Kefir grains are used to make milk kefir, which is a fermented food that is very good for you and your health. It contains a ton of probiotics and vitamins and minerals for your body, so if you are looking for an all natural superfood, then milk kefir is the best thing that you can make. However, when you do make your milk kefir, you might have some extra grains!
They aren’t grains like flour or oats, so you might be at a loss for what to do with them. However, this article is going to give you some amazing ways to dispose of your kefir grains while also using them, so they don’t just become wasted food and you actually use them.
These grains are actually made up of a large spectrum of different types of bacteria and yeasts, and they are very complex grains that contain more probiotics, vitamins, and minerals than you can shake a stick at, to say nothing of what happens when they are fermented into the milk kefir.
They also have several anti-tumor, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesity properties, and have even been known to promote the healing of injuries, and reduce constipation, and when eaten unfermented they give you a lot of healthy yeasts.
Now that you know all the health benefits, here are some of the best ways for you to use them in your life, especially if you have too many kefir grains!
7 Ways To Use Your Extra Kefir Grains
1. Feed Them To Your Pets
If they are a superfood for humans, and they are also untouched grains, can you give them to your pets as well? Well, Kefir grains are completely safe for all of your pets, especially farm animals like cows, and goats, and chickens.
But dogs and cats can enjoy them too! They will get the health benefits of kefir grains and you don’t need to do anything special to them, aside from maybe mixing the kefir grains with their normal food or a special treat that they really enjoy chowing down on!
2. Kefir Grain Smoothie
Since the grains themselves come with a slightly milky texture and are rather flavorless themselves, they are perfect for mixing into a nice smoothie. Combining kefir grains with your favorite fruits or even other superfoods can help you increase all the health benefits of your morning smoothie!
So if you’ve got any extra kefir grains that you need to use, throw them in your traditional morning smoothing recipe and you will not know that they are there! But what you will notice is the massive increase in energy and overall health that you find after a few days or weeks of drinking these kefir grain smoothies in the morning!
3. Kefir Grain Smoothie Bowl
Of course, if you don’t like drinking a smoothie, then you might decide to make a smoothie bowl. Smoothie bowls tend to be much thicker and eaten with a spoon, rather than drunk either by mouth or with a straw. However, the ingredients are mostly the same, even if a smoothie bowl has a few more toppings.
No matter if you eat your smoothie or drink it, you can easily stir in some Kefir grains and you will get a ton of health benefits and you won’t even taste them!
4. Add Them To Your Compost
Sometimes you just might not like the texture of kefir grains, and no matter what you add the grains to… you swear you just keep tasting them. If you can’t stomach the grains but don’t want them rotting in a landfill, then you can add them to your garden or your compost!
Even if you make your own kefir, you might find that the grains reproduce so fast that you can’t reasonably eat or store them all.
Thankfully, they are compost friendly and you can place them in your compost until they break down into good soil and will help you break down everything else. You can turn them into soil, or simply place them in your garden and have the kefir grains turn into natural fertilizer as well.
5. Freeze Your Extra Kefir Grains
Place them inside mason jars and then store them in the freezer. They will keep pretty well if you tuck them away in the fridge, or they can last for three months in the freezer. So as long as you label them whenever you freeze them, you will be able to store them away and also get a break from all the growing grains!
6. Use Them As Shampoo
Yep, believe it or not, they can be used as shampoo and can be added to other natural or vegan shampoo and lotion options. If you are starting to look into more natural and less chemical ways to clean yourself, and already have some recipes available, then research about adding kefir grains to them and see if your hair and skin get any healthier!
7. Give Them Away
Finally, why keep a fast growing superfood with so many benefits and uses for yourself? Package a few up, give them to friends and family, and maybe share this article with them to help them learn to use their kefir grains!
Other Options
Make More Kefir
Since these kefir grains are living organisms, you can multiply them and make them grow! You just need to make sure the cultures have an optimal temperature, ‘feed them’ with milk, and occasionally break up the bigger grains with your fingers as they get too big.
You can also mix the kefir with other nuts, such as oats, mixed nuts, mixed seeds, and other flavor additions such as cinnamon or honey. Then you can blend and mix the various ingredients together to make a wonderful granola as well, which can be the perfect high-energy food!
Use Them For Baking
Since kefir grains are in fact grains, you can use them when baking. They can replace buttermilk, and fatty ingredients, and milk kefir can even be used to soak traditional flours and grains overnight.
Milk kefir can also be used in frozen treats as a substitute for milk. So if you are making any baked good that goes in the freezer, such as ice cream or smoothies, then you can trade the milk for fermented milk kefir.
Plus, while this tip isn’t for baking, you can use milk kefir as a marinade for things like fried chicken, and it not only keeps the fried chicken juicy, but the massive health benefits of the milk kefir can make fried chicken pretty healthy! At least when compared to fried chicken that is completely dredged in buttermilk!
Conclusion
Whether you have extra kefir grains that are still grains or grains that have turned into milk kefir, if you don’t mind the amount you have and how it grows, you will very quickly find that you are swimming in kefir grains! Don’t be afraid to use all of the excess in inventive ways, because there are plenty of ways to use kefir grains to benefit your body, home, and garden, and you will more than likely have enough to do some trial and error!
