Blog

Organizing for Kefir Brewing Success

Organizing comes in all shapes and forms, and as with anything in your home: the better the flow, the more efficient you can be with your time.

I am so excited to share one of my favorite things with you this week!  I am a huge advocate of nourishing our bodies and minds through fitness, wholesome eating, wise lifestyle choices, and natural remedies.  About a year ago, I decided to dive into the world of making water kefir at home.  If you have never heard of it, go here to learn about what it is and the extensive benefits it can provide.  Basically, its a fuzzy fermented beverage full of lively probiotics.

As I began the process of brewing this at home, I realized how much organization and forethought it required! I was a little overwhelmed at first, rushing place to place all over the kitchen to grab everything I needed as I brewed.  As time has passed it has become part of my every-other-day routine and I found a way to make it simple and manageable.  For those of you who have taken the plunge as well (or who might want to!), I am going to share with you how I organize my brewing so that it takes little time and stress and is easy to manage.

First of all you need to keep these three things in mind: location, convenience, and flow.  I chose to designate one shelf on one side of a kitchen cabinet as my brewing spot.

It is close to the sink, which makes it easy for washing jars (I don’t have extra jars but just wash them as I go through the process).  I keep everything in this spot that I need for brewing (minus fresh fruit, etc. for the second brew).  Here’s what’s required:

Though I buy organic sugar in bulk and store it in a large container in the pantry, I keep a jar of it in the cabinet with my brews.

I do the same with dried fruit.  I mainly rotate between apricots and figs because my grains seem to thrive well on these!

I have 2 batches of kefir brewing at a time, which is what I’ve found is reasonable and manageable for me.  Pictured and labeled below is the cabinet shelf.  I also keep the instruction sheet and other resources here, behind the jars.

I store my extra bottles in the bottom cabinet, and I use half of a drawer for supplies, which is in the same location as well.

One thing that has helped tremendously to keep things on track and prevent me from over fermenting, is keeping a note about when I last brewed.

I use paper and a pen, and just mark through each time until the paper is full.  Another idea would be to have a little dry erase board and marker, or simply write directly on the jars with a dry erase marker.

I’ve found that creating this “brewing station” has decreased the amount of time it takes me to attend the brews by at least half!  Just like anything when it comes to organizing, things are best stored where you use them.  Its worth buying an extra measuring cup, measuring spoon, etc. to have everything in one spot.

I hope this helps you as it has helped me!

Also, I’m giving away a Kefir Kit, compliments of GRUB, a community resource for food education, located right here in Wilmington, NC.  They have AMAZING classes offered frequently on topics ranging from pantry basics to cooking with food allergies. Visit their site to learn more about the support they offer, including water kefir kits!  Also go to my Facebook page to enter the giveaway!

Thanks for reading and happy brewing,

Wilmington, NC  Professional Organizer

Get Organized.  Simply Live.