On what milk for milk kefir: any animal milk works, and whole cow’s milk is the reference. The quantities never change: 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, no added sugar, 24 hours at 20 to 25 °C. Plant drinks work only in alternation with real milk.
The figures on this page
To the question what milk for milk kefir: any animal milk works, and whole cow’s milk is the reference. The milk changes the result far more than the culture does, because milk kefir is made almost entirely of milk.
The quantities stay the same whichever milk you choose: 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, no added sugar, 24 hours at 20 to 25 °C.
Whole gives the creamiest result and is what most people picture when they think of milk kefir. 110 to 130 kcal per 200 ml glass, with about 6 to 7 g of protein and about 240 mg of calcium.
Semi skimmed gives about 90 kcal and a thinner result, with protein and calcium almost unchanged. This is the choice for lowering the energy without losing the rest.
Skimmed gives about 70 kcal and a distinctly thinner, sharper result. It works, but many people find it too watery to enjoy.
The practical rule: to cut calories you change the milk, not the culture. Reducing the grains only slows the ferment and leaves the nutrition figures untouched.
The milk changes the result, not the recipe. 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, no sugar, 24 hours.
| What goes in | Water kefir, 1 litre | Milk kefir, 1 litre |
|---|---|---|
| Culture | 30 g of grains | 10 to 20 g of grains |
| Liquid | 1 litre of unchlorinated water | 1 litre of milk |
| Sugar | 4 tablespoons, about 60 g | none, the lactose is enough |
| Dried fruit | 1 fig or 2 dried apricots | none |
| Citrus | 1 lemon or 1 orange | none |
| Duration | 24 h, up to 48 h | 24 h |
| Temperature | 20 to 25 °C | 20 to 25 °C |
This is the point that explains the whole page, and it is worth saying out loud because it changes how you think about what milk for milk kefir.
A litre of milk kefir is a litre of milk plus 10 to 20 g of grains. By mass the culture is under 2 per cent of what is in the jar. Everything else, energy, fat, protein, calcium and texture, comes from the milk.
Fermentation changes three things: it consumes part of the lactose, it drops the pH from about 6.7 to about 4.2 to 4.6, and it produces traces of alcohol of 0.2 to 1 per cent. From that come the creaminess and the tart taste.
It does not meaningfully change the fat, the protein or the calcium. Those stay as the milk had them, which is exactly why the type of milk is the main variable.
The concrete consequence: choosing the milk is the only decision that really matters here, and you can change it every cycle without any consequence for the culture.
Goat’s milk. Works exactly like cow’s, at about 120 kcal per glass, and gives a much stronger taste. The fat profile is different and the set a little softer. People who like goat’s milk like its kefir; people who do not are not converted by it.
Sheep’s milk. Much richer: about 180 kcal per glass. The result is dense, almost spoonable, and the taste is intense. It works well but it is hard to find fresh and costs more than double.
A note on the grains: switching milk from one cycle to the next does not harm the culture. Going from cow to goat and back needs no adaptation period. The grains change a little in texture, and that is all.
Pasteurised is the ordinary case and the most predictable. No competing microorganisms, consistent results.
UHT works and often gives a thinner result, because the high temperature treatment has already altered the proteins. Compensate by extending two or three hours.
Raw gives a fuller result, which is pleasant, but it brings its own microorganisms. The result therefore varies more from cycle to cycle, and you have to accept some irregularity. Guidance on unpasteurised dairy comes from your national food safety body, not from us, and fermentation is not a pasteurisation step.
Lactose free milk works: the lactose is already split into glucose and galactose, and the culture uses both. It is slower, often 30 hours rather than 24, and the result is milder. On what milk for milk kefir this is the answer for someone wanting to limit lactose while staying with dairy.
On one point we are careful by obligation. We do not claim that kefir made with lactose free milk is tolerable for someone with a diagnosed intolerance. That would be a health claim, and none is authorised. Anyone with a diagnosis discusses it with the person who made it.
Five mistakes account for almost every question we receive. They have nothing to do with skill and everything to do with assumptions that are reasonable and wrong.
First, cutting the sugar. By far the most common. The 4 tablespoons per litre feed the grains, not the drinker. After 24 hours a good part is gone. Halving it starves the culture, and within three cycles it stops multiplying. For a less sweet drink, extend the time.
Second, chlorinated water. Chlorine is made to kill microorganisms, and it does the same to your culture. Bottled water, filtered water, or tap water left uncovered for 12 hours all solve it.
Third, a jar that is too small. A litre of drink needs a 1.5 litre jar. The carbon dioxide has to go somewhere. A jar filled to the brim overflows and smells unpleasant within two days.
Fourth, rinsing every cycle. The grains are rinsed only when visibly coated, in cool unchlorinated water. Rinsing at every turn takes away the film that protects them.
Fifth, metal. A plain metal sieve or spoon reacts with the acidity. Plastic or stainless steel solves it, and it is the only point where equipment genuinely matters.
Many people write to us after the second cycle, because the drink is not what they expected. That is normal, and here is the usual course.
The first day is only a wake-up. 30 cl of water, 40 g of sugar, 24 hours, no fig and no citrus. The liquid from that cycle is poured away. It is the run-up, not a drink.
The first week is uneven. One jar flat, the next too sweet, the third already better. The grains are settling into your water and your kitchen temperature. Strain daily all the same, with unchanged quantities.
By the second week the rhythm holds. Bubbles at the rim, a tart taste, the fig at the top. From then on you do not need the clock, you can see it.
Between weeks three and six you divide. The grains have multiplied, and the surplus starts a second jar, or is dried on baking paper and kept.
This is the question we are asked most often, and the straight answer is not the one people hope for.
They work, in the short run. Soy and coconut give the best results, reasonably thick and pleasantly tart. Almond and thin oat give watery, unconvincing results.
The problem is food. Milk kefir grains live on lactose, and a plant drink has none. Over a handful of cycles they lose mass, shrink and stop multiplying.
How to do it anyway: alternate. One cycle on a plant drink, then one cycle in real milk to regenerate, which you do not have to drink. Or keep two portions of grains, one for milk and one for plant drinks, replacing the second regularly.
And the most honest option: anyone who wants to ferment without dairy takes water kefir. It is a different culture, built for sugared water, it multiplies and it lasts for years. It costs less and it does not work against the biology. We write that while also selling milk kefir grains.
| Volume | Grains | Jar | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 ml | 3 to 5 g | 0.5 litre | 24 h |
| 500 ml | 5 to 10 g | 0.75 litre | 24 h |
| 1 litre | 10 to 20 g | 1.5 litre | 24 h |
| 2 litres | 20 to 40 g | 3 litres | 24 h |
The ratio holds at 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, and the jar is about one and a half times the volume. The duration does not change with the quantity, and it does not change with the milk either, with the single exception of lactose free milk which runs a few hours longer.
For the classic result: whole pasteurised cow’s milk. 10 to 20 g of grains, 24 hours, nothing else.
For fewer calories: semi skimmed. About 30 kcal less per glass, protein and calcium almost unchanged.
For a stronger taste: goat’s milk.
To limit lactose while staying with dairy: lactose free milk, extending a few hours.
To ferment without dairy: water kefir, not milk kefir on a plant drink.
Whatever you decide on what milk for milk kefir, the quantities do not change: 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, no sugar, 24 hours at 20 to 25 °C. That is the one line that stays identical in every case.
The health claims authorised in the European Union are listed in the register of the European Food Safety Authority. Guidance on home food hygiene is published by the Food Standards Agency.
Live cultures, water and milk
Shipped hydrated and active, ready for the first cycle on the day they arrive.
See the culturesThe choice of milk changes the result far more than the culture does. The recipe, by contrast, never changes: 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, 24 hours.
And if your question about what milk for milk kefir comes from wanting to avoid dairy altogether, the honest answer is not a plant drink. It is water kefir. It costs less, it lasts for years, and it does not work against the culture’s biology.
Any animal milk works. Whole cow’s milk is the reference and gives the creamiest result. The quantities stay the same whichever you choose: 10 to 20 g of grains per litre, no added sugar, 24 hours at 20 to 25 °C.
Yes, and it gives about 70 kcal per glass instead of 110 to 130, with a distinctly thinner and sharper result. It works, but many people find it too watery.
By changing the milk, not the culture. Semi skimmed gives about 90 kcal per glass instead of 110 to 130, with protein and calcium almost unchanged. Reducing the grains only slows the ferment.
Yes, at about 120 kcal per glass and with a much stronger taste. The fat profile is different and the set a little softer. People who like goat’s milk like its kefir.
It works well and gives a dense, almost spoonable result with an intense taste. It is much richer, about 180 kcal per glass, hard to find fresh and more than twice the price.
Yes, and it often gives a thinner result because the high temperature treatment has already altered the proteins. Compensate by extending the ferment two or three hours.
It gives a fuller result but brings its own microorganisms, so the outcome varies more from cycle to cycle. Pasteurised is more predictable. And fermentation is not a pasteurisation step. It lowers the pH, nothing more.
Yes. The lactose is already split into glucose and galactose and the culture uses both. It is slower, often 30 hours rather than 24, and the result is milder.
Only in the short run. Soy and coconut work best, almond worst. But there is no lactose, so the grains lose mass over a handful of cycles. Alternating with real milk solves it, and water kefir solves it better.
Yes, with no adaptation period and no harm. Going from cow to goat and back changes only the texture of the grains a little.
