Anyone use Yogurt Makers?

[OakLeaf]

let me get this straight, you use dairy yogurt as a starter for your soy yogurt? I used the packaged starter for my attempt and I figured it curdled because maybe I used one intended for dairy. I could buy a small thing of soy yogurt as my starter, but I don't think I've seen an unflavoured soy yogurt in the stores.

Yes, I've been very successful starting with dairy yogurt. Also with probiotic pills (different culture blend, different flavor and consistency), some of which are non-dairy, if that's an issue for you. I have a whole Excel spreadsheet going - what I started with, what I cultured it with, how long it grew, tartness, firmness and creaminess. Did I mention I'm a total data geek?

Whatever I read recently said that the additives in any storebought yogurt are not enough to make the culture unusable. However, storebought soy yogurt tends to have a pretty short shelf life, and I'd worry about the cultures already being contaminated. I don't think I'd buy soy yogurt to use as a starter.

Also, remember that a lot of the temperature control in the Yogourmet maker comes from the water bath you start with. It IS possible to get it too hot if you start with a water bath that's too hot.

[Grog]

Ah! Refrigerator top! That's so smart.

I'll try that next time.

[WindingRoad]

So I'm in the process of making my first batch of yogurt. I'm 'improvising' since I really don't have the money to spend on a yogurt machine. My oven is an orange box with a heating pad in it. I lined it with a bath towel and I have another to cover the holes in the top of the box. Going to use a quart jar for my first time in case I screw it up I don't waste a half gallon of milk. I have some yogurt left from my Costco yogurt to start the culture with. I just heated my milk under boiling then I'm going to add a half cup of Costco (plain) yogurt and incubate in my homemade oven overnight. I'll keep you all posted if this actually works.

[Blueberry]

So I'm in the process of making my first batch of yogurt. I'm 'improvising' since I really don't have the money to spend on a yogurt machine. My oven is an orange box with a heating pad in it. I lined it with a bath towel and I have another to cover the holes in the top of the box. Going to use a quart jar for my first time in case I screw it up I don't waste a half gallon of milk. I have some yogurt left from my Costco yogurt to start the culture with. I just heated my milk under boiling then I'm going to add a half cup of Costco (plain) yogurt and incubate in my homemade oven overnight. I'll keep you all posted if this actually works.

Make sure you cool it sufficiently (I don't know the range off the top of my head) before adding the yogurt. Too hot will kill the cultures. Otherwise, sounds like a great plan.

[malkin]

For temps I always remember 180 for the high and 108 for the cool.
I know there's a range, but this works for me, unless I get it in mind that it is 80 for the low.

It will be time to stay out of the kitchen if I ever try to heat the milk to 801 degrees.

[OakLeaf]

180 is scalding.

105-115 F or 40-45 C is incubating temp. Much hotter than that will kill the cultures - I've done it.

It's hard to really screw it up. Worst case, you just have a partially cultured or uncultured liquid to put on your cereal.

[Becky]

I've made a couple of batches lately, and had good luck with the following temperatures:

185 for the scalding, 115 to add the starter, and incubation at 105-115. I tempered the starter with a ladle of 115 degree milk before adding to the rest of the milk.

I've been using the instructions and recipes at http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/...licationId=525.

[badger]

Grog, I think you should look into Kefir. You don't need too much - just kefir grains, milk, and room temperature.

[WindingRoad]

OK! The cardboard orange box and heating pad method works like a charm. It was very easy to do. It was a little on the runny side but part of that was I incubated the jar on its side then stood it up so the whey mixed in with the yogurt. Solution: turn box on it's end this time (why didn't I think of that last time, geez). I'm going to add a little powdered milk to see if the next batch comes out thicker. I'm eating the last of it (aside of the bit I saved for culture) so it turned out very tasty too!

Oh..and I did let the milk cool to lukewarm before I added the yogurt culture, thank you.

[badger]

if you want thicker yogurt, the instrction booklet said to boil the milk first (then cool to room temp). And it works, I use 2% and it comes out like full fat yogurt.

[Becky]

Mixing in powdered milk works really well to make thicker yogurt. Something about increasing the concentration of solids... I suppose that you could reduce the milk volume by heating and achieve the same thing.

[WindingRoad]

Oooooooh yeah! It turned out thicker and creamier this time! Quite awesome, thanks for all the tips!

[Becky]

Any suggestions for how to make bigger batches? I've been using a half-gallon of milk in my removable crockpot liner, and incubating it in a cooler with some hot water bottles. The problem is that DH and I chow down those ~8 cups of yogurt in less than a week.

I'm looking for ideas on other containers to use (several mason jars, maybe?) and more importantly, a way to incubate bigger batches so that I can make up a gallon of milk at a time. I've considered buying a bigger cooler....

What are other folks doing? Thanks for your help!

[Blueberry]

No specific ideas for you - I end up making 2 batches over the weekend (have trouble finding time during the week to have time to boil, cool and then incubate without staying up too late). 4 quart mason jars should do the trick for you (and I really prefer glass for yogurt - though I'm using plastic for now). Any way to make a 2nd batch mid-week?

CA

[ZenSojourner]

Mixing in powdered milk works really well to make thicker yogurt. Something about increasing the concentration of solids... I suppose that you could reduce the milk volume by heating and achieve the same thing.

I do this when I'm making paneer, a soft cheese. If I have to use grocery store milk, they've stripped a lot of the milk solids out in the processing. The powdered milk helps to replace some of that.

Of course, if I can get 5% fat unpasteurized unhomogenized Jersey Milk, I don't need to do that, but I can't get it here.

Oh how I miss Young's Jersey Dairy!