A homemade yogurt thread

[FatDragon]

I rarely eat my yogurt plain, I always have to add fruit of some kind. I was adding homemade jam for a while, but lately I'm trying to add fruit without the sugar. Adding jam to yogurt was really cutting into our jam reserves, as it was probably about a 2:1 ratio of yogurt to jam for a while, so unless I completely fill our small chest freezer with jam, there is just no way I can make it work.

Adding plain sugar to yogurt doesn't really appeal to me, but maybe someday I should try adding a little honey...

If I had more jams and the like I would probably do the same, but time, space, and lack of homegrown fruit are all impediments to that plan. I often put yogurt on unsweetened Müsli, so a bit of sugar in the yogurt (pre-ferment) means I can have a bit of sweetness to my Müsli whether or not I have the time to mix in some fresh fruit (or any appropriate fruit on hand, to that matter).

I'll be back home in about an hour to see how round two of this recipe turns out. It's getting a ten hour ferment with the temp set at 37 C (which, with my setup, means most of the time will be spent around 38), everything else is the same except that I inoculated with yogurt from the first batch rather than a fresh cup. I'm expecting it to come out a bit sweeter than the first batch, which should give it an extra day or two of shelf life in the fridge before the sourness takes over the flavor profile.

 

[vnzjunk]

Here is some of my yogurt with rhubarb sauce and raspberries

Love the idea of rhubarb raspberry sauce. I don't have the raspberries available but do take rhubarb out of my garden and run some through a small electric table top chopper then dump it into my home made yogurt. I add a bit of sweetener to it and that is my evening sweet tooth satisfier. I tend to use no cal sweetener but anything one likes would do. Sometimes I throw a handful of raisins in also (non chopped).

 

[vnzjunk]

I also found that if you mix the desert up and place it in the fridge uncovered it will take on a thicker consistency reaching the low end of soft ice cream. Also the naturally red rhubarb color leeches out of the rhubarb lending a nice pinkish color to the yogurt. A little sweetner added to balance the sourness of the rhubarb and you got one heck of a desert . Once the rhubarb is finished for the year I use whatever fruit is in season the same way. I plan on freezing some rhubarb and see how that works also.

 

[Kent88]

So I just ended a run of yogurt that wasn't setting properly. More testing is needed, but I think the problem might have been temperature.

I had started just heating my extra-fortified milk mixture to 165°F, which pasteurizes it in seconds. After asking around, I was told to try heating it up to at least 180°F. Apparently the dry milk powder I add has proteins that need to be denatured or something.

So, after a run of yogurt that was runny and kind of acted like I've heard some pellacles do, I warmed it up more and it firmed up nicely.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hmmm... I wonder if the reason why it firms up is not because you denatured anything but because you evaporated off some of the water. Pasteurizing milk causes the calcium molecules to lose their tails and that prevents the calcium from coagulating. This is why when you use store bought milk to make hard cheese you are advised to add Calcium Chloride. This adds more of the calcium molecules that have the tails needed for the curds to mass together.

 

[Kent88]

I suppose it is possible, but that seems unlikely. I lose next to nothing through evaporation and I have been thickening it up with dry milk the whole time. I think it is probably the heat.

That said, I am not an expert and I have been, I'll say "amusingly corrected", a time or two when I have made wild assumptions about dairy products.

 

[bernardsmith]

ah.. You are adding dried milk. I thought you were using dried milk and then boiling off some of the water. But dried milk adds more calcium and proteins to the milk so you are essentially concentrating the milk and that should itself provide for a thicker yogurt. Why this did not work on your last batch I don't know, unless yogurt needs milk that has not been pasteurized to very high temperatures (in the same way that you cannot make good curds for hard cheese with such milk and you need to add Ca Cl to pasteurized milk - In other words, perhaps th batch of milk was pasteurized to an abnormally high temperature. And that would not be a problem for anyone but cheese makers

 

[Kent88]

I don't think I was using any ultra-high-temp-pasteurized (or whatever the term is) milk. Just regular, store bought, pasteurized milk and adding some dried milk powder.

For my next few batches I will keep raising the temperature to a little above 180°F, and if I get another runny batch I will share that information. But I think that heating the milk to that point must help it set.

 

[beermanpete]

According to an article published by The Univeristy of Alaska cooking the milk longer will help thicken the yogurt. The article is available here: https://nchfp.uga.edu/links/alaska.html

Personally, I prefer the yogurt thin and pourable. Part of the reason I make my own yogurt is to avoid the gritty texture from the thickeners used in commercial yogurt.

 

[Kent88]

Personally, I prefer the yogurt thin and pourable. Part of the reason I make my own yogurt is to avoid the gritty texture from the thickeners used in commercial yogurt.

I have tried some drinkable yogurt products lately. Not bad. They aren't refreshing, I don't feel less thirsty after having one. It's just having yogurt without needing a spoon. It's alright.

 

[beermanpete]

I have tried some drinkable yogurt products lately. Not bad. They aren't refreshing, I don't feel less thirsty after having one. It's just having yogurt without needing a spoon. It's alright.

That makes sense. Too much sugar for good hydration. I don't drink the yogurt. Mostly I eat it on cereal and fruit for breakfast. It is also good in pancakes and waffles instead of buttermilk.

 

[NeilMac]

I used to do Yogurt and now I do Keffir, I let it go a bit till it separates then use cheese cloth to drain and make Tzatziki . This mornings progress.

 

[beermanpete]

According to an article published by The Univeristy of Alaska cooking the milk longer will help thicken the yogurt. The article is available here: https://nchfp.uga.edu/links/alaska.html

I made yogurt this weekend and cooked the milk (goat) for 10 minutes at about 185 F. It did come out thicker than usual but is still pourable.

 

[NeilMac]

Mine is finally drained, now to add the cucumber and herbs.

 

[shelly_belly]

I made my first batch 2 weeks ago. I drained mine and it turned out thick. I've never been a big yogurt eater but this tastes better than any I've ever had. I've been eating it almost daily since.

 

[Kent88]

I got my hands on some raw milk to make yogurt and it turned out pretty good. Hopefully in the morning I remember to post a picture.

Edit: Here it is, before I fold it into some strawberry puree:

 

[shelly_belly]

Wow, that looks so creamy! I would like to use raw milk but it's $10/gallon here.

 

[Kent88]

You can buy raw milk? Around here the only way to get raw milk is if you own cows or a share of a farm.

I guess I should have included that you have to be really careful with raw milk. I've heard/read horror stories of people getting really sick from it. My wife grew up drinking it and has degrees in dairy production and manufacturing, so we know how to handle it.

Since when I make yogurt I always pasteurize the milk it didn't immediately register that I should include a warning, but seriously, be careful. Listeria is nasty business.

As for the differences with other batches, I think it might be a little creamier, and I can tell the milk wasn't homogenized. I also got a new yogurt starter from an in-law so I don't know how much I can attribute to the milk and what should be attributed to the new bugs.

 

[shelly_belly]

In Alabama raw milk can be purchased legally for "pet consumption" only. I did find an organic, low temperature pasteurized and non-homogenized milk in a few stores but it's $9/gallon. It does make some excellent curds. I used it in my Belper Knolle.

http://www.workingcowsdairy.com/index.php/products

Being a beginner I'm using the cheap stuff from Aldi's at an unbelievable 98 cents/gallon. It doesn't set very well but I've found if I use double the calcium, rennet, ripening and set times and slowly and gently cut and handle the curds then the curds are acceptable for cheesemaking.

 

[NeilMac]

I found 2% the best and is the least processed so it congeals better, can always add cream to make it richer, I would add 18% cream when making cheese. Calcium is essential to add.

 

[beermanpete]

I made yoghurt today! Hooray! Same as always; goat milk and the culture. I have been repitching the same Yogourmet culture for a while now and was wondering how long it will last without mutating. It improved over the first two or three generations and seems stable now.

Is there enough merit to the different cultures for sale from sources like New England Cheese Making Company to justify the cost of the shipping to try them?

 

[Kent88]

I f you are curious about different cultures, go for it.

I've had good luck using yogurt from the grocery store, but not such great luck with NECMC cultures. I have a friend that tried to get a really fancy culture, but he neglected to read their recommendations for how to take care of it and keep it alive, and it died.

If you order something, be sure to share your experiences here.

 

[shelly_belly]

I tried the Bulgarian (Y1) culture from cheesemaking.com. It was tangy and not sweet at all. I actually liked the yogurt I made using walmart's great value plain yogurt as a culture better. It was tangy and sweet. I have the sweet (Y5) and creamy (Y3) cultures also and hope to try them out soon.

 

[bleme]

For those of us with a Power Pressure Cooker instead of an InstaPot, what is a good temp to ferment at?

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure that you need to use any energy to grow yogurt cultures once you have inoculated the milk. A steady temperature of about 110 - 115 F is optimum for the culture to grow and all that means is that if you have a vacuum flask that can hold temperature for 6-12 hours you are home and dry. If you make a version of yogurt (not true yogurt) using kefir grains, room temperature for one or two days (depending on the amount of grains you use) is fine.. and in both cases if you prefer a more thick product you can simply allow the yogurt to drain through muslin cheese cloth. I also find that leaving the yogurt in a fridge for a few hours to cool thickens the paste.

 

[Kent88]

For those of us with a Power Pressure Cooker instead of an InstaPot, what is a good temp to ferment at?

110°F max. 90°-95° is probably best.

 

[Kent88]

After something of a hiatus, I finally had a chance to make some yogurt yesterday. Here it is in some raspberry rhubarb sauce.

@Yooper

 

[NeilMac]

Looks great !

 

[Yooper]

After something of a hiatus, I finally had a chance to make some yogurt yesterday. Here it is in some raspberry rhubarb sauce.

View attachment 630711
View attachment 630712
@Yooper

Ha- now you have to tell us about the raspberry rhubarb sauce! I don't "do" sugar, but I would love to hear about it anyway!
You're going to be (only moderately and for a very short time) famous!

 

[Kent88]

My wife made what I think of as a pretty standard rhubarb sauce, I mashed up some raspberries, and I mixed them together just prior to topping. Kind of anticlimactic.

 

[beermanpete]

I bought some new cultures to try. I just put up the first one, called Villi. This is a room temp incubating culture so it is very easy to work with. I will up know how it tastes in a day or two and report back.

I got this from Cultures For Health:
https://shop.culturesforhealth.com/collections/yogurt/products/heirloom-yogurt-starters

 

[beermanpete]

The Villi yogurt culture came out nice. I used goat milk and it did not thicken as much the other cultures I have used but goat milk never thickens much. It is mild compared to the other cultures I have used. This would be good for people who that think regular yogurt is too tangy. The room temperature culturing makes it super easy to use. I did not have to heat the milk or do anything to hold the temp for a few hours like I usually do. I just inoculated it and put in a kitchen cabinet for about 24 hours.

 

[Kent88]

Thanks for the update.

 

[bracconiere]

i knew i got the idea from you guys! lol

 

[Kent88]

This is good stuff:

I think the only thing they don't specify is the amount of Lyle's syrup. It's 3Tablespoons.

 

[beermanpete]

After using the Villi culture through the winter it went sour when summer came this year. Too hot I guess. After a few months witbout yogurt I am back to using store bought yogurt as the culture starter. Welcome back my old friend.

 

[Kent88]

So you had that culture for around half a year? Started in July and you took it through the winter.

I'm guessing you liked it, but not enough to immediately need to get more because the results weren't that different from using store-bought.

Or am I way off?

 

[beermanpete]

Yes, I kept the same culture going through the winter and spring. Once the weather turned hot in the summer it over developed and tasted sour (and separated.) I tried a Bulgarian culture that is warm (110°F) fermenting but it did the same thing. Maybe I did something wrong, I don't know.

After a few months without yogurt I went back to the store bought yogurt (Redwood Hill Farm) for the starter and it works fine.

 

[Kent88]

I've heard people argue that, unless you use a saison, belgian, wheat, kvick, or brett yeast, an overwhelming majority of beer yeasts produce the same flavors. I kind of feel like that applies more to yogurt cultures.

My spouse is in the dairy industry and the way she describes it the differences have more to do with the texture (which affects the packaging) of the yogurt than the flavor (not that the flavor can't be affected).

All that said, if I could get some samples of different yogurt cultures I'd love to try them out and see for myself.

 

[NSMikeD]

Glad I found this thread. I started making my own yogurt earlier this year and have been able to keep the culture going. Since then I started using my NuWave duet. I can dial in my temps and time. I bring whole milk up t0 185° for 20 minutes (the 190° setting on the duet is better at holding it there with teh cover open using my instant read to verify temp) and then let cool to 110° to add the culture, cover and let it hold at that temp for 8 - 10 hours over night letting the duet do that.

A couple of thoughts, the stainless steel pot in the duet and using the temp setting doesn't scold the bottom and leaves for an easy clean up.

I used to add powdered milk but (and I think it has to due with holding uncovered at 185° for 20 minutes) I find this procedure yield fairly solid yogurt. Not greek thickness, but good for my likes and use. If I were making greek yogurt (love taziki) I would probably add the powder and strain with a cheese cloth.

I've been making salad dressings and aoli's with it. Here is a great aoli spread: garlic, lemon juice, saffron salt and yougurt,. Use as a dip, fish taco spread or dollip into a soup or stew.


I am also hook on using it for potato salad. My sister is allergic to vinegar so I use lemon juice, garlic, diced red onion, lots of dill and yogurt (sugar or honey optional to take the edge off) - it's so good we prefer it over mayo based potato salad.