Help? Goat milk yogurt....runny, a bit stringy :(

[ChickenPotPie]

I tried making my first yogurt in a crock pot. Using two quarts of pasteurized goat milk, I took the temp up to 180 then cooled to 115 degrees. Added about 1/2 - 2/3 cup plain Dannon yogurt mixed in w/some of the warm goat milk and then wrapped up the crock pot in a blanket to sit overnight. This morning, the top looked firm. I did not see any of the yellow liquid I thought I might. I stirred and the yogurt seemed to get somewhat thin and almost stringy. What did I do wrong? Is it still good? Help, please?

Thank you.

 

[donrae]

Home made yogurt is much thinner than the store bought stuff. I've not run into the stringiness, so can't help you there. Does it smell and taste all right? I strain my yogurt for several hours to get the consistency I like, that also gives me the yellow whey for whatever I decide to use it for. I'd say try straining it, and see how you like it. Sounds like you did everything right, so it should be good.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Thanks, Donrae. I thought about straining it, too, but quickly realized that it went straight through the butter muslin (made a sticky mess!) so I guess I should use something more like a thin pillowcase. :/ Fyi, I *think* it smells and tastes okay. I was hoping for a little more tang but it's okay, I guess.

 

[Dawn419]

CPP,

I don't want to sound like an advertisement but I've recently purchased very fine meshed nut milk bags for straining my Kefir cheese and they work fantastic! I first tried using several layers of cheese cloth to strain the kefir milk but it was an aggravating mess.

 

[snapshot]

I use a sheer white curtain panel (or part of) for most straining. Very fine mesh and washable! And inexpensive. The ones I have now came from a thrift store. Just wash well first!