The Baileys Homestead

If you’ve ever wondered whether milk kefir or sourdough is actually better for your gut, you’re not alone!

Milk kefir and Sourdough are both powerful, gut-friendly foods that deserve respect in their own right. They are also incredibly versatile in everything they can do and offer top-tier health benefits when they are consumed consistently.

Fermentation Process

Milk kefir is a highly fermented milk made with milk kefir grains and milk. The grains are actually live cultures that feed on the lactose in milk. They produce beneficial bacteria and capture wild yeast in their environment. Sourdough (starter) is made with flour and water. This happens through a fermentation process. It also captures natural wild yeast in the environment.

Health Benefits

Milk kefir is able to offer tons of health benefits through just drinking it! It has billions of beneficial bacteria strains and dozens of colonies, sometimes 60+ depending on it’s environment. That’s more than your average probiotic supplement or container of yogurt.

Sourdough starter also has tons of health benefits, but it can’t be consumed through drinking it. I mean, I guess it could, but doesn’t seem very appealing. It typically has to be cooked. So it loses most, if not all, probiotics through the cooking process. However, one thing sourdough does really well is improve digestibility. The fermentation process actually starts breaking down gluten and starches before you even eat it.

Probiotics vs Prebiotics

• Milk kefir = probiotics (live bacteria you consume)

• Sourdough = mostly prebiotics after baking (feeds good bacteria)

Milk kefir is full of live, beneficial bacteria that you actually consume when you drink it. Sourdough is a little different. Since it’s baked, most of the live bacteria don’t survive—but it still feeds your gut in another way.

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Taste and textures

Milk kefir tastes like what you would imagine a drinkable yogurt would be. It can also be used in cooking or baking! It makes a wonderful artisanal bread. The taste has that fermented tang like sourdough bread offers. However, milk kefir’s bread is milder. It has just a hint of sweetness. The crust is also a little bit softer. The crumb is light and fluffy. The kefir bread does not have as much rise as sourdough bread.

Sourdough bread, has that famous tang that it is known for. That rustic golden crust that you definitely need a good knife to be able to cut through. The crumb is beautifully light, fluffy, and airy.

Practical tips

I have made sourdough recipes for quite a few years and it can definitely get complicated and overwhelming when you’re on a time crunch. While I love sourdough, milk kefir gets the edge on being less stressful to deal with. To start a sourdough starter, it will take several days. After that, you need to strengthen it to make good bread. To make milk kefir, you just order some grains. When you get them, put them in a mason jar with a cup of milk. After that, loosely cover it. Let them ferment for two days on the counter. Make sure to start this on the first day you get it. Strain it, and then you have kefir!

If you’re already making kefir, I love using it in things like my kefir bread, waffles, or even making cheese with it. It’s such an easy way to use it daily.

My recommendation

Milk kefir and sourdough are both wonderful fermented foods to incorporate into the diet. However, I do think milk kefir wins in terms of versatility. It can be cooked with and it is drinkable. Sourdough wins when it comes to bread. It can rise more. Nothing can beat its crumb. That’s just sourdough’s specialty. Kefir wins when it comes to ease. It’s just much, much easier to make and maintain.

However, if you want to just be done with sourdough for a while, you can leave it in the fridge for a year untouched and it will come back to life with a couple of feedings. So I will definitely give it that. Milk kefir you can’t do that with. I have brought it back after about 6 months untouched, but the grains were practically disintegrated and I only had about two small grains left and had to baby the kefir for a couple of jars.

When to Choose Each

Choose milk kefir if:

• You want something simple
• You want probiotics daily
• You want versatility
• You don’t want to babysit a starter

Choose sourdough if:

• You love baking bread
• You want that artisan texture
• You enjoy the process

FAQ

Is milk kefir healthier than sourdough?
It depends. Milk kefir contains live probiotics, while sourdough supports digestion and nutrient absorption in a different way.

Can you use milk kefir instead of sourdough starter?
Yes! Milk kefir can be used to ferment bread, though it won’t rise quite as much as traditional sourdough.

Does sourdough still have probiotics after baking?
Most probiotics don’t survive baking, but sourdough still supports gut health through prebiotics.

Where to buy Milk Kefir Grains?

I love Yemoos Culture for ordering my Kefir grains because they’re live and have never been frozen or dried.