Probiotic-Rich Apple Cider Kefir: Recipe 🍎
Tara Carpenter, NC.
Nutrition Consultant helping people of all ages to heal from yeast, bacteria, and viral overgrowth/infection.
Originally published on September 19, 2019.
If you are looking for an affordable way to get your daily probiotic dose then this recipe is for you! I learned to make this Apple Cider Kefir recipe while healing a systemic yeast infection that had me suffering daily from bloating, constipation, skin issues, and fatigue. Making (and drinking!) this probiotic beverage, along with other unsalted cultured foods (i.e. milk kefir, hemp milk kefir) helped me feel more comfortable again in my body.
In the throes of my discomfort, I made a promise to share all I learned with other sick people in the same boat IF I EVER GOT BETTER. I did get better with tremendous focus and time spent in the kitchen. Now, I am here (without any bloating and discomfort) to share tips and tricks to combating yeast, bacteria, and viral overgrowth and infections.
Apple Cider Kefir is made with apple cider and kefir starter*. This sweet ‘n sour concoction fizzes like champagne and is seriously pure effervescence when your belly is upset for any reason. Inside this beverage lives an abundance of potent probiotic strains that can implant themselves into the digestive system (mouth to anus), burrowing deep into soft tissue lining there to help keep inflammation down and healing up. More benefits here.
Where I live in Vermont apples are typically ready to pick from late August to October with the full harvest peaking in September. Picking apples is a sweet, memorable activity and one I did often with my own children. Pressing picked or store-bought apples into cider is a way to soak up the last of the growing season and bring in a fun activity that is a practical way to engage everyone in the family or community …. even have everyone walking away with a jar or more of homemade apple cider!
Probiotic-rich Apple Cider Kefir is a probiotic beverage that can be helpful in healing digestive issues (i.e., bloating, flatulence, etc.) because the live probiotic strains in this kefir are specific to promoting gut health and balancing the inner ecosystem.
This beverage is best served in tablespoon servings when first starting if you are not used to hearty strains of probiotics. Some people start with a teaspoon. Either way you want to slowly work up to the therapeutic dose of half-cup per day in step-by-step fashion to help the digestive system acclimate to changes that often occur when a person begins to ingest live probiotics (i.e., Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei).
Probiotic-Rich Apple Cider Kefir: Recipe
2 cups homemade or storebought apple cider, like R.W. Knudsen brand**
1 packet of probiotic kefir starter
1 pint-sized Mason jar with a well-fitted sealing lid
- Sterilize jar and lid by immersing in boiling water OR spray down with food-grade hydrogen peroxide.
- Warm cider in small pot on stove until 92 degrees (skin temperature will show as a drop on your wrist will not feel like anything at all).
- Pour warm cider into the jar.
- Mix foil packet of kefir starter in cider; put clean lid on.
- Ferment at 72-75 degrees F for 18-24 hrs. until slightly fizzy and pressure has built up under lid (our incubator kit is designed to keep jars at a consistent temperature).
- Store in fridge, up to 2-4 days depending how sweet the cider is.
- Enjoy anywhere from a teaspoon to a 1/2 cup each morning when your stomach is empty.
- Feed kefir every couple days with fresh juice and/or a scoop of EcoBloom to give the probiotics living in this kefir natural sugars to feed on so they grow faster (rather than grow slowly and potentially turn the kefir into alcohol).
Transfer Instructions for Starting a New Batch
To keep your apple cider kefir around longer than 2-3 days, feed it. Here’s how I do that for my family of 4. Each morning after I pour us each a small glass, I leave about 3 tablespoons in my pint-sized jar, top with more fresh cider, and leave on the kitchen counter for about 2 hours or so before putting in fridge. If you are the only one in the house drinking your apple juice kefir then you might want to replenish with the same amount of fresh un-kefired juice and put back into fridge because there is more juice kefir then fresh juice, so it’s going to kefir even in the fridge. Does that make sense? This is my system. You may come up with one that differs. Keep in mind, I only keep a pint of juice kefir going at once because that’s what I find manageable.
*This is the kefir starter I use because it contains strong strains of probiotics known to be able to travel safely to to the intestines without getting destroyed by antibiotics, fluoride, stomach acid, or chlorinated water. Once these probiotics successfully reach the gut in intact form they quickly go about making home in the intestines where they work to keep the person in whom they are living in/the host’s gut balanced. Lactobacillus bacteria and beneficial yeast strains in this starter are sturdy enough to make transfers possible.
**Apple cider is unfiltered, often unpasteurized, and more robust in flavor. Whilst apple juice is filtered, pasteurized, and sweeter with a longer shelf life.
Reference
Gates, D. (2010). The Body Ecology Diet. Bogart, GA: B.E.D. Publications
May all bellies be happy!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links for products I believe in and use on a regular basis. See more here. All content is for general information only, primarily educational in nature, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your primary health-care practitioner that you, the reader, may require for any cause whatsoever, now or in future. Consult a primary practitioner regarding any health problem(s) you have and keep them informed to the opinions, ideas, and advice on this site that you find useful. Full disclaimer here. Email tara@happybellies.net for questions.
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