making yogurt

[Guest guest]

I make yogurt by scalding the milk, cooling it to about 105 - 110 degrees F,

making a paste with the starter yogurt and a little of the heated milk,

mixing the paste back in with the milk, and incubating it all in my

Yogourmet yogurt maker, which comes with a thermometer and a muslin bag for

dripping should one want a cream cheese consistency.

I think that the reason for scalding the milk is that you want only the

bacteria that you introduce via the starter to grow in the milk. If you

don't scald, the milk will be more likely to culture forms of bacteria that

are floating around the kitchen. By scalding and using very clean

containers and utensils, you are not quite creating a sterilized

environment, but you are making it much easier for the milk to grow the

bacteria that you want.

I got started making yogurt for my daughter, who has Crohn's disease and is

following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Her yogurt must be incubated for

24 hours to make it lactose-free, and the Yogourmet electric yogurt maker

makes this very easy. In fact, yogurt cream must be incubated for 48 hours,

and this also is very easy; all I have to do is remember to take it out!

Her starter must have no additives such as pectin or powdered milk, and in

our area that means Dannon Natural Plain, Brown Cow whole milk plain, or

Pavel's. Brown Cow and Pavel's each have some products with additives and

some without, so I always have to check the labels. My favorite is the

Brown Cow because Pavel's makes a runnier yogurt, and Dannon, while it

tastes milder, uses only one strain of bacteria, acidopholus.

My daughter is allowed to have gelatin on the SCD but that won't work for

everyone as it is a meat product and in a kosher diet, for one example, meat

is not mixed with milk. It is also not necessary because home made yogurt

will be thick enough once you have figured out the process for your own

kitchen.

Wishing you success,