How to Make Creme Fraiche, Buttermilk, and Kefir (recipes)

Crème Fraiche recipe

Put 1 tbsp. whole-milk buttermilk, good-quality commercial buttermilk, or Crème Fraiche from previous batch in 2 cups of heavy cream in wide-mouth mason jar. Place on the counter in a warm place until it thickens (about 24 hours). Place in fridge. Will keep for quite a long time. Use as a replacement for sour cream--it's better for you, and tastes better, too!

Whole-Milk Buttermilk

Put 1/4 cup good-quality commercial buttermilk or buttermilk culture (leftover from making butter) into 4 cups whole milk and leave on counter at room temperature for approximately 12 hours until it thickens. Stir and put into fridge. Will keep for a long time.

Kefir

There are a couple of ways to make kefir. I have not found another site on the internet that makes it the exact way that I do, but my way still works.

How I make it:

Originally, I started with powdered kefir culture. You can also start with kefir grains. Stir 1 pkg of powder into 2 quarts of whole milk in glass jar; cover. Leave on counter for 12-24 hours, until curds begin to form. Stir and place in fridge for 8 hours to stop the process.

After this, and because we go through so much at a time, this is what I do:

Put 3-4 cups kefir in 1-gallon glass jar. Fill with whole milk; cover. Leave on counter for about 24 hours, stir and place in fridge. We go through one of these every day and a half.

If the kefir separates into curds and whey, no problem--just mix it together before serving. It just means it was either left longer than necessary, or that the place it was fermenting was a bit warmish.

If you find your kefir is watery, you are probably not using milk with enough cream in it. I found this to happen when I was using some Holstein milk that had been skimmed. If you are using store-bought whole milk, this shouldn't happen, or if you make sure you do not skim your raw milk.