Drying water kefir grains

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Next week in the Fundamentals eCourse, we turn to making dairy kefir. This is one of my favorite real foods, hands down. You probably know that because I talk about it all the time. 😀

I have a plethora of grains; I’ve been raising them up to share with eCourse members. However, I couldn’t raise enough because the eCourse is quite full.

But back to those dairy kefir grains. I asked Julie at Cultures for Health how to dehydrate them, because I figured they’d ship much more easily if they weren’t wet. She gave me very simple instructions, and that’s the point of my post today.

Why Dehydrate Kefir Grains?

You might wonder why’d you want to dehydrate water kefir grains. For one, if you want to ship them. But two, and much more personally practical, you should dehydrate grains as backup cultures for the future. Perhaps your raw milk source dries up and you need to save grains for when milk is in season again.

I’ve read that grains don’t all revive (one source said 40% viability), so it is a good idea to put back several kefir grains. Dehydrating is not the only way to put back grains, though. You can keep grains in the refrigerator in a small amount of milk that you change weekly, or you can freeze grains as-is (wet). Finally, and the topic of this post, you can dehydrate them.

How To Dehydrate Kefir Grains

Rinse the grains thoroughly with good water: well water or mineral-rich spring water. Don’t use chlorinated city water. Water from a filter is okay, even though it strips out minerals; as minerals are not so much of a concern for making the grains dormant. Lay out to drip off on a clean towel or paper towel.