First Time Yogurt

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malvado78

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Location
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Made yogurt for the first time last night.

Had it for breakfast this morn with some granola. Not bad.

Really just did it as a first step toward cheese making. I plan on either tonight or tomorrow taking some to turn into Labneh by just draining the whey for 24 hrs.

Then I will give my first rennet cheese a try.

I have been following this webpage as a process to get into it: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/cheese_course/cheese_course.htm

Its pretty in that it starts off really easy (yogurt) and steps through increasing difficult recipes ending with blue cheese.

I take exception to some of his procedures in sanitizing just because I know that you can sanitize at much lower temps than boiling and he has you boil the equipment for 10 min. :confused: But that is minute.

Been homebrewing a couple a years now and am really excited for the cheese making. Especially since it is something my wife can get into also (unlike hombrewing).

This subforum isn't terribly active and I miss having a great active forum to learn from like I had here at HBT for brewing.

So I will try to contribute some activity... :p
 
Ooooh up to 20 views...

SO last night I took another step.

I took 1 pint of yogurt mixed a 1/2 tsp of salt, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to drain the whey. This will apparently make Labneh (a soft middle eastern cheese).

Trivial step really.

I plan on mixing some garlic, thyme, and other spices into it. We'll see how it is.

Sent the wife to the store last night for some cheese cloth and Junket. Came home with cheese cloth but no Junket looks like need to order it so I can take the next step.

Which will be... a Neufchâtel.

And I will keep talking to myself in this thread for updates...:D
 
well I am interested in your progress, and would like some pics of the process if you could please, I would like to get into making my own cheeses and yogurt, I just need the time!
 
azscoob said:
well I am interested in your progress, and would like some pics of the process if you could please, I would like to get into making my own cheeses and yogurt, I just need the time!
I certainly will take some pics next time. Unfortunately I just saw your post. I Magdeburg another batch of Yogurt tonight as my family finished off the last batch. It needs some honey or something if your used to regular yogurt.

I have not been able to make any rennet cheeses since none of then grocery stores around carry it. I need to order some but havent yet.

The labneh that is made by draining the whey from yogurt tasted like sour cream cheese but isn't too bad.

This batch of yogurt I held at 185 for a half hour to make or thicker than last time. I will take pics next time.

Glad I'm not posting to myself anymore. : )
 
I looked at my local grocery, they carry rennet tablets and the vegetarian rennet in liquid form, I am going to pick some up next visit, I also have a dairy locally, maybe I can score some fresh milk and get this thing going!
 
I eat ALOT of yogurt and your post has inspired me to do some more research. I was kind of surprised when I seen how simple it is, I was expecting it to be more complicated. Guess I gotta get off my lazy ass and make a gallon... or four!
 
I have a supply of fresh goat's milk, and I've made quite a few cheeses and yogurt.

I'd suggest NOT buying the Junket and ordering some rennet online. There are some great recipes and techniques (and easy, too!) here: http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/6-Recipes.html

My all-time favorite thing I've made so far is just a simple chevre. The culture and rennet are in one package, and you just bring the milk to 86 degrees and add the culture. Leave it out overnight, and hang the cheese in the morning. It's great, and you can add anything from salt to jalapenos!
 
I eat ALOT of yogurt and your post has inspired me to do some more research. I was kind of surprised when I seen how simple it is, I was expecting it to be more complicated. Guess I gotta get off my lazy ass and make a gallon... or four!

So the yogurt is really easy. And while yogurt is fairly cheap (1 qt under $2) I am making it for about a quarter of the price. My two girls and I eat at least a half gallon of yogurt a week. I am making it for basically the price of the milk.

I did get rennet this weekend. And from what I have read you really should buy animal rennet of the web. I unfortunately ended up with vegetable rennet due to not wanting to wait for it to ship (if I would have ordered it when I originally started to look for it in stores it would be here by now.

So in the next couple days I am going to try my hand a farmhouse cheddar. Will take some pics and figure out how to post them.
 
So I have made my first batch of farmhouse cheddar. It is dried and aging.
Halfway through I remembered I was to take pics. So I got a couple and a short vid.

Also made another batch of yogurt. I did take pics for this. Trying to get a think yogurt than I have gotten in the past. I have read a few techniques for this. Previously l let the yogurt ferment for 3 hours. Well this time I let it ferment over night and it is MIGHTY sour. So I have some work to do.

I have not had a chance to post the pics will try to do so this weekend.

Brad
 
well yogert 1 me 0 it was not good. the kids would not even eat it. oh well i will try again in a few days I think it was keeping my temps steady that caused the problem it would swing from 100 to 130.
 
well yogert 1 me 0 it was not good. the kids would not even eat it. oh well i will try again in a few days I think it was keeping my temps steady that caused the problem it would swing from 100 to 130.

I was going to caution that if you are not used to plain (unsweetened unflavored) yogurt it may not be what you are expecting.

My yogurt has come out quite sour. I am still trying to perfect a fairly thick not too sour yogurt.

I have decided for thickness I will just drain it.

Still playing with the sourness. Next I am going to try a different starter bacteria. To date all my yogurt has been made off of a Stonyfield yogurt I bought. I have read that the Stonyfield cultures lead to a more sour yogurt.

So what was the problem with the taste.

The yogurt generally sweetens up well with honey for the kids. We also add cinnamon or fruit sometimes along with the honey.
 
We are watching!!! :) THanks for posting always appreciate posts and pics. Would love to learn more about the diffs between animal and vegi reminant? Would prefer no animal byproducts if poissible
 
We are watching!!! :) THanks for posting always appreciate posts and pics. Would love to learn more about the diffs between animal and vegi reminant? Would prefer no animal byproducts if poissible

I am currently using vege rennet. Not really because I care that it is not animal but because that is all I could find readily.

I have read that the animal rennet works better but I great curds from my cheese so seems to work fine.

And sorry bout the pics. I got a Ipod Touch for Christmas. THe pics are on it and I couldn't figure out how to post them from the MBT mobile app. SO I need offload to upload...
 
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