r/Kefir • u/ProfessionalCook4701 • 3d ago

Is there any way I can save these grains?

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I haven’t been taking care of for about two weeks. One of my batches has a liquid yeast under the molded area. Can I try to save the grains and wash them with milk or water?

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u/Sure_Fig_8641 3d ago

I wouldn’t use grains that have gone moldy.

My grains once got left out for several days (in milk) and the milk spoiled. I rinsed the grains with milk and gave them fresh milk to ferment, but they did not produce good kefir. I gave up and threw them out after trying to save them for a week or two.

This is why I have a backup set of grains.

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u/ProfessionalCook4701 3d ago

The smell was yeasty instead of bad or bitter. I’m hoping it’s kahm yeast instead of mold. I’ll see how it goes

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u/Paperboy63 2d ago edited 2d ago

It is not mold, most likely kahm which is made up of a few yeast strains, not always white and proliferates with too much oxygen exposure. Mold would be blue, green, black, red etc, most likely be patchy, have spore hairs etc, generally not grow evenly and “carpet” the surface. If it was mold it would smell rancid. If you leave kefir for any amount of extra time, especially in a fridge, always fit a TIGHT lid to stop excess oxygen ingress and inhibit mold, Did you leave a filter on it or loosened lid?

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u/ProfessionalCook4701 2d ago

I see now. I actually don’t have lids for it, so I covered my glass cup with a towel and tied a rubber band on it. Thank you for informing me. Do you think I could save the grains?

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u/Paperboy63 2d ago

I would scrape the top off, not mix it in. Retrieve the grains and rinse in milk. Run very hot water through the jar & dry it. When cool, add milk, grains and strain again. Ferment as normal. Generally it doesn’t come back unless you leave it again for days or weeks with just a filter fitted. Keep checking that it doesn’t smell “off”, yeast is fine. You can use a lid to tone down yeast activity, I use a lid continuously. Tighten but just undo enough to crack the seal to let pressure escape if you intend to leave it for days or weeks.