If you like yogurt, you have to try this!!!

[Blueberry]

Kind of off topic, but just for reference, you can make soy yogurt from unsweetened soy milk using a regular dairy yogurt recipe and starter. Sweetened soy milk won't culture. Homemade is obviously best, but you have to do it hands-on - those machines make really thin milk that's no good for yogurt. I usually just buy unsweetened Eden soy milk (yeah, the packaging and shipping, I know ). It's still way cheaper and uses a lot less plastic than buying prepared soy yogurt.

Good to know! I always thought you couldn't make homemade soy yogurt because you had to have something to make it "gel." Now I have made homemade goat yogurt

[Cindyloo]

Does the Kefir have that "twang" that yogurt does. I have tried to force myself to like yogurt for the longest time and the only ones I can stand to eat are the really sweet ones. Those kind of defeat the purpose... Since it is also made with cultures would it have that same sourness that yogurt does?

[margo49]

To my taste buds kefir is on the bland end of the spectrum.

Now, a lecture...
The sourness of yoghurt is dependent on the bacteria used to make it. It's got nothing to do with sugar. There 7 million (well lots) combinations of bacteria. All of which are just different lab-developed strains and combinations of the specific bacteria from the two Lactic Acid Bacteria "families" (Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus). By adding a little of this and a bit of that you can get any degree of bland, plain or sour with all sorts of pro-biotics and different "sets" (ie runny, custard or jelly)
The entire (first/supermarket-shopping) world is divided up by 2 gi-normous companies who produce bacteria. (Despite that bacteria are small and you need a microscope to see them they are produced in big factories, lol).
In the Rest of the World you would get the sheep, goats, yaks or cows from your Dad and the starting culture from your Mother in Law upon your marriage!!
So you can either try endless different kinds till you find one that you like or contact a yoghurt producer and ask if they have a product that will suit you. Buy it and then you can either buy it again (and again...) or you can use it to make your own at home.
If you are real keen I can give you names and serial numbers... top secret sshhhh...anybody listening
Seriously I have a lovely one (Chr Hansen YC 180) in my freezer that everyone on the kibbutz loved because it was so plain and bland. I personally make a very sour one coz I like sour and also I make labaney (trad. Arab yoghurt cheese) on an ongoing basis for the family.

I **love** Lactic Acid Bacteria. You can think of them like wines, you know - "cheeky as if the cow kicked the bucket" or "unassuming but with a hint of Alpine spring grasses"... don't start, margo, don't start

Btw, as I understand it the trad. kefir varied from region to region. So maybe there are more and less sour ones. I have tried one from Georgia (the Russian one not the Southern one) and one from Ukraine and they were pretty similar even to my trained palate

[margo49]

Yay!
The wonderful SO decided Today Is the Day to restart our search for kefir after we had tried a few e-mail addresses without a response
We have found a woman here who will send me kefir grains!! I e-mailed her and she phoned back to my mobile within an hour. A lovely older lady, born in Chile (where her Doctor father made kefir
She stipulated one condition: that I give a donation to a Cat Shelter (or conversely adopt a cat) - isn't that cool. Better than money!
She says she has sent all over the world so if it works out I can send you-all.

Really looking forward to the "new baby"...I love lactic bacteria. Oh I will be such a good mother - I will keep its jar so clean, it will have optimal temperature...

[Blueberry]

Margo-

Please do let us know how it goes I've been toying with the idea of making kefir myself - but the only culture I've been able to find locally is a 1 shot deal (from a commercial place). So...I've been buying the pre-packaged variety. And eating lots of homemade yogurt (I've also discovered Fage Greek yogurt - YUM!).

CA

[margo49]

Oh no!
Don't even think about it!
It's not the Real Thing at all!
Real kefir is a Living Entity. The whole *point* is to keep it and nurture it and eat the kefir it gives you.
The bought kefir has an inhibitor introduced to it apparently (so as the kefir doesn't continue to develope on the shelf of the supermarket fridge thereby causing the packaging to bulge uninvitingly).
The culture to which you refer is also a commercial ploy. I mean we can't have people making their own for free (or the price of the milk)! Also because of Dairy Indusry Standards they had to remove the beneficial yeasts from the traditional cultures. (Dairy products had to contain only lactic bacteria and kefir has these yeasts and moulds etc that aren't on the Approved Lists)

It transpires that my first yoghurt - given to me at the tender age of 16 under the name "Yoghurt Bug" - was actually kefir...

Ooohhhh ....I am sooooo excited

[Pedal Wench]

....(I've also discovered Fage Greek yogurt - YUM!).

CA

Now, I told y'all about that Greek yogurt way back on page one! You could have been enjoying it for months now! I've still only tried the fat-free variety. Have you tried any of the others, or the flavored one?

[bambu101]

I love the Fage Greek yogurt! I've tried the 0%, the 2%, and the full-fat(way too much fat- 22 grams or something). Have not tried the honey or strawberry, but it's interesting the way it is packaged, with the "add-ons" off to the side.

I was also reading somewhere that Greek yogurt is great for cooking, as it does not break down and curdle as sour cream can.

[Blueberry]

Now, I told y'all about that Greek yogurt way back on page one! You could have been enjoying it for months now! I've still only tried the fat-free variety. Have you tried any of the others, or the flavored one?

Unfortunately, I tried the full fat one. To my credit, it was desert on a special occasion (or at least I can tell myself it was...)

I'm looking forward to trying the "lighter" ones, as I hear they're still yummy!

Of course, my *usually makes my own yogurt* budget isn't too happy with my recent liking of Greek yogurt. That stuff ain't cheap! Pedal Wench - It's probably a good think I *didn't* note it on the first round....

CA

[Pedal Wench]

I can't imagine how decadent the full-fat version is, because (really, I'm not lying) the fat-free tastes rich and full. Seriously, it feels like a real quilty pleasure, it's that good. Try the fat-free, and let me know what you think.

It was all I ate after a surgery that made it hard to chew -- it was so, so good, and I could justify the cost because it was all I was eating.

[ummbnb]

My ex and I used to get freshly made kefir in the afternoons at a little cafe near his parent's home in Rabat (Morocco.) They would top it with just a drizzle of caramelized sugar for a garnish. It was delish!

[smilingcat]

my partner made me buy a yogurt maker. I prefer the labor intensive method of warm oven in waterbath. I hate gadgets around the kitchen.

I make it every once in a while and for a starter use unflavored yogurt. It's the closest thing. I too like it puckery sour but my partner wants the sweet stuff.

Maybe time to make another batch some sweet and some sour... I like kefir. but for some strange reason, its hard to get myself to pour a glass of it.

smilingcat

[bambu101]

I am looking to buy a yogurt maker- anyone got any recommendations? I had one years ago, and it made 5 small jars of somewhat watery yogurt.

I like the Greek yogurt and never buy the regular plain or fruit yogurts anymore. They are just way too sweet. I bought a 17 oz container of Fage Greek 0% last evening, and it was $5.99!!!!!!!! I think a yogurt maker would pay for itself very quickly.

I checked Amazon and they have a bunch of different ones. Do I need a regular yogurt maker , or a yogurt cheese maker if I want to make the Greek-style yogurt?

[margo49]

This sounds amazing, girls...what is it - is it just an incubator or something more complicated? Do tell...
I am so primitive I am still using 2 (in summer) or 3 (in winter) woollen bush shirts (lumberjack style) wrapped around the saucepan containing the innoculated milk. I also pasteurise my own milk - do you-all have access to raw milk eg urban farm or collective or something?
I was thinking of doing the kefir (when I get the grains) in a thermos coz it will be smaller quantities than the yoghurt

[Resi]

I always liked yogurt or kefir, but here in the US everything is soooo sweet, way to much sugar. Doe's anybody know kefir or yogurt low sugar?

Thanks
Resi