FERMENTED MILK 501 



in the finished product. This should be sufficient to make the 

 kefir distinctly effervescent and impart to it the peculiar, sharp 

 taste of charged water, but should not be developed enough 

 to blow the fluid out of the bottles when the stoppers are 

 removed. Experience shows that 1 to 1-J- per cent of sugar 

 will give the correct amount of gas. This may be approximated 

 by adding sugar in the proportion of two even teaspoonfuls of 

 sugar to each pint of milk. 



Having the buttermilk and the yeast culture ready, dissolve 

 the sugar in the buttermilk. 



(4) Add the yeast culture to the buttermilk in the proportion 

 of one teaspoonful to a quart of buttermilk. 



(5) Mix thoroughly and bottle. The bottles should be very 

 strong, as sufficient gas pressure is sometimes generated to 

 break ordinary bottles; the heavy bottles used for ginger ale 

 or other carbonated drinks answer this purpose very well. 

 They should be carefully cleaned and boiled or steamed before 

 filling; fill them full and stopper tightly, wiring or tying the 

 stoppers securely in place. 



(6) Place in a cool place to ferment. 



If the fermentation is too active, the kefir will have a yeasty 

 taste and the curd is likely to become lumpy and filled with 

 large gas bubbles. A temperature of 18° C. (65° F.) to 21° C. 

 (70° F.) will be found satisfactory for kefir which is to be 

 used on the third or fourth day. The floor of a cool cellar is a 

 convenient place to ferment kefir made in the home. The 

 bottles should be shaken as often as may be necessary to keep 

 the curd in a finely divided condition. The finished product 

 should be smooth and creamy, effervesce rapidly when poured 

 from the bottle, and have the pleasant, acid taste of buttermilk, 

 with the added sharpness caused by the gas and the trace of 

 alcohol. Kefir two or three days old may have a yeasty taste, 

 but if it has been properly made this will disappear as the fer- 

 mentation of the sugar nears completion; made under these 



