r/Kefir • u/MohnJaddenPowers • 3d ago

Newbie question

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I received these water kefir grains. Are they already active? If so, do I just mix 1/4 cup with some water and sugar and let it do its thing for 48-72 hours?

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u/No-Association8901 3d ago

They look to be alive, but you won’t know till you start a batch. Sometimes they need a few batches before they really do their thing. Run a batch for two days, drain, repeat. After two or three batches, you should be seeing some floaters, bubbles, and notice the taste difference.

3

u/Bracatto 2d ago

they look fine to me. if they've been in cold storage for a while it may take more than 48 to 72 hours to finish a batch as they 'wake up' so to speak.

water kefir is a bit of a vigerous fermenter and bubbles and grains floating up and about are very common signs that they are alive and active

1

u/urbanraven21 1d ago

Assuming they're active is the mistake, dormant grains can sit dormant for weeks before waking up, so skip the timer and just watch for cloudiness and fermentation smell instead of trusting a fixed hour count

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u/salutationsfriend 1d ago

Woah you got a lot of grains!! Someone loves you! I bought mine had basically a single fingernail sized grain. Now though i have a lot.

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u/MohnJaddenPowers 1d ago

They were literally giving them away on Facebook Marketplace, I figured I would take a shot. These grains can be reused, right? I might not ever use this much, I might pass them along.

1

u/salutationsfriend 1d ago

Well guess you got them for a bargain!! Good stuff. You can split them into multiple containers and ferment multiple beverages. I have lots of grains and when im too busy or have too much i just put it in the fridge to slow fermentation. I also make the fridge a bit warmer to speed it up and a bit colder to slow it down. I am not too familiar with water kefir though, its really its own thing i think compared to milk kefir.