Re: Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

[Guest guest]

Thanks , I've been reading their web site with great interest! I do believe

they would be worth calling.

Janet

Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

Janet,

> I've considered trying pectin, but have not been able to find a

reliable source or find any information on using it in Yogurt.

Redwood Hill (goat milk yogurt) uses pectin in their yogurt, so maybe

they could provide you info. Last I checked (a year ago?) they

weren't yet organic, but were intending to become so.

Their website: www.redwoodhill.com and their phone #: 707-823-8250

[Guest guest]

This is a wonderful idea, but we don't seem to have any of the separation that

you talk about until the yogurt has set for 24 hours in the refrigerator. It

might be that you are " making " your yogurt at a much warmer temperature than I

am. I let mine set at 87 degrees (31 degrees C) for 12 hours. Someone else

mentioned that I might want to try a warmer temp.

So you find that the cream rises to the top while you're making your yogurt?

When I take mine off lately I find the upper few inches appear to be very yellow

in color. I usually use my hand blender to blend it back into the yogurt, but

the blending makes the yogurt more like a thick milk. I'm wondering if the

blending changes the yogurt in some way.

The other problem would be that I make 5 gallons at a time, so we would have to

come up with a way to strain that much. I guess it's possible, just time

consuming. Do you strain your yogurt even if it's not separated?

Thanks for your help,

Janet

Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

Hi Janet

I have been making raw yoghurt every week for the past 8 months now

so maybe I can offer some thoughts. We are able to buy organic raw

milk from jersey cows in Australia so the ingredients should be

similar to yours. I heat the milk to 38 degress C, add the starter

and keep it at this temp for 8 hours. The flavour is excellent.

Before I store the yoghurt in the fridge I strain it through a hand

held kitchen strainer ie I pour the yoghurt mixture into the

strainer, give it a gentle shake from side to side and seperate some

of the whey from the yoghurt (I keep the whey for soaking and

drinking), then pour the strained (thicker) mixture into a seperate

container. This can also be done by letting the yoghurt mixture sit

in a fridge overnight and some whey will seperate from the yoghurt,

then just pour it off. Once we have the strained thick mixture ready,

we blend it with a hand mixer and viola, thick raw yoghurt, YUM.

Regards

M

[Guest guest]

Janet,

Love your waterbed heater setup! We were using one for a homemade hydroponic

bed in our greenhouse. Problem was that it attracted water snakes from our

beaver pond. That was the end of that even though hubby got a kick out of my

refusal to go in there anymore. Waterbed heaters go up to body temperature at

least. Do you have your setup enclosed, covered and insulated? This may

help to

get your temp to 105. What is your 5 gallon container. Is it upright glass

jars

or a 5 gallon shallow dish? Depth could be an issue. Love cream on the top. Is

there any way you could use mason or small milk jars that get returned by your

customers, cleaned for next batches? That would leave cream on top, maybe

solve the runniness of large batches and give a ready for customer product.

Wanita

At 06:50 AM 7/7/03 -0500, you wrote:

>This is a wonderful idea, but we don't seem to have any of the separation

that

you talk about until the yogurt has set for 24 hours in the refrigerator.  It

might be that you are " making " your yogurt at a much warmer temperature than I

am.  I let mine set at 87 degrees (31 degrees C) for 12 hours.  Someone else

mentioned that I might want to try a warmer temp.

>

>So you find that the cream rises to the top while you're making your yogurt? 

When I take mine off lately I find the upper few inches appear to be very

yellow in color.  I usually use my hand blender to blend it back into the

yogurt, but the blending makes the yogurt more like a thick milk.  I'm

wondering if the blending changes the yogurt in some way.

>

>The other problem would be that I make 5 gallons at a time, so we would have

to come up with a way to strain that much.  I guess it's possible, just time

consuming.  Do you strain your yogurt even if it's not separated?

>

>Thanks for your help,

>Janet

>

> Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

>

>

>Hi Janet

>

>I have been making raw yoghurt every week for the past 8 months now

>so maybe I can offer some thoughts. We are able to buy organic raw

>milk from jersey cows in Australia so the ingredients should be

>similar to yours. I heat the milk to 38 degress C, add the starter

>and keep it at this temp for 8 hours. The flavour is excellent.

>Before I store the yoghurt in the fridge I strain it through a hand

>held kitchen strainer ie I pour the yoghurt mixture into the

>strainer, give it a gentle shake from side to side and seperate some

>of the whey from the yoghurt (I keep the whey for soaking and

>drinking), then pour the strained (thicker) mixture into a seperate

>container. This can also be done by letting the yoghurt mixture sit

>in a fridge overnight and some whey will seperate from the yoghurt,

>then just pour it off. Once we have the strained thick mixture ready,

>we blend it with a hand mixer and viola, thick raw yoghurt, YUM.

>

>Regards

>M

>

>

>

>

>

>     

[Guest guest]

> let mine set at 87 degrees (31 degrees C) for 12 hours.

Boy, I should think that's way too cold for yogurt. I used to keep mine

closer to 100 when I made it regularly.

Lynn S.

who may make it again some day if I can ever find raw dairy!

-----

Lynn Siprelle * Writer, Mother, Programmer, Fiber Artisan

The New Homemaker: http://www.newhomemaker.com/

Siprelle & Associates: http://www.siprelle.com/

[Guest guest]

Wanita,

Our setup consists of an old " cherry " wood toybox. We placed the waterbed

heater on the floor of the toybox, then Wayne (dh) made a shelf to fit over top

of that with hundreds of little holes drilled in it to let the heat come

through. I place my yogurt (or Kombucha) in 1/2 and 1 gallon glass jars on top

of this shelf. Should I be using smaller jars - like quart or pint sized? Do

you think that would make a difference?

Janet

Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

>

>

>Hi Janet

>

>I have been making raw yoghurt every week for the past 8 months now

>so maybe I can offer some thoughts. We are able to buy organic raw

>milk from jersey cows in Australia so the ingredients should be

>similar to yours. I heat the milk to 38 degress C, add the starter

>and keep it at this temp for 8 hours. The flavour is excellent.

>Before I store the yoghurt in the fridge I strain it through a hand

>held kitchen strainer ie I pour the yoghurt mixture into the

>strainer, give it a gentle shake from side to side and seperate some

>of the whey from the yoghurt (I keep the whey for soaking and

>drinking), then pour the strained (thicker) mixture into a seperate

>container. This can also be done by letting the yoghurt mixture sit

>in a fridge overnight and some whey will seperate from the yoghurt,

>then just pour it off. Once we have the strained thick mixture ready,

>we blend it with a hand mixer and viola, thick raw yoghurt, YUM.

>

>Regards

>M

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Can I ask what everyone else uses for temps? I would love to compare a bit

more.

Janet

Re: Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

> let mine set at 87 degrees (31 degrees C) for 12 hours.

Boy, I should think that's way too cold for yogurt. I used to keep mine

closer to 100 when I made it regularly.

Lynn S.

who may make it again some day if I can ever find raw dairy!

-----

Lynn Siprelle * Writer, Mother, Programmer, Fiber Artisan

The New Homemaker: http://www.newhomemaker.com/

Siprelle & Associates: http://www.siprelle.com/

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the suggestion M, I will try refrigerating and see what happens.

Yes, you are right, the normal body temperature of the cow is 100-103 F (37-39

C).

Janet

Re: HELP - I want to make thick yogurt!

Janet

The top few inches are very yellow when I make it also.

I find by leaving it overnight in the fridge it seperates well enough

to pour off the excess whey.

Good luck.

M

PS I use 38 degress C because I thought this was the body temp of a

cow. Is this right?

[Guest guest]

Dennis,

I've actually come across something very interesting concerning home made

yogurt.

I had heard that three weeks after commercial yogurt has been made it only

retains about 10% of the original bacteria, therefore, when the commercial brand

yogurt is used (as I was using) as a starter, it is not strong enough to culture

the raw milk. This got me thinking (on no!) I had no idea how old any of the

starter yogurt I had been using was. I had no way of testing how strong it

remained.

I contacted Danlac http://www.danlac.com and spoke with Egon Skovmose (their

Dairy Expert) about this. He confirmed this was true and told me of their

freeze dried starter. He pointed me to this page:

http://www.danlac.com/store/default.asp?category=2 & product_id=64MSK-Mix which

tells all the properties of their (ABD V 1-54 Visbyvac) culture and sent me (via

email) a couple of recipes. He was very knowledgeable and was able to answer

all my questions with ease. I could go over our entire conversation, but if you

want to learn more please visit their site, even give Egon a call if you like.

He's very nice to talk to

I have ordered some of his starter and will hopefully begin using it next week.

I will keep strict notes and report what I find at that time.

In the meantime I'll continue to make my yogurt as I have been and hope for the

best.

Janet

---Janet, How's the yogurt doing by now? I'd first, decide if it's

worth the trouble to make a " different " yogurt. Adding thickeners is

what they do in the factories to prevent syneresis (the whey from

separating from the curd). I think you'll have to go to 102F+/-

processing to get non- " snot " like yogurt and, probably, use a

commercial starter culture on each batch rather than using a mother

culture (innoculating from the previous " snot like " batch) so to

speak. To get the same nearly identical product each batch you'll

have to pocess nearly the same way each batch (eliminate as many

variables as you can between batches). As someone indicated you can

strain or pour off the whey but that's a lot of extra processing and

you'll probably still have " snot-like " yogurt. Texture is most

likely a function of processing temp. and bacteria/microorganisms

present in each batch. I think if I were selling yogurt I'd warm

milk to 100F to 103F and maintain that temp till done. And possibly

even pasteurize before adding culture to eliminate variables. Dennis