yogurt

[Guest guest]

Was your yogurt thicker? Mine is always so runny. Should I be draining off

more of the whey? Are you putting the creme fraiche in with the milk and

yogurt culture and leaving them set at 110 degrees or are you adding the

creme fraiche after the yogurt is done culturing? Are you using a homemade

creme fraiche - and if so what are you using as a culure? I've tried a

couple commercial creme fraiche products as cultures but didn't have any luck

with them. I've had the most success with the storebought buttermilk.

Thanks -

[Guest guest]

Was your yogurt thicker?

A little thicker

Are you putting the creme fraiche in with the milk and yogurt culture and leaving them set at 110 degrees or are you adding the creme fraiche after the yogurt is done culturing?

Add the cream fraiche when you add the yogurt culture.

Are you using a homemade creme fraiche

Yes made with the store bought buttermilk.

I know some people who make the yogurt with either geletin or cornstarch to thicken it. Both of those are used sometimes in commercial yogurts. The geletin sometimes gets it too thick and the cornstartch, well then you're adding a grain product which I suppose you could soak in the yogurt using for culture before making the yogurt.

a

[Guest guest]

Guess it's time to order some gelatin!

So do you add the gelatin to the milk before heating it and adding the

culture? With the gelatin added are you still able to use it as a starter

culture for the next batch?

It's pretty amazing how much there is out there to learn. Just when you

think you're starting to master something you discover there's a whole lot

more out there that you don't know!

[Guest guest]

,

I have been following the yogurt conversation. I use a bit of gelatin to

thicken my yogurt when I make it. I only use about 1 TBS per gallon and

sometimes less. It works out very well. I just mix it with a bit of cold

milk. Kind of like making gravy. Then keep adding more milk until I can

introduce it into the milk and know that it will not clump. Make sure

that you mix it very well so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. (Guess

how I know about that!) If you find that it is to thick or thin, just

experiment as you go! I use the Bernard Jensen brand that Sally

recommends.

Do you feel like you are on information overload yet?

Take care,

B

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone:

I'm curious to know are you all heating the milk to 180, and then letting

it cool to 110. Or is everyone heating it to lower teperatures. My yogurt

always come out very thick when I heat it to about 175, but I have problems

when I go under 165. It icomes out very soupy.

Kareemah

[Guest guest]

In looking at the ingredients label for Stoneyfield yogurt I noticed pectin

was listed along with all the good bugs. Does this do anything to the

culturing process?

[Guest guest]

Hello:

Do you need to use this culture everytime you make yogurt, or do you

start with your own culture after the initial process?

So just heat yogurt to 90, then stir in Stonyfield plain yougurt, stick

in the dehydrator on 90 degrees for 6-8 hours and that's it? I'll have thick

yougurt without ruining my vitamins?

Please confirm the procedures for me then I'll try it tommorow night.

Thank you,

Kareemah

[Guest guest]

* umbasheer@... (umbasheer@...) [010405 14:02]:

* Subject: Re: Yogurt:

> Hello Everyone:

> I'm curious to know are you all heating the milk to 180, and then letting

> it cool to 110. Or is everyone heating it to lower teperatures. My yogurt

> always come out very thick when I heat it to about 175, but I have problems

> when I go under 165. It icomes out very soupy.

I heat mine to about 90 degrees F and try to maintain

that temperature for about 6-8 hours using a culture

that started (many generations ago) from Stonyfield

Farms plain yogurt which it turns out very firm. The

Stonyfield Farms culture produces much firmer yogurt

than anything else I've tried.

--alan

[Guest guest]

,

I've had no problem in the culturing process. The pectin does

make it not work well at all for soaking. I culture my 2 liter

yogurt maker for 12 hours, my 1 liter for 8.

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

> So do you add the gelatin to the milk before heating it and adding

> the culture?

Yes.

> With the gelatin added are you still able to use it as a starter

culture for the next batch?

Absolutely.

Happy thickening,

B.

[Guest guest]

* BrenRuble@... (BrenRuble@...) [010405 15:27]:

* Subject: Re: Yogurt:

> In looking at the ingredients label for Stoneyfield yogurt I noticed pectin

> was listed along with all the good bugs. Does this do anything to the

> culturing process?

All commercial yogurts I've seen add pectin or

gelatin as a thickener, but that's why we do our

own yogurt cultures, right!? When I make yogurt

using the culture that I originally obtained from

the Stoneyfield Farms yogurt, it sets up so thick

(especially when using rich Jersey milk) that I really

wonder why they add pectin to their product. I

would guess that it helps stabilize it and/or keeps it

from separating over time. In any case, as you

keep making your own yogurt through many generations,

you'll have less and less pectin " contaminants. "

I've done perhaps 30 generations since I bought the

original tub, and, without adding anything (other than

milk and some of the last batch), have consistently

turned out good tasting, thick yogurt.

--alan

[Guest guest]

* umbasheer@... (umbasheer@...) [010405 17:14]:

* Subject: Re: Yogurt:

> Hello:

> Do you need to use this culture everytime you make yogurt, or do you

> start with your own culture after the initial process?

I can't tell you what you " need " or " ought " to do (I'm a

Libertarian! :-) ), but what I do, use that last batch as

the starter for the next. I've done this for about 30

generations since I first tried the Stoneyfield Farms

culture, and it is still producing great, rich yogurt.

> So just heat yogurt to 90, then stir in Stonyfield plain yougurt, stick

> in the dehydrator on 90 degrees for 6-8 hours and that's it?

Heat the *milk* (typo?) to 90 degrees F (in a water bath

so that it warms up evenly and slowly), then add about

4 tbls of the last batch of yogurt per quart of milk and

stir it in completely so that the bacteria are well distributed

and not clumped. Then maintain that temperature for 6-8

hours (I use a heating pad set to " low " in a " cooler " big

enough to hold 4 quart jars, but a dehydrator would do a

better job of regulating the temp.). And, yes, " that's

it! " Making yogurt is very, very easy.

> I'll have thick

> yougurt without ruining my vitamins?

I suppose it's possible that some nutrients in the milk are

consumed by the bacteria, but the bacteria allegedly produce

new nutrients bountifully. So in the end, you should have

substantially more nutrients than when you started. Of course,

I'm sure that you can thereafter destroy some or all of the

nutrients by overheating (cooking) or perhaps freezing it.

> Please confirm the procedures for me then I'll try it tommorow night.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to experiment. You may

want to try varying all the " parameters " and see what

turns out. For instance, if you culture it for a shorter

time, it should be sweeter, and for a longer time causes it

to separate and have a " cheesier " flavor. Similarly you

can use more or less starter (and adjust the time to match).

You can also try varying the temperature and see what happens.

Some people even put things like honey or other sweeteners,

or fruits into the milk before the culturing begins (however,

if you do, make sure you have or make a batch of " plain " to use

as the starter for the succeeding batch). I've discovered that

yogurt is much, much more tolerant that I had been led to

believe early on.

Since this is the " " list, it might be useful

to try to discover (uncover?) the ways yogurt was made and used

traditionally to see if we are doing it " right! " Does anyone

have any insights? I'd particularly like to know how the

high mountain bulgarians used dairy as they are (were?) alleged

to be quite healthy and long lived while living entirely or

nearly entirely off of dairy.

--alan

[Guest guest]

(I use a heating pad set to "low" in a "cooler" bigenough to hold 4 quart jars, but a dehydrator would do abetter job of regulating the temp.).

This works!! It is amazing how many different ways there are to make and culture the different products. I may try this. I was using my big old register (I have hot water heat) but it is warming up now and still not warm enough to culture in a hot room. This may suffice until then!!

a

[Guest guest]

Has anyone ever added pectin to their yogurt successfully?? Just wondering in case I ever want to try it.

a

[Guest guest]

I've been making yogurt successfully with a starter from New England

Cheesemaking. I've had no problems re-culturing it. Recently I've made an

attempt to make yogurt from a couple commercial starters - Brown Cow Yogurt

and Stoneyfield. I've tried each one two times with the same outcome, the

first batch worked great, however, when I tried to reculture it a second time

I had soup. It didn't set up. I did it at 110, just like I do the culture

from new england cheesemaking. Any thoughts on this? Thanks -

[Guest guest]

Oh wow! The same thing happened to me. I thought it was because I left it

in the dehydrator too long. I let mine sit for 12 hours at 90 degrees.

[Guest guest]

* BrenRuble@... (BrenRuble@...) [010508 02:59]:

* Subject: yogurt:

> I've been making yogurt successfully with a starter from New England

> Cheesemaking. I've had no problems re-culturing it. Recently I've made an

> attempt to make yogurt from a couple commercial starters - Brown Cow Yogurt

> and Stoneyfield. I've tried each one two times with the same outcome, the

> first batch worked great, however, when I tried to reculture it a second time

> I had soup. It didn't set up. I did it at 110, just like I do the culture

> from new england cheesemaking. Any thoughts on this? Thanks -

It's hard to tell what's going on (you didn't tell

us much!), but perhaps you should try culturing longer,

or, better, just add a larger quantity of the last

batch. If you are using raw milk, you've got to give

the yogurt culture an overwhelming lead over the

naturally occurring bacteria in the milk. I, for one,

am on generation ~50 from the original Stoneyfield Farms

culture, with no problems at all. I typically put about

3 tbls of the last batch to a quart of milk. If you

culture for a short time, then the bacteria count is

going to be low, so it'll likely require more of it to

start the next batch. When I culture for ~3hrs, it

firms up well, but I'm sure the bacteria count is low.

I now usually culture for usually 5-7 hours to get the

bacteria count (and acidity) higher. [Note: I culture

at ~90 degrees F rather than 110, so times and amounts

may be somewhat different for you. I'm sure ou'll be

well servered by experimenting with this a bit though.]

Good luck.

--alan

[Guest guest]

I replaced my yogurt habit with home made kefir some time ago but suspect home made yogurt would be just as good...

I would avoid the store bought yogurts with lots of funny additives (read the label) but in moderation see no harm.

JR

-----Original Message-----From: Francesca Skelton [mailto:fskelton@...]Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 11:22 AMsupport groupSubject: [ ] yogurtI'm aware that many in the group have given up dairy products. Here'swhat's probably a dumb question - does that include yogurt? The reason Isingle out yogurt is that is supposed to be so damn healthy - colonizinghealthy bacteria in the gut and helping ward off all kinds of illnesses. Iprobably could give up all other dairy products but would miss my yogurtterribly if I had to give it up.

[Guest guest]

My store bought yogurt ingredients are just plain: Cultured Pasturized Grade

A Nonfat Milk and nonfat mild solids. Contains active yogurt cultures (I'm

aware that the active cultures are very important to derive yogurt's

benefits).

Of course this is plain nonfat yogurt. I don't buy the sweetened or

fruited. If I want a " dessert " type yogurt treat I add my own fresh fruit

or allfruit (no sugar) type preserves.

on 3/30/2003 1:46 PM, john roberts at johnhrob@... wrote:

> I replaced my yogurt habit with home made kefir some time ago but suspect

> home made yogurt would be just as good...

>

> I would avoid the store bought yogurts with lots of funny additives (read

> the label) but in moderation see no harm.

>

> JR

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Francesca Skelton [mailto:fskelton@...]

> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 11:22 AM

> support group

> Subject: [ ] yogurt

>

>

> I'm aware that many in the group have given up dairy products. Here's

> what's probably a dumb question - does that include yogurt? The reason I

> single out yogurt is that is supposed to be so damn healthy - colonizing

> healthy bacteria in the gut and helping ward off all kinds of illnesses.

> I

> probably could give up all other dairy products but would miss my yogurt

> terribly if I had to give it up.

[Guest guest]

The reason I gave up dairy products is the abuses in the dairy industry. And

the dairy product I miss the most, when I allow myself to think about it, is

yogurt. I remember a garlicky plain-yogurt soup I used to love....

By the way, I really appreciate being able to read here, now and again, words by

others who eat more or less the way I do. It's warming and supportive.

Lynn

=====

Distributor of AOR supplements.

Product list and research links sent upon request.

Francesca Skelton wrote on 30 Mar 2003:

Subject: [ ] yogurt

>> I'm aware that many in the group have given up dairy products.

.... yogurt is ... supposed to be so damn healthy - colonizing

healthy bacteria in the gut and helping ward off all kinds of illnesses. I

probably could give up all other dairy products but would miss my yogurt

terribly if I had to give it up.