Made homemade yogurt

[savingdogs]

I made my first yogurt in my yogurt-maker! It isn't bad!

The texture came out thick enough, but a little clumpy, it reminds me a little bit of cottage cheese.

The recipe had me boil the milk and suggested I use "pasturized" milk and I used raw goat milk.....but did I not stir well enough? What might have caused this lumpiness? It has a method where you don't boil the milk, but said it would not be as thick "like Americans prefer" and suggested I could thicken it up without boiling by adding powdered dried milk. I don't mind boiling it.

My yogurt maker is the style where you pour the prepared yogurt into little jars and put a cover over the whole thing and set a timer. It suggested seven hours for whole milk so that is what I chose.

It is actually a very good flavor, very yogurt-y! I would just like it a little smoother.

 

[TanksHill]

I don't think my recipie says "boil". I think it just has a high temp. The one time I used raw milk it clumped as well. Not sure why.

G

 

[savingdogs]

Directions here say:
Bring to boil (180) and boil for 1-2 minutes, or until the milk climbs the side of the pan.

My milk didn't do anything except boil hard, but I do live at a high altitude (around 2,000 ft). So things often boil weird here.

I thought boiling was 212 degrees or something like that?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

180 shouldn't be boiling. Did you take the temp or just bring it to a boil? I bring mine to 180 then take off heat and let cool to ~112 degrees F.

 

[savingdogs]

No, just watching for it to boil. i think I'll use the thermometer next time and prepare as you said, I think it may have cooked too long?

 

[abifae]

I should get a food thermometer....

*just realized how many things might require one*

 

[aggieterpkatie]

No, just watching for it to boil. i think I'll use the thermometer next time and prepare as you said, I think it may have cooked too long?

Even when I do things the exact same way sometimes my yogurt comes out runnier than other times. Who knows!

 

[LittleRoosterCroft]

I just made my first yogurt too! I was just getting ready to post about it. I read *hours* of stuff on here about cheese and yogurt making! LOL

I used the cooler method, heated my milk up (unfortunately, too high...I had raw cow milk and I kept watching the temp but somehow it shot up to 125 which I believe kills the good bacteria)...then put in a cooler that had hot tap water in it...let it sit over night and it was yogurt in the morning! It was a bit thin so I put it in the cloth I use for cheese making and put back in dry cooler while I was at work. It was thick when I got home and I split, put vanilla in half and the rest of the mango I had from making the mango chevre the other night. Am eating some of the mango yogurt now! Is yummy!

 

[savingdogs]

We all drink plenty of cold raw milk so I wasn't worried about the "good bacteria" but perhaps I should be as far as yogurt quality?

 

[moolie]

Boiling for a short time won't kill too much, but like everyone else above I don't bring my milk to a boil when I make yogurt either. (Don't have access to raw milk, so sorry--no help on the lumpies, I never get lumpy yogurt).