I am always on the lookout for good ideas. When an article in a recent Grass Roots magazine (GR211) mentioned making ginger ale with kefir powder or whey, my curiosity was peaked. Off to the local health food store I trotted and came away with a kefir culture along with a packet of kefir powder.
The process of making ginger ale has evolved over time. I started out mixing a sachet of kefir powder along with two tablespoons of chopped ginger, a tablespoon of honey and enough water to almost fill the 950 ml jar. Stir the honey in, loosely cap the jar, let the mix sit for a few days and then strain out the now fermented chopped ginger which can be used in my cooking. The lovely light taste of the ginger ale was delicious
To start off the next batch, add a quarter cup of the ginger ale to a clean 950 ml jar with again two tablespoons of chopped ginger, a tablespoon of honey and fill with water. I continued to follow the instructions on the kefir powder packet which mentioned that inoculating a new batch with a quarter cup of the ginger ale could be done three more times, resulting in close to 5 litres of ginger ale. I felt okay about this process, except that there was a lot of residue at the bottom of the bottle, so I searched the web for alternative processes and then remembered that kefir whey could be used instead of the powder. Fortunately, at times I have generated a significant amount of kefir whey while making my kefir, some of which I have been able to use to start ...