For a break of up to three weeks, put your grains in fresh milk (or sugar water, for water kefir) and keep them in the fridge. For a longer break, dry them and keep them in an airtight bag in the fridge for up to six months.
Milk kefir grains
A break of up to 3 weeks
- Use grains that have been making kefir for a few weeks. Healthy, established grains cope best.
- Put them in 2 to 4 cups of fresh milk. For a longer break, use more milk, which keeps the grains fed.
- Close the jar with a tight lid and keep it in the fridge. The grains stay healthy for up to 3 weeks.
A longer break, up to 6 months
- Rinse the grains well with clean water.
- Spread them on unbleached parchment paper in a safe place, away from sun and heat, and let them dry for 3 to 5 days.
- Put the dry grains in an airtight bag with a small spoonful of powdered milk, and keep the bag in the fridge for up to 6 months.
Starting again
From the fridge, lift the grains out of the storage milk, put them in fresh milk and culture as usual. It can take a couple of batches before they are fully active again. The storage milk is fine to drink if it smells and tastes pleasant. Dried grains need to be woken in milk over several days: follow the instructions that came with them.
Water kefir grains
- Up to 3 weeks: keep the grains in 1 litre of sugar water in the fridge.
- Longer: rinse and dry them for 3 to 5 days, then keep them in a bag in the fridge for up to 6 months.
- Restarting: give them 3 to 4 days in fresh sugar water before you trust the flavour.
A kombucha SCOBY
Do not put a SCOBY in the fridge. Keep spare SCOBYs in a jar of strong kombucha under a cloth, at room temperature, and top it up with sweet tea every 4 to 6 weeks. This is often called a SCOBY hotel.
A holiday checklist
- Make a last batch, strain the grains and refresh them with new milk or sugar water.
- Seal the jar, label it with the date and put it in the back of the fridge.
- Plan to restart a day or two before you want to drink kefir again.
- Going away for more than three weeks? Dry the grains, or ask a friend to feed them.
Why not just leave them in the jar?
Grains left in the same milk or sugar water on the counter run out of food. In milk, more than 48 hours is too long, and the grains may starve. The fridge slows everything down so they can wait.
A spare set is cheap insurance. Dehydrated Milk Kefir Grains keep in the cupboard until you need them. If your grains look off when you restart them, see Kefir grains troubleshooting.
Sources: Cultures for Health, Milk kefir: how to take a break, and Water kefir: frequently asked questions, opened 10 October 2026. Written by KefirBuy.
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