yogurt

[Guest guest]

I have been just eating yogurt and a little milk plus maybe a piece of raw milk

cheese once every other day and cod liver oil.

ABY653-Mild yogurt flavor

Smooth heavy body

Minimal post acidification

ABY611-Traditional yogurt flavor

Firm body

ABY2C-Very mild yogurt flavor

Smooth, very heavy body

No post acidification

It looks like the 2C and 653 makes a thicker yogurt. I was planning on mixing

the 2. Right now I am making yogurt out of raw cow milk but eventually when we

move and have more land, I plan to get some goats.

When I make yogurt, I make at least 1.5 gallons. My hubby made me a monster

yogurt maker out of an extra large cooler. We just laid something across the

middle and put the clamped light bulbs so they shine down on each side. He hung

a small computer fan in the middle an inch or so below the center so it blows up

and circulates the air. I have a couple layers of (maybe 5 inches

wide)cardboard taped together in the center for now since I didn't have the

right width piece of wood. He set me up with a receptacle box that is attached

to a dimmer switch so I can plug the 2 lights into that and adjust them to the

temp I want.

As far as the yogurt, all I do is heat the milk to 100 degrees and then put 1

cup yogurt per gallon in one of the jars and add milk to mix by shaking the jar

and then dump into the milk. I then pour the milk back into the gallon jug and

pour it into jars sitting on a digital scale. I make my girls 8 oz jars and me

20oz. I then put them in the preheated cooler and let incubate for about 8

hours. I like to keep the temp at about 105. Oh, I have a smoker temp thing

that has 2 different probes so I can have one probe in the center sticking in an

empty jar and one on the outer edge. It is really cool because then I can carry

the remote receiver around with me to always be able to monitor the temp. Yes,

I am a bit obsessive compulsive!! LOL It is nice though when I am making it

overnight so I can just hit the light button and check the temp instead of

laying there worrying about it!!

I tried using the cooler with hot water method and didn't like the inconsistent

results. Plus I was always having to put more hot water in to keep the temp

where I wanted it. I think the trick is to keep the temp consistent. Maybe

that is why so many people online complain about not getting a thick yogurt or

like snot consistency. That is what I got doing the other method. Now I get

awesome creamy thick yogurt. I can't wait to try the cultures so I don't have

to use Dannon anymore!! I know someone here locally that uses the 2C and likes

it so thick that when you put a spoon in it stands by itself. I don't think I

want it that thick but it is good to know that if you add more culture, it gets

thicker.

Did that answer your questions? Sorry so long!! LOL

Tina