AHHHH! Why can't I make yogurt?
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- #12
peteyfoozer
Lovin' The Homestead
I heat my milk to 170 and (add 1/3 c of powdered milk which helps make it thicker) so there is nothing that will culture except the culture you add. Cool it to 108, add the culture (I take some of the milk and mix it in a cup with the culture then add it back) then mix it all together, hold it at about 100-108 degrees for 6-8 hours or so. THe longer it sits, the tarter it will become, however, I have left mine overnight and it hasn't been that bad. I put mine in the fridge and it sets up well when cold. Thats my 2 cents 
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- #14
peteyfoozer
Lovin' The Homestead
Mine is a Yogourmet. I got it because I go thru a LOT of yogurt and it makes 2 quarts at a time in one big container. Not sure if you would like that or not, but here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Yogourmet-104...8&qid=1357074511&sr=8-4&keywords=yogurt+maker
I have waited for the ones that make yogurt all the time to have their say and I have this to add, either buy a yogurt starter or be sure that the purchased yogurt has a LIVE curture in the cup.[many of the big producers are now making extra health claims by using different bacteria to make their products and I am not sure if the FDA is requiring that the cultures be killed before packaging or if the companies are doing it themselves so that others can't profit from their R&D.] Just about everyone lists culture in the ingredient statement but if a seperate statement along thia line [this package contains LIVE culture] does not appear then it is unlikely that it will work as a starter in your kitchen.
Second temperature control is important. If you add your starter to milk that is too hot it will be toast, killed by the heat. Too cold and it will be a very slow grower because heat controls growth, too cool and it will be thin and watery in the time you allowed, you could try more time and see if it thickens. Too much time in a too warm space and it is likely to be too tart. [when trying new conditions we would sample often and knew that refrigeration only slowed the growth of tartness.
To sum up a new maker will not help a dead starter but with better temp and time control it might help with texture and tartness problems. ~gd
Second temperature control is important. If you add your starter to milk that is too hot it will be toast, killed by the heat. Too cold and it will be a very slow grower because heat controls growth, too cool and it will be thin and watery in the time you allowed, you could try more time and see if it thickens. Too much time in a too warm space and it is likely to be too tart. [when trying new conditions we would sample often and knew that refrigeration only slowed the growth of tartness.
To sum up a new maker will not help a dead starter but with better temp and time control it might help with texture and tartness problems. ~gd
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- #17
Can you tell us what is going wrong with your yogurt?ninny said:
Home made yogurt isn't as thick as store-bought unless it is strained to keep more of the solid and remove more of the whey, or unless you add pectin to make it a bit more "jelled" in texture like some you buy--Pomona's pectin has instructions online for how to do this.
Home made yogurt also tastes different, and there are a whole range of flavours that can result when you make it yourself--it can be more tart/tangy than you are used to or even more "sweet" than store bought plain yogurt, depending on your cultures/temperatures/timing/cream content of your milk etc.
It would help immensely, for those of us wishing to help you, to know both what you are doing that is not working for you, and also what you are expecting to accomplish. Do you, for example, have a particular result in mind; that might be a particular brand of commercial yogurt that you are aiming for? If that is the case then it is possible that that result is not possible with homemade yogurt; while one can make perfectly good yogurt at home perhaps what you want and expect is not possible. For instance, I make (IMO) quite good yogurt at home. It doesn't suit my DH's tastes however, and he won't eat it. Good enough; he can get the stuff he prefers at the market. He is happy, and, even if I am not (because of his food choices) I can still live with the compromise. Please give us a few more particulars, and maybe we can offer more useful advice.
Re: yogurt makers. A yogurt maker does not actually make yogurt. YOU make the yogurt; the yogurt maker only incubates the yogurt. I have had two yogurt makers - the first was because I thought that the machine actually did the job. The second ... well, I'm sometimes a slow learner. If your problem is the mixing, or inoculating, or the finding of a proper starter it is of no help to get a yogurt maker. Your yogurt will still fail. The yogurt maker only guarantees a place to incubate the milk at the proper temperature (and that isn't always true; my second machine had a hot spot, so instead of 8 little jars I could only get 7 - the 8 always got too hot).
