December 7th, 2009 
My Health 
I just received some kefir grains that I ordered online. They came squished, and smelling like old smelly socks. The stench is really terrible. Are they still okay to use? I put them in a jar with milk but I’m worried that the grains are contaminated. Is the stench normal? Will it go away after a few batches?
Thanks.
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Hi… Yes kefir can smell really bad but that is good… that means the kefir is alive and doing its thing… Acetobacters bacteria do the smelly work, acetobacters are a genus of acetic acid bacteria characterized by the ability to convert alcohol (ethanol) to acetic acid in the presence of air. …the tiny air bubbles produced by the kefir strains… if you cycle your kefir in fresh milk this smell will go away …. your grains are more than likely just fine they are just recovering from a long trip in not much milk… The acetobacters do really come into play unless a long fermentation with kefir has happened …. you can do a shorter fermentation… but you won’t get all the benefits you’ve read about… what happens with kefir fermentation is that the grains send out different strains of bacteria in a certain order…. first the milk is acidified and then the lacaid (milk sugars) are digested, then the yeast come into play producing good yeasts and the the smell stuff happens and with it come the bubbles… you don’t have to ferment this long but it is best to do so… oh … shorter ferments are looseners and longer ferments are binders…. try to do the longer ferments…drink extra water and exercise…. you can spoon in some fruit juice to make it taste better… you will get into it… you’ll start to like the taste and it will make you healthier… enjoy… check out http://bacteriapimp.com