Home Made Water Kefir - What Brix # is okay for sugar content??

[Scooter133]

I make my own water kefir with organic raw cane juice. I saw the post about if it is allowed or not, and also the post about the kombutcha with 2g of Sugar as being one of the better ones.

I'm just getting into the kefir making as I'm trying to bulk up on my probiotics. I have the brix refractometer to measure the Sugar content. Looking on Wikipedia it seems to imply that on the Brix Scale 1 Brix is 1 gram sugar/ 100g of solution? I'm not sure exactly how that relates to the kefir.

I used the brix refractometer on some organic juice that had 22g sugar, though only registered 13 Brix.

The Kefir I make ranges from 4 brix to 13 Brix. Of course the ones that taste better are the sweeter ones. (-;

Wanted to know if I need to shelve my Grains before I start.

Thanks!

[Tom Denham]

I'd shelve the grains until after your Whole30. It's one thing to decide a little sugar is okay post Whole30 and another thing to allow "a little" for a good cause like probiotics during.

[gte510i]

Why would water kefir be verboten and not kombucha?

[Robin Strathdee]

I'll check in with Melissa for the final word on this one (though it's Tuesday, so she won't be back online until tomorrow). My opinion on the subject is that if your sugar content after fermentation is roughly on par with that of a kombucha, you should be fine. Obviously you will want to let your kefir go long enough to get a majority of the sugar out (no 13 Brix batches during your W30 ;0) ). I'll report back soon with the final word from the Head Diesel.

[Melissa Urban]

I swear, sometimes people come up with stuff just to stump us.

The sugar used in the fermentation process is all "used up" by the time the final product is made, assuming that proper fermentation time is allowed. (A tiny amount may remain, but I don't know anyone who drinks water kefir for their sugar fix.) I'm okay with you leaving this in, to remain consistent with the kombucha argument (fine, as long as they don't add additional sugars after the fermentation process)... as long as you make sure your Brix scale isn't measuring on the sweet side - ironically, a small amount of cane sugar may be healthier in this case than your 22 grams of sugary juice.

Honestly, this stuff is often a judgment call on our part, since we made the darn program up. But we do try to be consistent in our logic, so if kombucha is okay, then water kefir (properly fermented) is okay as well.

Of course, you could also go with the "when in doubt, leave it out" theory, but that becomes your decision.

Best,

Melissa