I want to make some traditional Asian-style yogurt. Unlike Western-style yogurt, Asians drink their yogurt, usually from a straw, so obviously the consistency is a lot thinner compared to Western-style yogurts, but it's not so thin that it's watery, like Yakult.
I've already made many gallons of yogurt using a small cup of store-bought yogurt from the Chinese grocery store, but my home made yogurt lacks consistency. I noticed on the ingredients list of the store-bought yogurt that it contains milk, probiotics, and pectin.
So this is where I want some help. Right now I pour cold milk into the starter culture and put the entire thing in a warm water bath for 10+ hours. If I leave it at room temperature it still works, it'll just take much longer. Afterwards I add white sugar to taste.
Does pectin only activate its gelling capabilities at boiling temperatures, or will it still provide some gelling at warm temperatures, like 35C? If it only activates at boiling temperatures, I would need to:
- boil a small cup of milk
- add pectin to the milk
- pour boiled milk in with the rest of the gallon of cold milk (would pouring pectin-laced milk into that much cold milk cause it to form gelled lumps immediately?)
- make sure milk is warm or cooler (boiling would kill the probiotics)
- add the starter culture
- wait for yogurt
Does this sound about right?
Also, how much pectin would I need for a gallon of milk if the purpose is NOT to gel anything? Like a teaspoon for an entire gallon?
