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3 Culture Set

Order all 3 of our cultures and receive a discount. Will include: 1 Piima Culture, 1 Sourdough Starter and 1 TBS Kefir Grains.  

A $39.99 value for 30.00 ( in essence the sour dough is a gift) Read about the cultures below and order the set of 3 cultures here!! All cultures come with instructions and some of our favorite recipes!! 

. We ship on Mondays and Tuesdays, so be aware that your order will be shipped the Monday or Tuesday after you place it.  

$30.00 for the 3 culture set

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Descriptions of each culture below.

Kefir Culture 

(pronounced: keff é-er):

So What is Kefir? A fermented milk drink. Where available, kefir is made with camel milk. The word "kefir" is derived from the Turkish word keif, which loosely translates to; good-feeling, feeling of well-being or feeling-good. 

Kefir is a refreshing probiotic cultured-milk beverage, which is believed to originate in the Northern Caucasus Mountains many centuries ago. Kefir has a uniform thick creamy consistency, a slightly sour refreshing taste, with a mild aroma of fresh yeast. Kefir also has a slight naturally carbonated effervescent "zest".

Kefir's tart and refreshing flavor is similar to a drinking-style yogurt, but it contains beneficial yeast as well as friendly 'probiotic' bacteria found in yogurt. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in kefir combine symbiotically to give superior health benefits when consumed regularly. It is loaded with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains easily digestible complete proteins.

Kefir can be made from any type of milk, cow, goat or sheep. Non-dairy beverages can also be cultured with the grains. We have cultured coconut nectar, homemade juice from the berries in our yard-one of my favorites is cultured currant juice as well as lemonade and fresh fruit. 

Kefir is made from gelatinous white or yellow particles called "grains." These grains contain the bacteria/yeast mixture clumped together with casein (milk proteins) and complex sugars. They look like pieces of coral or small clumps of cauliflower and range from the size of a grain of wheat to that of a hazelnut. The grains ferment the milk, incorporating their friendly organisms to create the cultured product. The grains are then removed with a strainer before consumption of the kefir and added to a new batch of milk.

The grains we offer are the most active ones we have seen. If fed regularly, like a good sourdough starter they will last for generations to come. We have had great success culturing milk as well as juice and fruits with this culture!! Our milk culture is fed organic raw, farm fresh milk on a regular basis. 

   

Piima Culture

(pronounced Pee’ma)

  A Scandinavian Culture-this culture originated when it was noticed that cows who had grazed upon a northern European wild herb called Butterwort at the peak of its growth, milk would clabber at room temperature. It was then carefully cultured from this starter and fresh starter taken from each batch. Piima is similar to buttermilk acidophilus and kefir.

Fermentation and culturing were among the early methods used to preserve and make more digestible the available foodstuffs. These methods were particularly used by nomadic peoples to transport their foods long distances without modern preservation and additive techniques.

We make cultured cream, butter and buttermilk as well as a feta style cheese using this culture. We love the flavor and the resiliency of this culture!! Our Piima is fed organic raw cream from a local farm. 

We will send you fresh cultured cream for a starter and instructions and recipes. You will receive a jar that is not entirely full, the reason is to allow for any expansion of the culture, which can happen if the temperatures become too warm. This culture can last for years if properly cared for!!! 

       

Sourdough Starter

This is our own starter, which we inoculated with the wild yeast from our very own grapes. Our experience is that capturing the yeast from a yeasty fruit such as grapes, offers a stable predictable culture. This is a very active and flavorful starter. We prefer to make sourdough bread, pancakes etc from our own starter rather than commercial leavening agents. We are providing our starter for folks who would like to have a foundation to work with. If fed on a regular basis this starter will last your lifetime and can be passed on from friend to friend and generation to generation. After you feed it for a while it will become your own. Our starter is shipped with instructions as well as recipes to inspire your journey!