Yogurt

[Too Tall]

Its worse than that. I mis-remembered, it is 5 strains: l.acidophilus, l.bulgaricus, s.thermophilus, l. paracasei, b. bifidum.

It's like a biota pit fight. May the baddest microorganism win. That is even more interesting now.

Not a baf read.....a bit light on the science: Yogurt Fermentation with Lactobacillus Cultures

[Too Tall]

I knew my Yogurt Foo was strong when Queen left me a note this morning.

yg1.jpg

[Too Tall]

Update. I've been working on foodsafe methods of de-watering yogurt without creating more containers to clean, introducing potential contaminants or exposing it to air unnecessarily.

What I came up with are Polyvinyl Alcohol Sponges > PVA Sponge

After your batch is done and using a container with about 2" of headspace plop a freshly washed PVA sponge ontop and refrigerate. One cycle of this for a 1 gallon batch is enough to make my version of yogurt quite thick and two cycles makes yogurt cheese!

After you are done with the sponge simply clean and rinse it in hot water making sure to get it very clean with no soap residue. Squeeze out any excess water and place in a baggie into the freezer.

Mad Science eh? ha.

[Too Tall]

Update on the PVA sponge. This is the business. I've discovered that if I simply wash and freeze the sponge that the small remaining culture will affect your batch. Prior to adding the sponge I'll simmer it in a pot of water. PVA sponges are very tolerant of some heat.

I'm done, this method is yielding consistent and excellent results.

[Too Tall]

Yogurt has been a household hit. Freshly made and ready tue. morning. Since my batches are so consistent I thought it time to use a continuous culture with excellent results. We simply save a cup of the old batch, bring it to room temp and whisk it into 110F (boiled) milk with some powdered milk and a wee bit of honey.

Also, a huge find at Tuesday Morning was a Viking 3-ply SS sauce pan which will save me from having to carefully clean my copper sauce pan every week.

lactobacillus bulgaricus is king.


newpot.jpgyog1.jpgyog2.jpgyog3.jpg

[Too Tall]

Thought I'd check in and show off a bit. Yogurt making is settling into a groove. I'm sure everyone through habit and trial refine their own process. Finally, I'm making consistently excellent yogurt each week. One half gallon is more than enough for the two of us and some for the super pooch.

Without a doubt the house favorite is madagascar vanilla bean and local honey whisked into the batch after it is done.

yog1.jpg

[prcrstn8]

I like Siggi's. It's great.

Yes. Vanilla, please.

I gave up trying to mix stuff in. A bite of this, then a spoonful of that, followed by a few of those and it all ends up in the same place.

[TMB]

May have to do this. I am a big fan of the Icelandic style yogurts. Whole milk, raw and tart.

Very difficult to find in Canada due to restriction on importation of raw milk product.

May have to make my own.

[rydesteel]

Toots, I just chuck a 1/2 cup from the old batch into a bowl straight from the fridge add a cup or so warm whole milk from the pot after it's cooled whisk it together and mix it in. I use a couple Quart jars, a cooler and HOT tap water wrap in a couple towels with a heat pad in between and let it sit for about 10 hours. Glass is easy to clean and I have been getting very consistent results. It's the thickest yogurt I've ever made, almost like Greek yogurt and I haven't needed to strain it. I'll try the vanilla and honey in a jar and see what the girls think, I like mine tart and unsweetened over fruit and granola with a bit of honey.

[Too Tall]

I like your style Frank. Mrs Too Tall likes it smooth and not tangy thusly. I've quit draining the yogurt now that I found the right temps to add culture.

[Too Tall]

Welllll I've changed my habits and wanted to update this thread. I'm using simmered milk, cooled to 100F than into a instantpot on the "yogurt" setting which holds it at 100F for 7 hrs. Pic. below is 1/2 gal. of organic milk from Trader Joe's. I'll whisk some vanilla and powdered sugar in than leave it alone for another 30 mins.

This is by far the easiest and best method of all the whack job methods I've tried.

FWIIW I got the initial culture going using a cup of grassfed whole milk plain yogurt.

yog1.jpg

[guido]

Just decanted my first batch of yogurt in my old style "no-yogurt-setting" IP. I found a method on the google so I gave it a go.

1/2 gallon High Lawn Farm whole milk and 5tbs Side Hill Farm whole milk yogurt as starter.

Started it with 40 minutes on keep warmsetting, then switched to saute setting to bring it to 185. Pulled the inner pot and let it cool to 110 when I added the starter whisked it through and put the inner pot back in the outer shell, sealed it up, wrapped the whole thing in a towel to give it extra insulation, and with the power off let it do it's thing for 15 hours. I then whisked it to smooth it out before putting it into 2 cleaned tubs and into the fridge to chill.

My initial impression (can't let what was left in the pot go to waste...) is that it is more runny than I would have liked and definitely less tangy than I would have expected given it's parentage. But it definitely is yogurt and was a blast to make.

Given the kitchen gets rather cool over night and without supplemental heat, next time I'm going to give it longer and another tsp of starter...

[guido]

It thickened quite nicely with 24 hours in the fridge. The taste is still a bit on the delicate end of the scale but still ahead of most commercial... Side Hill doesn't have to worry quite yet...

[Too Tall]

That's nearly exactly how I do this. As you discovered the yogurt will setup (thicken) after a rest. Why not use the "yogurt" setting on the IP after you cool it to 105F? Mine is done in 7 or 8 hrs. to perfection.

If you want a more tangy taste I can tell you to stop using what we both are using. The commercial yogurts are a mix of two strains of yogurt culture which produce fairly mild yogurt.

Go find yourself a neighbor from India who has smuggled their family yogurt out of the country and bribe them for a starter batch. My Mumbai neighbor has such a strain and it's pretty much on point to what you describe.

[guido]

That's nearly exactly how I do this. As you discovered the yogurt will setup (thicken) after a rest. Why not use the "yogurt" setting on the IP after you cool it to 105F? Mine is done in 7 or 8 hrs. to perfection.

If you want a more tangy taste I can tell you to stop using what we both are using. The commercial yogurts are a mix of two strains of yogurt culture which produce fairly mild yogurt.

Go find yourself a neighbor from India who has smuggled their family yogurt out of the country and bribe them for a starter batch. My Mumbai neighbor has such a strain and it's pretty much on point to what you describe.

I got the cheaper version of the IP without that setting. "why would I want to make yogurt?" I wondered. Silly boy... May need to make that upgrade if this becomes a habit...

I'm not willing to accept defeat on my first attempt... The stuff I used as started is plenty tart. If it works for them why wouldn't it work for me? I'm going to look at my technique some more before I throw in the towel...

I have 19 more days of work before I loose my Indian co-workers... If I don't have it nailed before then I'll ask for a sample...

[Too Tall]

I got the cheaper version of the IP without that setting. "why would I want to make yogurt?" I wondered. Silly boy... May need to make that upgrade if this becomes a habit...

I'm not willing to accept defeat on my first attempt... The stuff I used as started is plenty tart. If it works for them why wouldn't it work for me? I'm going to look at my technique some more before I throw in the towel...

I have 19 more days of work before I loose my Indian co-workers... If I don't have it nailed before then I'll ask for a sample...

My suspicion regarding why the IP works so well is the consistent heating of the entire vessel. FWIIW My Mumbai neighbor is getting fantastic results using a crockpot. I'm dubious because I thought the low setting on a crockpot was well above 100F. Might be worth a try. I've got several old crockpots and glad to test the theory for you.

Oh wait...another friggin gadget. Nevermind ;)

[sailor]

Anyone try using unopened pasturized milk without simmering first? We go through a lot of yogurt in my house but I don't want to add much fuss.

[Too Tall]

Anyone try using unopened pasturized milk without simmering first? We go through a lot of yogurt in my house but I don't want to add much fuss.

It is hit and miss for me. I don't see the harm. When I was in college we never simmered milk. Mind you we were kinda into the Kefir result.

[guido]

Day two. Tang continues to build. I may not have to change a thing... Wow what a nice bowl of yogurt!

[Too Tall]

Good report. Sounds like you are on it.