Home Made Yoghurt

[Ducatiboy stu]

What is the reason for taking the milk up to 90*c then letting it cool to 40....

 

[Bribie G]

Pasteurised milk still contains microorganisms which is why milk goes off after a week or so. However if you boil it, the proteins start coagulating already which isn't going to give the smoothest yogurt.

 

[lael]

Wolfy, this is awesome!

Made some of this last night using some jalna greek and taste me(? something like that) organic yoghurt - still looking for activia and gippsland organic - seem to be off the shelf where I've looked. Where did you get yours? It turned out thick, creamy, slightly tart and really good!

Just confirming - you said you can freeze the seed yoghurt in ice cube trays and use them once they have defrosted? sounds like a good backup plan to have some culture ready to go.

I did the milk in a saucepan, to 88 (lowest setting on one of the burners kept it constant) then temp controlled in the rice cooker with a timer thingo. Put it in the fridge early this morning and had it for breakfast. Any thoughts on where in the temp range (40-45) is best?

 

[Wolfy]

What is the reason for taking the milk up to 90*c then letting it cool to 40....

As per Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt
"In Western culture, the milk is first heated to about 80 °C (176 °F) to kill any undesirable bacteria and to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds"

Wolfy, this is awesome!

Made some of this last night using some jalna greek and taste me(? something like that) organic yoghurt - still looking for activia and gippsland organic - seem to be off the shelf where I've looked. Where did you get yours? It turned out thick, creamy, slightly tart and really good!

Just confirming - you said you can freeze the seed yoghurt in ice cube trays and use them once they have defrosted? sounds like a good backup plan to have some culture ready to go.

I did the milk in a saucepan, to 88 (lowest setting on one of the burners kept it constant) then temp controlled in the rice cooker with a timer thingo. Put it in the fridge early this morning and had it for breakfast. Any thoughts on where in the temp range (40-45) is best?

IMHO don't get too stressed about which culture(s) you use, just pick them from the yoghurt that you like eating best - then in theory yours will turn out much the same.

Yes (in theory) you can freeze the seed yoghurt, I've done so and it turns out OK, but after a few months of re-using the same culture, I just buy a couple more tubs of commercial stuff and start again.

With my setup, I set the controller to 44degC, but in practice it ranges from about 43.5 up to 45 - that's the range where I like how it tastes, but try a few different temps and see where you like it best.

 

[TimT]

For a yoghurt culture you guys could consider getting what are called 'heirloom cultures' or 'long-life cultures'. Most culture you get from cheesemaking stores or from the shops will only regenerate a few times before it becomes too weak - unsurprising because neither cheesemaking stores or the shops have an interest in letting you make your own yoghurt without occasionally going back to buy stuff from them.

A good yoghurt culture should be able to work for centuries - you should be able to reculture it forever, essentially.

I'm unsure why store bought cultures don't possess this ability but think it's something to do with the way these cultures were produced - a single strain of bacteria was isolated and multiplied. Heirloom cultures, by contrast, have many types of bacteria in them, and somehow they contrive to work together to make the environment congenial for one another. (I've also read one suggestion that single-strain cultures will be much more susceptible to viral infections, which makes sense.)

Anyway, we have a longlife villii culture at home that we've had going for a couple of months now. They're hard to come by in Australia, I'll dig around and try and find the website for the distributor - but they're originally sourced from here. Alternatively, you could try Cultures ALIVE, although when I first started searching for heirloom yoghurt culture half a year ago I didn't have any success contacting them. Anyway, their website seems to be working again so you may be able to get culture from them.

Villii loves cream (and I've found it makes lovely cream cheese and mascarpone - cheesemaking is really what I keep it for), so bear that in mind if you get that product.

 

[TimT]

Cheese-and-yoghurt makers usually distinguish between thermophilic (heat loving) and mesophilic (room-temp loving) cultures. A lot of the yoghurt mentioned here is heat loving/thermophillic but our vili is room-temp loving - basically you just keep it on the top shelf in a warm room like the kitchen. No fuss.

BTW I just noticed people mentioning using UHT milk. Eek! Don't do that! Almost every cheese book or blog I read cautions against this. The milk proteins are denatured, the culture doesn't like it as much, and it tastes worse than regular milk: more bland, less sweet, no texture.

Of course every milk is different and will give different results to the yoghurt or cheese. UHT won't culture very well; raw milk is very rich, and excellent for cheeses like mozzarella (which require an active culture when you make the mozzarella balls), or for adding flavour and character to cheeses like camembert. Unhomogenised milk can give the cheese a not-unpleasant mottled character because of the bits of cream floating about. Yoghurt sometimes has different results on reculturing, too, partly because of the milk - our last few batches haven't clabbered very thickly because the milk hasn't been so creamy. And the taste seems different each time. A brewing and cheesemaking friend in Warburton has an arrangement where he gets milk from a Jersey cow belonging to a friend and swears the milk is virtually half cream, (an unimaginably delightful prospect to folks such as I who can only dabble with store-bought milks).

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

We have local milk. Tastes like proper milk.

http://bigrivermilk.com.au/

 

[Bribie G]

I'm still eating the brew, One more litre tub to go.. It's as good as the day I made it, if anything it's become a little more firm but still mild and creamy. I'll be down at Tuncurry tomorrow and grab some more unhomogenised milk and test out my rice cooker with a somewhat smaller batch this time.

 

[lael]

22nd Nov till 10th Dec - that's pretty impressive. Happy with bernhoffen as your starter?

 

[Bribie G]

Yes, not so tart as I would have expected for B'hoffen. However a rellie has left half a kilo of Vaalia in the fridge, might give that a go.

 

[altpferd]

I have Easiyo yoghurt makers. We started with Easiyo natural yoghurt sachet and just used a couple spoonfuls from each batch to make up the next batch. I boost the cheap milk with a spoonful or two of powdered milk. Makes excellent yoghurt. We add jams and stuff to it for sweetness, or just use plain on our salads and veggie wraps. The Easiyo thermos seems to work well enough for us in terms of regulating temperature. I generally just leave it overnight unless it's really hot, then I just leave for 4 - 6 hours.

 

[altpferd]

Also, interesting information .. according to my dietician, Bornhoffen is the most natural yoghurt available in Coles and Woolworths in Australia. I can't speak for boutique brands sold in smaller places, though.

 

[niftinev]

I use uht long life milk ( keep a couple in the cupboard) and just add a couple of spoonfulls of powdered milk which helps it thicken and adds creaminess and just add a couple of spoons of whatever brand of yogurt you like as the starter

 

[NewtownClown]

Also, interesting information .. according to my dietician, Bornhoffen is the most natural yoghurt available in Coles and Woolworths in Australia. I can't speak for boutique brands sold in smaller places, though.

Not anymore.. a couple of years ago they removed the acidophilus and bifidus cultures - it use to say "Acidophilus" on the front of the tub.
I stopped purchasing the product for the "bite" was missing and the "tang" was very mellow.


I will check colesworth today too see if they have gone back to their old recipe and culture....

 

[Bribie G]

No, I noticed that as well. They use S. Thermophilae.
The S stands for Streptococcus, but don't worry it won't make your legs fall off.

Yet.

Probably accounts for the more mellow taste nowadays - used to be a bit of an endurance test in the old days. I'll check the Vaalia tub:

Right, the Vaalia has Acidophilus and as the guy on Kath and Kim used to claim, Bifidophilus :blink:

 

[NewtownClown]

I not know of this Kath and Kim.

I am now considering those Yakult-type probiotic drinks? Is that viable?

I've alway wondered how many people would give up yogurt if the knew many of the cultures were strains grown from human and animal poop!

 

[lael]

I tried both. I got a thicker set yoghurt with the 20mins at 85. I also tried using uht and adding cream ( not cooked but think it is pasteurised. ) at around 400ml to 2ltrs. I didn't add milk powder though, which I think absorbs liquid and helps to get a thicker set yoghurt. I was interested as a shortcut to avoid the 20mins.

My favourite so far has been the Paul's milk with the 20mins. Five am organic and jalna Greek as starters.

 

[Bribie G]

I not know of this Kath and Kim.

I am now considering those Yakult-type probiotic drinks? Is that viable?

I've alway wondered how many people would give up yogurt if the knew many of the cultures were strains grown from human and animal poop!

Makes fecal transplant increasingly attractive, cut out the middle man.

Kath and Kim were a popular 2000s show on ABC I seem to remember, Queens of the Cashed up Bogans. The boyfriend was a butcher "purveyor of fine meats" and he was always coming out with the wrong term while trying to appear up to date with all things hipster, such as "Bifidophilus". Couldn't stand the show myself.



I'll check up on the fermentation temp for acidophilus and biffo. I'd guess Bornhoffen have gone to a thermophilic yogurt as they can crank it out quicker.

 

[Bribie G]

Wikpedia says

optimum growth temperature of around 37 °C (99 °F).[1]L. acidophilus occurs naturally in the human and animal gastrointestinal tract and mouth.[2] Some strains of L. acidophilus may be considered to have probiotic characteristics.[3] These strains are commercially used in many dairy products, sometimes together with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in the production of acidophilus-type yogurt.

I might try a mix of bornhoffen and Vaalia at 41 degrees and get two bob both ways.

 

[sp0rk]

We have local milk. Tastes like proper milk.

http://bigrivermilk.com.au/

Any shops near the highway selling it?
I might grab some on my way home from visiting the Family in Ballina over christmas and have a dig at doing some yoghurt
I've thought about using my HLT for the warm water bath, will have to hurry up and order the STC1000 for it