mesophilic yogurt

[Owly055]

In about a week I'll be making my first batch of cheese........ Feta, as a result of Costco (local), no longer carrying it except is absurd small quantities for and absurd price. It's one of the most frequently used cheeses in my home. First they discontinued the bricks........which I preferred, now the large carton of crumbled feta. Being one of the easiest cheeses to make, it only makes sense to make it myself. I can play with culturing time and various other factors to achieve exactly the cheese I like, instead of buying the stock President product.
I've made so many cultured products over the years, I've lost count......... Since the day I got my first microscope at age 10 (1965), I've had a love affair with microbes, yeasts and other fungi, lactobacillus, acetobacter, stews of both....... kefir & kombucha for example, etc. I even intentionally cultured botulism once! Don't tell anybody ;-)
There is a Finnish "yogurt" called Filmjölk, which is produced using a mesophilic culture, that is said to have a unique flavor that appeals to many people....... Of course the term mesophilic covers a very broad range of bacteria...... at least I think it does. I have a notion to pitch my mesophilic culture (when I get it) and experiment with souring milk for yogurt with it............. Has anybody out there done this? What were the results?
H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

Easiest way to seed milk for yoghurt is just to use some storebought yoghurt. I use greek then strain to thicken.

Regarding Feta, it's VERY easy to make a ton of it, and if sufficiently salted will last years. I know that it's popular to cube it and store under olive oil, but I just keep it crumbled in the fridge. I make spanikopita fairly often, as my wife loves it (the pastry triangles), so I keep a feta on hand all the time.

 

[Yooper]

I store my feta in brine, and then can either crumble it or slice.

 

[Owly055]

Easiest way to seed milk for yoghurt is just to use some storebought yoghurt. I use greek then strain to thicken.

The idea is to have something different......I've made yogurt many times.................. You know by now that I'm an experimenter who habitually pushes the limits of convention, sometimes successfully, other times with less than "stellar" results. I am for example currently culturing oat milk yogurt, having worked out a good product that uses 4 cups of water to one cup of oats and a tablespoon of chia to achieve what I was looking for........ a kefir like product, rich and creamy with a nice tangy flavor......... I would not have gotten there following "convention", but I benefited from reading about what others have done.........

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

This is pretty much exactly what I had in mind.

H.W.

I store my feta in brine, and then can either crumble it or slice.

 

[z-bob]

There is a Finnish "yogurt" called Filmjölk, which is produced using a mesophilic culture, that is said to have a unique flavor that appeals to many people....... Of course the term mesophilic covers a very broad range of bacteria...... at least I think it does. I have a notion to pitch my mesophilic culture (when I get it) and experiment with souring milk for yogurt with it............. Has anybody out there done this? What were the results?

Storebought buttermilk and sour cream use mesophilic cultures. You might can get a start that way. I've never tried it.

 

[Owly055]

Storebought buttermilk and sour cream use mesophilic cultures. You might can get a start that way. I've never tried it.

I believe both are pasteurized........... though most sour cream today is acid soured, not cultured.

H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

I believe both are pasteurized........... though most sour cream today is acid soured, not cultured.

H.W.

Buttermilk is pasturized. I made a failed batch of cotswold pub cheese this weekend that would not curd. I was trying to use up a bunch of milk products left over from Thanksgiving. Gallon of 2%, half gallon of whole, half gallon of heavy cream, quart of buttermilk. The 2% and whole is homogonized and pastuerized (h/p). The other stuff is all high temp pasturized and homogonized, which makes it completely unsuitable as a major compoent of a cheese.

Anyway, extremely soft curds that would not form a cheese in the press. I ended up with a delicious chip dip though Cotswold has minced dried onion and chives in it.

BTW, there are some non-homogonized milks available now in some stores. The container will be marked "cream on top", which is what the mechanical process of homogenization prevents. This is great milk for cheese and such.

 

[z-bob]

I believe both are pasteurized........... though most sour cream today is acid soured, not cultured.

H.W.

Really? Buttermilk is pasteurized *after* it is cultured? I thought it had active cultures, and that was kinda the point. (My mom used to make me drink buttermilk whenever I was taking antibiotics )

 

[Owly055]

Buttermilk is pasturized. I made a failed batch of cotswold pub cheese this weekend that would not curd. I was trying to use up a bunch of milk products left over from Thanksgiving. Gallon of 2%, half gallon of whole, half gallon of heavy cream, quart of buttermilk. The 2% and whole is homogonized and pastuerized (h/p). The other stuff is all high temp pasturized and homogonized, which makes it completely unsuitable as a major compoent of a cheese.

Anyway, extremely soft curds that would not form a cheese in the press. I ended up with a delicious chip dip though Cotswold has minced dried onion and chives in it.

BTW, there are some non-homogonized milks available now in some stores. The container will be marked "cream on top", which is what the mechanical process of homogenization prevents. This is great milk for cheese and such.

View attachment 548896

Years ago when I lived in Missoula (early to mid '70's), there was a raw milk dairy there, and I made a weekly run out there for my friends and neighbors.... and myself. I was badly spoiled by having good raw whole milk. Unfortunately a number of years later, in spite of their rigorous regimen of testing, sanitation, etc, they developed a problem with undulant fever, and of course were shut down, and the state shortly put an end to the raw milk dairies. I've often had access to fresh raw milk and cream since from local people with a milk cow of several, and had access to a cow I was welcome to milk and keep the milk on occasion when the owner wanted to go somewhere. I've also milked goats and sheep............. That's all pretty much dried up in recent years. Dairy animals are a ball and chain, and nobody wants to be tied down.


H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

Really? Buttermilk is pasteurized *after* it is cultured? I thought it had active cultures, and that was kinda the point. (My mom used to make me drink buttermilk whenever I was taking antibiotics )

I suppose the cultures could be added after the pastuerization.

Years ago when I lived in Missoula (early to mid '70's), there was a raw milk dairy there, and I made a weekly run out there for my friends and neighbors.... and myself. I was badly spoiled by having good raw whole milk. Unfortunately a number of years later, in spite of their rigorous regimen of testing, sanitation, etc, they developed a problem with undulant fever, and of course were shut down, and the state shortly put an end to the raw milk dairies. I've often had access to fresh raw milk and cream since from local people with a milk cow of several, and had access to a cow I was welcome to milk and keep the milk on occasion when the owner wanted to go somewhere. I've also milked goats and sheep............. That's all pretty much dried up in recent years. Dairy animals are a ball and chain, and nobody wants to be tied down.


H.W.

I can still get raw goat and cow milk here. There is a local source that sells at a little saturday open-air market. Don't tell anybody, I suppose it's only a matter of time before that gets shut down.

 

[bernardsmith]

BTW, there are some non-homogonized milks available now in some stores. The container will be marked "cream on top", which is what the mechanical process of homogenization prevents. This is great milk for cheese and such.

View attachment 548896

Are these milks "organic". Organic milk tends to be pasteurized at very high temperatures, I think. Too high to allow for cheese making.

 

[passedpawn]

Are these milks "organic". Organic milk tends to be pasteurized at very high temperatures, I think. Too high to allow for cheese making.

You're exactly right about organic milk being UHTP.

This particular brand, which is one that I've used, claims that it is "gently" pasteurized. I have no idea if it's truly organic (nor do I care ). I've used this milk to make cheese and it worked fine.

You can usually tell by the expiration date if it's UHTP. It's likely months instead of weeks. It's usually marked UHTP too.