Anyone use Yogurt Makers?

[bmccasland]

I make yogurt in a crockpot. Google "crockpot yogurt" and a lot will come up. It's basically this:

Heat 1/2 gal milk on low for 2 hours, unplug and let it sit for 3 hours, take a couple cups of the warm milk and mix with 1/2 c room temp yogurt and mix that in to the crockpot milk. Cover with a heavy towel and let it sit for about 7 hours. (the longer it sits, the tangier it gets) I like to strain mine in a cheesecloth for a couple hrs in the refrigerator for thicker (Greek) yogurt.

yum!

If I use good quality yogurt as a starter, then in the future, do you use your own yogurt as starter for the next batch?

May sound crazy but does it make a difference with skim or 2% milk?

[jillm]

If I use good quality yogurt as a starter, then in the future, do you use your own yogurt as starter for the next batch?

May sound crazy but does it make a difference with skim or 2% milk?

You can use your homemade yogurt as a starter for the next batch (and it's recommended) but I never plan ahead and end up eating it all! So I just buy a sm plain yogurt (with live active cultures)when I'm buying the milk for the next batch. As for skim vs others, for some reason I use 1%. Don't know why. One of these days I should do a taste test. And as stated in previous posts, "ultra pasteurized" is bad, you want plain ole "Pasteurized" milk.

I made a dip this weekend from yogurt I'd strained all day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is right--you strain plain yogurt for a couple of hours to get "greek" yogurt, and if you strain it all day it becomes "labneh," yogurt cheese! Anyway, I mixed a small bowlful (1-2 c ) of labneh with about 1/4 c chopped cilantro, a few squirts of Sriracha Chili sauce, a little salt, and a little apple cider vinegar. Dipped carrots, pita chips, and cucumber slices. Tasty!

[ny biker]

By timely coincidence, this blog item is about making yogurt in a crockpot:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/che...pid=sec-health

[Becky]

I'm so excited about the idea of making yogurt in the crockpot! Thanks for the links

[hipmama]

I have the Euro, and love it. It's a little time consuming setting up but that's part of the fun- never made yogurt with cows milk in it but have done great with soy and hemp milks in there. Want to experiment with rice milk and use a little bit of agar agar to thicken it up.

[bmccasland]

I missed going to Farmer's Market yesterday (one looonnnnggg meeting) to get milk from my local dairy, so I'll have to put off the yogurt crockpot experiment for a week. He pasteurizes but not homoginzes his milk, so even the skim tastes creamy (just have to remember to shake the jug every time).

[malkin]

I cultured out of the most recent batch for about a couple years. It was still going strong, but there was one of those accidents with a gravitational surge in the kitchen, so I started over.

The maker I use is branded Salton, and a quart canning jar fits inside it.