Homogenized milk and KEFIR grains

[Ulla]

Hi.
This is my first post.
We know that homogenization process damage milk fats, proteins and enzymes. Also calcium is broken up through this process. This exposes fat molecules to calcium, producing calcium soaps that are hard to digest.

Do you think that kefir grains could repair or maybe reverse that new structure that comes with homogenisation?

 

[YuraCZ]

post 99834 Hi.
This is my first post.
We know that homogenization process damage milk fats, proteins and enzymes. Also calcium is broken up through this process. This exposes fat molecules to calcium, producing calcium soaps that are hard to digest.

Do you think that kefir grains could repair or maybe reverse that new structure that comes with homogenisation?

No.. Once is milk homogenized the damage has been done and kefir grains, they just consume sugar(lactose) and predigest casein... Pasteurization is not big deal. But I will not consume homogenized milk..

 

[Ulla]

Okay. Makes sense.
I don't consume kefir much but once in a while I get some homogenized milk extra and I use it for making kefir.

 

[YuraCZ]

post 99840 Okay. Makes sense.
I don't consume kefir much but once in a while I get some homogenized milk extra and I use it for making kefir.

I can tolerate only fermented dairy. If I eat cheese or something. I will feel like ***t. But I can drink up to 1l of homemade kefir in one sitting and after 15-20 mins I feel that it is fully digested..

 

[jyb]

I can tolerate only fermented dairy. If I eat cheese or something. I will feel like s***. But I can drink up to 1l of homemade kefir in one sitting and after 15-20 mins I feel that it is fully digested..

Kefir degrades caseins a lot faster than cheese it seems (1 day versus 6 months for reduction by half for the particular cheese I read about). But there is still significant casein left. The following study shows the degradation of casein in milk kefir over time, there's roughly half gone after one day fermentation and much more after two days. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20059900

So that could be a factor. But there could many others. Although I drink kefir and think it might have benefits such as these, I don't have much digestion problem with milk either, so I think it's the cheese that takes more time to digest. I avoid eating large amounts of cheese, if any.

 

[Ulla]

My main question was if kefir grains would make homogenized milk any less harmful due to changes in structures in molecules.
But I guess not

For me it is easier to make kefir with homogenized milk. Pasteurized/raw milk goes bad at the room temperature before kefir is made.

 

[jyb]

Pasteurized/raw milk goes bad at the room temperature before kefir is made.

Culturing raw milk with kefir works just as with any other milk. Actually that's originally the whole point of kefir, to preserve raw milk fresh from the cow at normal temperature without a fridge for a very long time. Not that raw milk goes bad easily, processed milk is a lot worse.

 

[Ulla]

My kefir from raw milk goes like that (photo). It is one, two days old. Grains are enough big for that quantity.
From UHT/homo milk kefir is okay. Doesn't spoil or get any weird taste or anything and looks all in one piece

 

[jyb]

post 99859 My kefir from raw milk goes like that (photo). It is one, two days old. Grains are enough big for that quantity.
From UHT/homo milk kefir is okay. Doesn't spoil or get any weird taste or anything and looks all in one piece

That picture shows that it has fermented well. Not spoilage at all. In fact it shows it has fermented too well - you left it for too long or with too many grains and your grains ate it all up - it is past time to remove the grains, although they can survive there for a while. Therefore the taste might be too acidic for you, but it is not spoilt in the sense of pathogenic bacteria. If you want a longer fermentation time without acidic taste that's fine, but you need to take out the grains before it starts to really separate like on your picture. If your processed milk wasn't separating, it probably was crappy milk that is not even fit for bacteria to consume.

 

[Ulla]

THANKS!
Yeah, I don't like that acidic taste so much.
I used to drink kefir a lot more than novadays. Today I make it maybe once a month and from homogenized milk.
I will try again with raw milk in soon time and I will shorten the time.

 

[Ulla]

And I never threw away that kefir. I used a blender stick to blend it and at the end it was okay just that taste was really strong and I had second thoughts about it :)

 

[YuraCZ]

post 99846

I can tolerate only fermented dairy. If I eat cheese or something. I will feel like s***. But I can drink up to 1l of homemade kefir in one sitting and after 15-20 mins I feel that it is fully digested..

Kefir degrades caseins a lot faster than cheese it seems (1 day versus 6 months for reduction by half for the particular cheese I read about). But there is still significant casein left. The following study shows the degradation of casein in milk kefir over time, there's roughly half gone after one day fermentation and much more after two days. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20059900

So that could be a factor. But there could many others. Although I drink kefir and think it might have benefits such as these, I don't have much digestion problem with milk either, so I think it's the cheese that takes more time to digest. I avoid eating large amounts of cheese, if any.

Yeah.. One day fermentation with grains + one day without grains = less or basically zero lactose content, super easy to digest milk proteins and increase in vitamins especially K2 and B vitamins..

 

[Sulcuscentralis]

My main question was if kefir grains would make homogenized milk any less harmful due to changes in structures in molecules.
But I guess not

For me it is easier to make kefir with homogenized milk. Pasteurized/raw milk goes bad at the room temperature before kefir is made.

Really? My raw milk kefir seems to be fine most of the times. When it turns out bad it means the raw milk was not really fresh to begin with.