this same batch several times, with great results each time. For people who've never had milk kefir, the flavor and smell are a lot like sour cream (but with a texture like runny yogurt) as long as you don't let it culture too long. I prefer to imbibe it as a smoothie, as I've never been a fan of plain milk or yogurt. It also makes a nice cheese if you drain all the whey off, and you can make a type of sour cream by mixing the milk kefir with some heavy cream and letting that culture at room temperature for another 12-24 hours. It's really quite versatile, and this instant version means there are no live grains to care for and worry about. I do appreciate that this brand is made of the powdered, dried whole grains, as that means you are ingesting kefiran, one of the beneficial substances kefir contains, which resides close to the grains.

I have never cared too much for milk kefir but I drink it for health reason, and I dreaded making it. I threw out so many batches because it curdled before I could get back to strain it, and it was always too sour for my taste. That all changed with this purchase! I used a portion of the powder in a package and made 2 cups of kefir. After 24 hours I had kefir with perfect consistency with no straining needed. And the flavor! Very delicately sourish, but nothing like I’ve had before. Delicious by itself, no need to “hide” it in a smoothie. I saved 1/4 cup to re-culture and it worked perfectly. I’m so excited about this product. I make healthy popscicles every day for my grands and I usually use plain yogurt for the base. Now, this kefir will be my go to for the healthiest base possible! I sweeten them with bananas, maple syrup or dates, put in fruit of choice, add some kelp powder and probiotics, flax, end with homemade veggie powders like kale, beets, spinach, sweet potatoes etc. The kids never know and they love them!