Day 6 (Complete Curd & Whey Separation)

Here's a photo of the curd and whey separation on Day 6.  The night before, the whey had been accumulating on top and the curd on the bottom.  When I woke up this morning however, I discovered that the curd had finally floated to the top.  This batch was pretty thick still yesterday and wasn't finely strained before fermenting for the second 24 hours period.

Because of this, tiny bits of curd / kefir grains made their way into the batch.  The image shows that the process is definitely working now.  The only problem I have is the actual smell of the kefir and the curd / whey.  I had been using one brand of store bought milk when I started the process and switched when I ran low.  I had wanted to buy some milk in glass containers to reuse when I visit the raw milk farm.  I thought the milk in here would be just fine.  It wasn't.  I went to take a sip with something I was eating and almost threw up. 

Some people may not notice taste variations in their milk, but this was absurd.  I usually avoid Crowley milk because of this, but this was Byrne Dairy.  The weird thing is that I purchased another gallon of Byrne Dairy today and it is perfectly fine.  No distinctively bothersome odors as the glass approaches your face.  In fact, today's milk tasted great!  Although I'm only buying from the store until I'm ready to introduce the grains to Raw again.

So long story short, the milk I used the last few days has given the Kefir a strange smell.  Not appealing to me anyways, I just felt like I was drinking drugged cow milk mixed with blood and puss.  Since the grains are doing their job well, I fed them the new milk I purchased today.  The one WITHOUT any off smells to it.

HOWEVER...Because I was VERY curious what it may taste like.  I dipped a spoon into it.  I thought it would act like whipped cream and lend itself to an easy gentle pouring onto my spoon.  Nope, it was more like cream cheese instead.  I decided to pour the liquid whey off from the jar through a fine mesh strainer as the curd seemed to stay separated on top.  Then I scooped out the curd and put it into a small cup.  The curd didn't have too much of a taste.  I added some flavoring to give it a try.

After mixing a garlic & herb blend to it I gave it a try.  It was surprisingly good.  It needed flavoring for sure but it was something I could definitely eat again.  It was like a very dry cream cheese.  Or, if crumbled feta cheese was softer and more aerated, that's what it would be like.  It spread easy, but was rather dry.  I could have added liquid to make it creamy, but I didn't mind the consistency at all.  It was nice.  Although I do miss the overpowering yogurt scent I had created a few days earlier with a different brand of milk.  My hope is that after the yeasts readjust again, that almost bitter taste / smell will disappear.

After trying out the curd with moderate satisfaction, I also indulged in the whey liquid.  It's difficult to describe the taste of it at this point.  I can't say vinigery, as that doesn't do it justice.  I'd say bitter, or strong, but those don't say much either.  So until I can properly describe how it taste, I will say it's not worthy of consumption at this point.  I did however attempt to drink a bit of it.  I added some cranberry juice to a cup and tried to take it down.  It was difficult and I didn't get very far.  I believe I will discard that portion for now but I will save and finish the garlic curd spread for sure.

I also think that I may begin to lessen the fermentation time.  I have been doing a standard 24 hours with the grains and 24 hours without.  This may be too much now.  On the plus side, the 16 oz I used yesterday seems to have been a good amount for the grains.  It was still mostly liquid and strained easily.  First I strained it through a pasta strainer (large hole) and then I strained the liquid a second time through the fine mesh to get any extra clumps out. 

You'll notice that from day 3 to day 4 a very large increase in kefir grains / curds took place in the first fermentation jar.  Then they clumped together more losing more and more each consecutive day. 

I will try not to interrupt them at this point by separating them from any attached curd.  I will try and wait until they have grown considerably to do this.

Back on the shelf for yet another day.  Hoping that the yogurt smell will return soon.  The milk I used was a bad idea.  I thought that because I didn't want to drink it that my grains might.  I don't think it was their cup of tea either.  Lesson learned, don't switch your milk unless you have to, and don't feed the grains milk that smells like S%#t.