By the next morning, the grains will have risen to the top and the milk will kind of hold together like yogurt. When it gets to this point it is ready to strain and start a new batch. Sometimes I let it go too long and the whey starts to separate from the kefir, with the clearish liquid on the bottom and the kefir rising to the top. If that happens I just use a wooden spoon to stir it up before straining it. Here is what that looks like:

When it is ready then, I get my funnel and strainer and a clean jar. I use the wooden spoon to stir up the grains/kefir to make it easier to strain. I then strain the kefir grains out. You will have to use a wooden spoon to stir the grains in the strainer to get all the liquid to go through. I even sometimes have to kind of push the grains against the edge of the strainer to get all the kefir squeezed out of the grains. This is what the grains will look like:

Once I have it strained, I dump the kefir grains* back in the jar they were in, add milk to the jar with the grains, stir, put the paper towel or coffee filter on it, secured with a rim or rubber band, and set it on the counter, starting a new batch that will be ready in about 24 hours.

The above video shows how to strain the grains.

Take the finished kefir that you strained off the grains, put a plastic lid on the jar, and store in the refrigerator. If you want to do a second ferment, you can read those instructions in the next lesson.

*See Q&A section on what to do when the kefir grains multiply and you have too many. As the grains multiply, you will need to remove some of them because if you have too many it will culture the milk too fast. When you notice that happening, it is time to get rid of some of them.