Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Measure one liter of plain raw organic fresh cream into a clean, dry, roomy glass jar. Use a jar larger than one liter to leave room for the starter and stirring.
- Measure half a cup of finished homemade milk kefir after its grains have been strained out. Add the finished kefir to the cream. Do not add kefir grains to the cream.
- Stir gently with a wooden spoon until the starter is distributed through the cream. Do not whip.
- Cover with a clean cloth secured over the jar. Leave at room temperature away from direct sunlight.
- Ferment for at least 24 hours, until sour and thickened. Cultured cream can take about a day or two depending on the cream and room. Check the food state as well as the clock.
- Cover the finished cream for storage and refrigerate. It will firm further as it chills. Measure finished cream for other recipes and keep the rest refrigerated.
Notes
Starter: Use finished, fully fermented homemade milk kefir, not grains, clear whey or milk with grains newly added.
Cream: Raw organic fresh cream is preferred. Plain pasteurized fresh cream is also permitted in the GAPS finished-kefir route when raw cream is unavailable; no automatic heating step is required for that route.
Timing: Allow at least 24 hours at room temperature and check for sourness and thickening. Katz describes cultured cream taking a day or two. The Minimum Fermentation field excludes mixing and chilling and is not a fixed full-recipe total.
Texture: Raw cream batches can vary. Refrigeration firms the finished cream further. The endpoint is cultured cream, not whipped cream or butter.
Yield: One batch from one liter cream plus half a cup kefir. No measured final volume or spoon count is promised.
GAPS: Kefir-cultured cream follows the yogurt and yogurt-culture sour-cream introduction. Contains dairy; no eggs or nuts.
Storage: Keep the completed cream covered and refrigerated. Date the jar and use clean utensils; no universal refrigerated-week count is specified here.
Scaling: At 2× use two liters cream and one cup finished kefir. Use roomy jars. Doubling the ingredients does not double the culture time.