Re: Question on Making Yogurt-Thick Creamy Yogurt

[Guest guest]

Hello there! Good to be back to the group after being out of town

for quite a while. In our milk club, we were discussing the issue

of getting our yogurt thicker. I, too, like the drinkable

consistency, but wanted a thick alternative. A few of us in our

club tossed around a few ideas and then several weeks later Laurel

posted this to our yahoo group. I don't think she'd mind me putting

it up here. It is because of this wonderful lady that we got hooked

up with our awesome farmer family and are able to get raw dairy. I

always pause for a moment of thanksgiving when I think of her :-D

Barbara

THICK CREAMY YOGURT...

I stumbled on it. I made thick creamy yogurt and it is delicious.

I had a gallon of week old milk in the fridge and we were about to

get the new stuff so I had to do something with it. I dumped two

packets of yogurt starter in it (which was ½ the recommended amount)

and decided I should warm up the jar a bit because it was right out

of the fridge. I filled the sink with hot water and left the 1

gallon glass jar of milk (with starter) in it for awhile. The milk

warmed up, but certainly didn't get very hot. I then transferred it

to the stove area which was warmish and left it there for the day.

Much later in the day it was yogurt, but when I put a spoon in it

separated and there was lots of whey. No one is keen on that whey-

yogurt so I knew I had to come up with a solution. I got out my

white dish towel (the one that I only use for straining cultured

milk) and put it in a big strainer. I dumped the gallon of yogurt

in and left it in the sink for and hour or so. Just before bed I

put it in the fridge over a big bowl. By morning much more whey had

seeped out and the yogurt looked lumpy. I dumped the strained

yogurt into a big bowl and got out my hand held food processor. I

whipped it and suddenly it turned into thick creamy yogurt. It is

delicious and the texture is very thick and smooth. It's the

yogurt I dreamed of (heh heh, and many of you too) without

thickeners and additives. It is so good it's worth the bother. If

I wanted it to be thicker I'd just allow more whey to strain out.

Laurel

[Guest guest]

---Industry adds thickeners to minimize syneresis in yogurt. The

curd is very fragile, so in shipment it weeps more without

thickeners. this way (with added thickeners) whey is not removed and

is sold. That's factory yogurt. The whey is included. As you

indicated you can certainly strain it or even pour it off when the

curd is in one lump (probably several days after it's cooled) when

making at home or anywhere else for that matter...when a culture

(starter) is used some variables are certainly removed probably

making the yogurt process easier. Dennis

In RawDairy , " Barbara " <barbiep817@y...> wrote:

> Hello there! Good to be back to the group after being out of town

> for quite a while. In our milk club, we were discussing the issue

> of getting our yogurt thicker. I, too, like the drinkable

> consistency, but wanted a thick alternative. A few of us in our

> club tossed around a few ideas and then several weeks later Laurel

> posted this to our yahoo group. I don't think she'd mind me

putting

> it up here. It is because of this wonderful lady that we got

hooked

> up with our awesome farmer family and are able to get raw dairy. I

> always pause for a moment of thanksgiving when I think of her :-D

>

> Barbara

>

>

> THICK CREAMY YOGURT...

> I stumbled on it. I made thick creamy yogurt and it is delicious.

> I had a gallon of week old milk in the fridge and we were about to

> get the new stuff so I had to do something with it. I dumped two

> packets of yogurt starter in it (which was ½ the recommended

amount)

> and decided I should warm up the jar a bit because it was right out

> of the fridge. I filled the sink with hot water and left the 1

> gallon glass jar of milk (with starter) in it for awhile. The milk

> warmed up, but certainly didn't get very hot. I then transferred

it

> to the stove area which was warmish and left it there for the

day.

> Much later in the day it was yogurt, but when I put a spoon in it

> separated and there was lots of whey. No one is keen on that whey-

> yogurt so I knew I had to come up with a solution. I got out my

> white dish towel (the one that I only use for straining cultured

> milk) and put it in a big strainer. I dumped the gallon of yogurt

> in and left it in the sink for and hour or so. Just before bed I

> put it in the fridge over a big bowl. By morning much more whey

had

> seeped out and the yogurt looked lumpy. I dumped the strained

> yogurt into a big bowl and got out my hand held food processor. I

> whipped it and suddenly it turned into thick creamy yogurt. It is

> delicious and the texture is very thick and smooth. It's the

> yogurt I dreamed of (heh heh, and many of you too) without

> thickeners and additives. It is so good it's worth the bother. If

> I wanted it to be thicker I'd just allow more whey to strain out.

>

> Laurel

[Guest guest]

Yep--look at almost any commercial yogurt (esp. low/no-fat yogurt

(yuck)) and " pectin " is one of the ingredients. It's the same stuff

that makes jams and jellies gel a bit. I suppose if you wanted to save

the whey you could add your own pectin to your yogurt in lieu of

straining off the whey. Pectin comes as a powder or a liquid. I've

never heard anything bad about it; I think it's a pretty natural

ingredient. There's probably even a source of organic pectin out there.

I'm going to Chicago for couple of days, and given how much this group

is growing, it looks like I'll have a lot of catching up to do on Sunday!

Until then,

Tom

> ---Industry adds thickeners to minimize syneresis in yogurt. The

> curd is very fragile, so in shipment it weeps more without

> thickeners. this way (with added thickeners) whey is not removed and

> is sold. That's factory yogurt. The whey is included. As you

> indicated you can certainly strain it or even pour it off when the

> curd is in one lump (probably several days after it's cooled) when

> making at home or anywhere else for that matter...when a culture

> (starter) is used some variables are certainly removed probably

> making the yogurt process easier. Dennis

>

[Guest guest]

like i said, i have no problem w/ thick cow yogurt. goat yogurt is more finicky``tends to get ropey and i have a different combination of cultures for that.

It is the streptococcus that requires the thermophilic temps, and my culture blends are lower in streptoccoccus. It is also cost effective IMO. a pinch per half gall yogurt costs 20 cents a gall to culture. I sell the culture mix i have done to my share holders regularly.

the curd IS tender, that is a big reason commercials use thickeners, not to get it thick but hold the thick. up to about 115 is OK from what I understand concerning enzymes and microphage activity...i do as much as i can under 100 degrees and yogurt never goes over 110,

also, you can make curds and whey~~clabber~~~w/ no starter at all if you have clean, clear milk just by doing as Laurel said and no even adding starter. We do that often too.

www.MajestyFarm.comNorth Garden, Virginia

Re: Question on Making Yogurt-Thick Creamy Yogurt

---Industry adds thickeners to minimize syneresis in yogurt. The curd is very fragile, so in shipment it weeps more without thickeners. this way (with added thickeners) whey is not removed and is sold. That's factory yogurt. The whey is included. As you indicated you can certainly strain it or even pour it off when the curd is in one lump (probably several days after it's cooled) when making at home or anywhere else for that matter...when a culture(starter) is used some variables are certainly removed probably making the yogurt process easier. DennisIn RawDairy , "Barbara" <barbiep817@y...> wrote:> Hello there! Good to be back to the group after being out of town > for quite a while. In our milk club, we were discussing the issue > of getting our yogurt thicker. I, too, like the drinkable > consistency, but wanted a thick alternative. A few of us in our > club tossed around a few ideas and then several weeks later Laurel > posted this to our yahoo group. I don't think she'd mind me putting > it up here. It is because of this wonderful lady that we got hooked > up with our awesome farmer family and are able to get raw dairy. I > always pause for a moment of thanksgiving when I think of her :-D> > Barbara> > > THICK CREAMY YOGURT...> I stumbled on it. I made thick creamy yogurt and it is delicious. > I had a gallon of week old milk in the fridge and we were about to > get the new stuff so I had to do something with it. I dumped two > packets of yogurt starter in it (which was ½ the recommended amount) > and decided I should warm up the jar a bit because it was right out > of the fridge. I filled the sink with hot water and left the 1 > gallon glass jar of milk (with starter) in it for awhile. The milk > warmed up, but certainly didn't get very hot. I then transferred it > to the stove area which was warmish and left it there for the day. > Much later in the day it was yogurt, but when I put a spoon in it > separated and there was lots of whey. No one is keen on that whey-> yogurt so I knew I had to come up with a solution. I got out my > white dish towel (the one that I only use for straining cultured > milk) and put it in a big strainer. I dumped the gallon of yogurt > in and left it in the sink for and hour or so. Just before bed I > put it in the fridge over a big bowl. By morning much more whey had > seeped out and the yogurt looked lumpy. I dumped the strained > yogurt into a big bowl and got out my hand held food processor. I > whipped it and suddenly it turned into thick creamy yogurt. It is > delicious and the texture is very thick and smooth. It's the > yogurt I dreamed of (heh heh, and many of you too) without > thickeners and additives. It is so good it's worth the bother. If > I wanted it to be thicker I'd just allow more whey to strain out. > > LaurelTo learn more about Raw Dairy, visit our home pages at http://www.midvalleyvu.com