I love how much money it saves and how easy it is to make your own cultured dairy products! It really is as simple as putting the live culture into the milk and walking away. (Well, you do want to put the lid on first.) Here are my posts which explain how to make buttermilk, how to make yogurt and how to make kefir. You can do this!!
Once you’ve made a batch of any or all of the above, all you have to do to make subsequent batches is to pour the tail end of the previous batch into your fresh milk and start the process all over again. It’s easy, it saves money and it is oh so healthy! These cultured dairy products are so good for your digestion. Mmm, and yummy too!
To give you a little motivation, in case you’ve been wanting to start making your own cultured dairy products…Cultures for Health is offering to give one of you a nice package of a Traditional Yogurt Starter, a package of Milk Kefir Grains and a Buttermilk Starter. Remember, once you have the starter, as long as you keep your kefir grains alive and save the tail end of your batches of buttermilk and yogurt, you can keep making more and more batches of these delicious dairy products!
Cultures for Health is a site I fully trust for purchasing culture starters. They know what they’re doing, they are very reasonably priced and their shipping is a flat $3.99!! This is an excellent company to work with and I love their products. By the way, they’ve got more than just dairy cultures at Cultures for Health…be sure to check out all of their products!
Okay…interested in winning this prize package of from Cultures for Health? This giveaway is just a little bit different than our usual giveaways. This time, to enter you need to head over to this page on the Cultures for Health site. You can sign up right there, plus receive their free ebook full of Kefir Recipes by signing up!!
I’ll draw a random winner from all entries over at Cultures for Health on Monday, February 28.
Of course, I’d LOVE to win…but this is great info for where to buy cultures. I am a-l-m-o-s-t ready to start cheeses with the milk from our Jersey and this is what I’ve been wondering about. Thanks again for great, timely information!
Try Laura’s recipe for Mozzarella–it’s amazing!!!
Would love to try their starters! So economical! Thanks!
I went to the whole foods store and they didn’t even have this stuff! Ugh! I should learn to call first! Save me a trip to the store!
I just got the buttermilk starter culture two weeks ago and have had the BEST buttermilk and sour cream non stop since. I will never go back to store bought…..
Hi Terri. I’m also Terri. Just wanted you to know that your posting on this was just what I needed. I read Laura’s; but you also confirmed how great this was. Thanks a lot.
I would love to win this! I have been wanting to learn to make yogurt, kefir and buttermilk for sure.
I would love to win!! We love kefir here but have a hard time finding store bought whole milk versions!
Love it!! What an absolutely fabulous prize. I certainly would love a prize like this. Thanks so much.
Cool thanks! I’d been meaning to ask you about buttermilk – we buy organic milk at the grocery store, but there is no organic buttermilk option. I didn’t realize it was easy enough to make your own.
Oh this would be AMAZING! Thanks for the chance!
oh please!!!!! let me win! I have never won anything and I would LOVE these!
We have been making our own whole milk kefir from locally “grown” milk for several months, and we love it! Our grains have propagated themselves to the point that we have been able to start many people making their own as well. The benefits to our health have been phenomenal, including (we believe) helping to keep us healthier over these sicky winter months. We have pretty much sold people on the idea. I would love to get the yogurt and buttermilk starters and give the kefir starter away. Thanks for this give away.
Forget random entries – just pick me :) This is a great giveaway!
I would love to know just how easy it is to get my own cow. Do I need one? A pregnant one? How would I get from cow to milk without psychologically damaging the cow?
Or my children…
Thanks for holding this giveaway….
Great. I’ve been wanting to do kefir for a long time. It’s nice using yogurt cultures too because they last forever and it seems cheaper than buying the little tubs of organic yogurt for starter.
I just started making yogurt a month ago and I LOVE IT but i’ve never heard of making buttermilk. This is a fantastic giveaway. Thanks oh and pick me please =)
what a coincidence… earlier this week, I posted a contest on my FB page for a $25 gift certificate to Cultures for Health. such a great company! I’ll have to enter to win yours, since I can’t win my promo – ha ha!! Blessings, Kelly http://www.facebook.com/TheNourishingHome
No way! I was just about to buy cultures from them! I’ll hold off & see if I win first!
Sounds so intriguing, though I’m still a bit intimidated….I’d still love to try it and hope my kids like it! :)
Thanks for the info, I’d love to try this with my children!
Funny that we were just talking about kefir and yogurt making yesterday, and me saying I would LOVE some kefir grains. My new next door neighbors (we moved, not them) have a cow, goats, and chickens. Can’t wait to try some of my own.
OK – so which of the 9 yogurt cultures do you use? I have been singularly unsuccessful in making homemade yogurt. I’ve made warm faintly yogurt tasting milk. And I’ve made vaguely lumpy yogurt tasting milk but no actual yogurt. Enlighten me please!
Yeah, there’s a lot, huh? I prefer the “Traditional Flavored Yogurt Starter”.
I have made yummy, flavorful yogurt for years by following this method:
Warm 1 quart of milk to 180 degrees (use thermometer).
Do not boil!
Cool to 112 degrees (or anywhere between 90 and 115)
Add 1 Tbls plain yogurt (for starters, use store bought.
After that you can use some of the yogurt you made.)
Stir until the yogurt dissolves in the warm milk. Place
in glass jar and cap it. Leave in a warm place (gas oven
with pilot light or electric oven pre-heated to warm then
turned off or on a yogurt warmer – I happen to have
one). Leave overnight. In the morning it should be
thickened. Transfer to refrigerator and it will thicken
the rest of the way and be ready to eat. I also add a
little dry milk powder to thicken it (this comes after
it has cooled and before you add the starter).
I use full fat milk and also add some cream if I have it
around. The longer I leave it sit warming in the jar
(up to 24 hours) the more flavorful it becomes.
I love trying to make healthy things for my family…never tried kefir or buttermilk, but if I win, I’ll give it a try. :)
Which buttermilk culture set do you use, Laura?
I use the basic one labeled “Cultured Buttermilk Starter”. Easy to use…perfect!
I tried flavored store bought kefir a couple months ago and we all love it! I finally got up the nerve to buy my own grains. I wondered what else I could do with kefir…the ebook is amazing! Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d love to win!
I have been dying to try to make my own buttermilk, and cheeses. I make my own yogurt now, but with my own cultures…how cool would that be!?
Hi Laura! I so appreciate your website! I’m gradually trying to move my family into a more whole foods diet. Right now I’m mostly just in the learning stages. This may be a silly question but could you briefly explain Kefir to me?
Sure! Kefir is much like yogurt, although it’s not as thick, thus, it’s kind of like a drinkable yogurt. It’s live cultures are excellent for our digestion and overall stomach health. In fact, I’ve heard that kefir’s cultures are even better for us than yogurt! I usually use kefir to make smoothies.
Super giveaway! The ebook alone is wonderful!
I have been making my own yogurt and am so happy! I would love to try the other starters.
i would love to try some culture as we run through a lot of dairy
I’ve been wanting to try making some of my own dairy products, but haven’t yet. Winning this would be the perfect nudge to get me started.
Do you need raw milk to do this? I want so badly to make our own yogurt, but we live in NJ, farmers can’t sell raw milk! We don’t drink pasteurized, homogenized, but do eat LOTS of yogurt, so I would feel better using our own homemade.
No, you can use store milk or pasteurized milk, etc to make yogurt, kefir and buttermilk also!
We would love to try this! We have just been using the leftover
“milk” after making butter for our buttermilk in baking. Thanks for the chance to win:)
This is great. Thank you!
This would be so nice to win. I have been trying to decide if I wanted to do this. I am not sure I understand all of it, but would love to win it and give it a try.
Thank you for all your giveaways!!! GOD BLESS!!!
This would be a neat adventure to try.
My local health food store doesn’t have them either. I’d love to try to make my own cultured dairy products.
I make my own raw milk yogurt, but I have never tried buttermilk. Is it hard to keep the grains alive?
OMG, I have never heard of Kefir; so, I sought it out on the internet and it sounds great. So healthy and healing. I downloaded and printed the e-book at the designated website and intend on purchasing some starters for the yogurt, keifer and buttermilk. Gosh, I love buttermilk but it has gotten so expensive. I do a lot of baking and also love to use it when I do; but, I just substitute milk with white vinegar mixed in it. I even use this in my homemade cornbread because it makes it so high and fluffy. Plus, I add about 1/2 c. of mayonnaise to it as well. It takes some of the coarseness from it and helps make it easier to swallow.
I sure do want to be considered for this give away and have signed up at the website. I’m fairly new to this but I have to say I’m sure learning a lot of new things that I never was even aware of. I am so thankful for all the wonderful ideas and suggestions.
Great giveaway! Blessings.
I love cultured products and would like to try making kefir
I’ve really been wanting to give these a try. No more excuses if I win the starters!
Would love to start making my own yogurt, keifer, and buttermilk. I would love to win this.
so cool that you are giving this away… Just got my kiddos to try and they liked Kefir now I want to make some Thanks for the contest
I would love to win this! Love to eat yogurt. Eat one yogurt a day. Would like to try to make my own!!
Oh! I would love to win this!
How do we find out who won this giveaway?
So sorry for the delay! I’m still waiting to hear back from them about the winner since everyone registered there. As soon as they email me, I’ll post the winner on my blog.
I have been wanting to make my own kefir and buttermilk since finding this site! Actually I found out about kefir before this, but now I really want to try it!
A few questions though…
First of all, can you buy a “kefir starter” in powder form and get kefir grains from it? Our health food store has the freeze dried powder starter, but I dont know if that will produce the grains, or if I have to use the grains first to get more grains.
Also, how long will the grains last without making kefir? I can see myself making it a lot, but I was just wondering about the comment “keeping the grains alive.”
Also, (and I can also and might even, research this more online) but what is the difference between kefir and yogurt? I have been making my own yogurt for a little over a year now, and the directions to making kefir seem VERY similar and it seems to end in a similar result.
Thanks for putting up with all my questions!! haha
No, you buy kefir grains and they remain grains. You can instead buy kefir powder, but the investment isn’t quite as good as if you buy the grains.
The grains should last just about forever. You store them in the fridge in a little bit of milk.
Kefir is a little runnier than yogurt, more like a drinkable yogurt, and has even BETTER culture in it than yogurt, if I understand it right.
Hi Laura,
Our family is loving your new book–For Real. I am noticing that you use whipping cream regularly, and I do notice a difference in my body size when I use too much of that.
I normally simply substitute with half and half, but I was wondering if you have instructions on how to make half and half? :) Thanks!
I believe half and half is just half cream and half milk. :)