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Yogurt-making @ home


Fat Guy

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  • 2 years later...

Never tried that one. This is the one I used when I used a powdered starter. Now I just pick up a single serve tub of Fage at the grocery and use that.

Edited by kayb
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Well, I now have cultures coming from Natural Probiotic Selection.  Here's hoping they won't kill me.  Ordering with one click is a whole lot easier than walking to Shoprite for Fage, not to mention when the wetlands are under water.

 

What I found interesting -- rather than boiling milk for yogurt, Natural Probiotic Selection recommends bringing the milk to 65 degrees Celsius, or even better, holding the milk at 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.  This struck me as a lot like the @Ruben Porto method of heating ice cream mix, as discussed in the ice cream thread.  (Except Ruben's ice cream method specifies 71 degrees Celsius for one hour.)

 

I never could get my head around boiling milk for yogurt.  I once did a detailed study (also reported in the ice cream thread) and boiled milk tastes vile.  Or at least it doesn't taste much like milk to me.

 

It will be a couple days before I have much to report.  I don't have a yogurt maker, but I do have a Precise Heat Mixing Bowl.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Well, I now have cultures coming from Natural Probiotic Selection.  Here's hoping they won't kill me.  Ordering with one click is a whole lot easier than walking to Shoprite for Fage, not to mention when the wetlands are under water.

 

What I found interesting -- rather than boiling milk for yogurt, Natural Probiotic Selection recommends bringing the milk to 65 degrees Celsius, or even better, holding the milk at 70 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.  This struck me as a lot like the @Ruben Porto method of heating ice cream mix, as discussed in the ice cream thread.  (Except Ruben's ice cream method specifies 71 degrees Celsius for one hour.)

 

I never could get my head around boiling milk for yogurt.  I once did a detailed study (also reported in the ice cream thread) and boiled milk tastes vile.  Or at least it doesn't taste much like milk to me.

 

It will be a couple days before I have much to report.  I don't have a yogurt maker, but I do have a Precise Heat Mixing Bowl.

 

 

The reason for bringing milk to the REQUIRED TEMPERATURE is to convert some of the components so they can react with the organisms that PRESERVE the milk and produce the yogurt.

Failure to do this can result in UNWANTED bacteria taking over, even under refrigeration and causing illness.  

 

I posted the bulletin from the California Milk Board  August 10, 2010  

 

The only other thing that could be interfering with your result is not getting the milk up to at least 180° F. before cooling it to 105 to 115 before adding the culture.

If not heated sufficiently the "curd" won't form.

Following is a quote from the California Milk Board:

"Yogurt is formed by the growth of two bacterial organisms in milk; Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus which turn the milk sugars into lactic acid. These are two separate bacteria that are active at different times during processing. Some times you will also find yogurt that contains other ""Probiotic"" cultures such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium infantis which are bacterium normally found in your intestines. Together these bacteria aid in digestion and the synthesis of vitamins. Here are the required steps. Heat milk to between 180 and 200 °F. Heating the milk is done for a few reasons. First, to sterilize/pasteurize the milk so that the yogurt bacteria/culture has a hospitable place to grow in. It is not desirable to incubate contaminating bacteria that might be present in the unsterilized milk. Heating should be done even with pasteurized milk to help make a smooth thick yogurt. Heating the milk also helps stop the whey from separating out quite as much. You must then cool milk to 115 °F and add yogurt culture. (If the milk is too hot it will kill the yogurt bacteria.) Stir in yogurt culture gently until dissolved. Hold temperature at 105 to 110 °F for approximately 8-10 hours. This allows your ""good"" bacteria to grow. The methods listed in the post are suitable for this. Finally, you must refrigerate the processed yogurt for at least two hours. Refrigeration help slow the continued bacterial growth. If yogurt is not refrigerated it will become sour."

 

I have been making yogurt for 50 years.  The ONLY time I had a failure was when I tried a "short-cut" method which purported to be a "better and quicker" method.  And did not require HEATING THE MILK TO 180° F AND THEN COOLING IT TO 115°F to add the culture.

It was a total disaster and a total waste of a gallon of milk.

 

This was the yogurt I referenced in August 2010 - culture from New England Cheesemaking company.

5ab7334a1e695_ScreenShot2018-03-24at10_25_19PM.thumb.png.ef83ced16a03e7aa9894fb2c84418adb.png

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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What can I say, @andiesenji we shall see.  I've looked into American and British pasteurization requirements.  Fortunately dairy pasteurizes more readily in the Western hemisphere.  Modernist Cuisine volume 1 has food safety tables for dairy pasteurization that are even less stringent than official government requirements.

 

I've made yogurt before but I probably haven't done so for fifty years.  If the result is a disaster I've wasted only a quart or so of milk and a few lines of typing.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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9 hours ago, andiesenji said:

 

Following is a quote from the California Milk Board:

"Yogurt is formed by the growth of two bacterial organisms in milk; Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus which turn the milk sugars into lactic acid. These are two separate bacteria that are active at different times during processing. Some times you will also find yogurt that contains other ""Probiotic"" cultures such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium infantis which are bacterium normally found in your intestines. Together these bacteria aid in digestion and the synthesis of vitamins. Here are the required steps. Heat milk to between 180 and 200 °F. Heating the milk is done for a few reasons. First, to sterilize/pasteurize the milk so that the yogurt bacteria/culture has a hospitable place to grow in. It is not desirable to incubate contaminating bacteria that might be present in the unsterilized milk. Heating should be done even with pasteurized milk to help make a smooth thick yogurt. 

 

Keep in mind that killing bacteria and deactivating enzymes via pasteurization is a function of temperature and time -- and that government recommendations to consumers typically only list the temperature required to pasteurize instantly. In many cases, the same results can be achieved by longer processing at lower temperatures. The process is slower at lower temperatures, but can still be reliably effective.

 

For example, US FDA tests milk pasteurization by detecting "the phosphatase enzyme, a constituent that is inactivated by pasteurization at 63°C (145°F) for thirty (30) minutes or 72°C (161°F) for fifteen (15) seconds." I would imagine that instant deactivation would probably happen right around 180°F.

 

(As an aside -- milk labeled as "ultra pasteurized" has been shocked to 280°F for extended shelf life. Unlike regular milk pasteurized at 145°F, the enzymes are already deactivated. I've had great luck making yogurt from ultra pasteurized milk without any preheating at all, though I always open a new container directly into the pot.)

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On 3/25/2018 at 7:28 AM, dtremit said:

 

Keep in mind that killing bacteria and deactivating enzymes via pasteurization is a function of temperature and time -- and that government recommendations to consumers typically only list the temperature required to pasteurize instantly. In many cases, the same results can be achieved by longer processing at lower temperatures. The process is slower at lower temperatures, but can still be reliably effective.

 

For example, US FDA tests milk pasteurization by detecting "the phosphatase enzyme, a constituent that is inactivated by pasteurization at 63°C (145°F) for thirty (30) minutes or 72°C (161°F) for fifteen (15) seconds." I would imagine that instant deactivation would probably happen right around 180°F.

 

(As an aside -- milk labeled as "ultra pasteurized" has been shocked to 280°F for extended shelf life. Unlike regular milk pasteurized at 145°F, the enzymes are already deactivated. I've had great luck making yogurt from ultra pasteurized milk without any preheating at all, though I always open a new container directly into the pot.)

 

 

I have no answer to someone who obviously has all the answers.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I don't have all the answers but I am about three hours into a batch according to the instructions from Natural Probiotic Selection.  Note they have different recommendations depending on which culture of theirs that one is using.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Yogurt03282018.png

 

With ubiquitous Georgian preserved walnut.  Just like ice cream except it doesn't melt.  If I am dead in the morning you know it is E. coli or the KGB that got me.

 

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

If I am dead in the morning you know it is E. coli or the KGB that got me.

 

 I think the KGB is dead so if the E. coli gets you you might meet up with them. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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My second batch -- cultured with yogurt reserved from the previous Natural Probiotic Selection batch:

 

Yogurt04012018.png

 

 

I found I could fit two one quart Rubbermaid Take Along screw cap jars in the PHMB.  After heating the milk and cream at 70 degrees C. as in my previous post, I allowed the mix to cool to 45 degrees and stirred in the reserved yogurt from the first batch.  I homogenized the mixture and poured it into the prepared jars.

 

Here I tried something new and possibly controversial.  I'd been reading the Brod & Taylor site about their proofing box which can be used as a slow cooker and as yogurt maker.  Brod & Taylor advocate a "high-low" method that involves finishing the yogurt at 30 degrees for greater smoothness and reduced whey separation.  I adapted this method.  Instead of culturing at 49 degrees for one hour, I cultured at 45 degrees for two hours.  I then reset the PHMB for 30 degrees and went to bed.

 

Total culturing time 12 hours.  Comparing the two batches the current batch was indeed smoother with no apparent whey separation.  Taste was about the same.  With some trepidation I turned the jar upside down and am pleased to report nothing fell out.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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I have been using Fage as my starter (a single serve cup). Ran across a couple of packs of powdered starter in the freezer, and decided to use them on the last batch, in the name of clearing out the freezer.

 

Much, much tarter than my Fage yogurt. I like Fage better.

 

I use Nestle powdered milk (Nido Fortificado, with all its additives --- I know, I know -- you can also order the Frontier natural dry milk powder from Amazon, if you wish), and mix it twice the strength called for. Requires no straiing. I'm all about eliminating steps.

 

Just emptied my container today. Need to make more yogurt tomorrow.

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1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

@kayb I have not been straining mine.

 

I did when using regular milk, and when I mixed powdered milk at regular strength. I like thick, Greek-style yogurt (which it looks like what you're getting; kudos!). And it hit me one day....why add extra water and then strain it out as whey? So I went to the double strength.

 

Yogurt strainer, however, does excellent duty for ricotta. Which is the highest and best use of about-to-go-south milk.

 

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