Can this yogurt be saved (check page 2)

[ORChick]

It wasn't past the "sell by" date, but I had it over a week and a half. It was rather watery. Could the milk have been too hot, would that kill off the yogurt? My thermometer isn't real easy to read, it could have been a little hot? Do you think I "killed" the starter?

Is there anything that can be done with this watery yogurt?

Its fairly easy to do without a thermometer when making yogurt - for the initial heating, heat just until little bubbles form around the side of the pan (this is "scalding", and used to be called for in old bread recipes back when I was just starting with making breads). Cool it down before putting in the starter culture - use the *baby bottle* test, put a couple of drops of the milk on the inside of your wrist; if it feels neither warm nor cold (or, just slightly warm) then it is at an OK temperature, and won't kill the starter.
For a starter I buy a new quart of a good yogurt (i.e. one I like the taste of), and freeze dollops of it in ice cube trays, using one or two dollops for each batch of homemade (they come to room temp while the hot milk is cooling). This way I know the culture is fresh, whereas sometimes I only need to make yogurt every 10 days or so, and that is often too long to use the last batch as a starter.

 

[savingdogs]

That is a great idea to freeze the plain yogurt! Thanks!

And that trying it against my wrist is easy to remember, too. Thanks.

 

[savingdogs]

Well I'm resurrecting my own old thread because I REALIZE what I did wrong.

I just made the whole recipe again, and realized as I was finishing that I made the same mistake!

I doubled the recipe but like a dunce, I didn't double the yogurt.

I don't HAVE more yogurt here. Is my newest batch ruined too? Can I cook it longer?

 

[k15n1]

You put less culture in than the recipe called for? I doubt that'll make much difference. Bacterial populations double quickly, so it won't add much time to your incubation.

I often supplement with dry milk powder. That makes a firmer yogurt. And letting it go a bit longer helps, too.

 

[savingdogs]

Yes! 1/2 the amount the recipe called for.

And I realize I did the same thing last time. I think I'm changing the thread name.....hee hee hee

 

[Marianne]

Any updates, SD? It probably hasn't been long enough, huh.

I incubated for 12 hours one time...so dang TWANGGY that I ended up draining and adding fresh milk (ya, really) just to get it to the point where I'd eat it.
The longer the incubation time, the more twang you'll have. The longer the initial cook time, the firmer the yogurt will be.

A lot of people just dip a spoon (to coat it) into the previous batch of yogurt and then add that teeeeny amount to the new batch with good results.

 

[savingdogs]

Well 1/2 came out great! The other half.....got unplugged when someone wanted to use the toaster.

I plugged it back in but about six hours passed. I'll see what happens. I suspect it will be real twangy.

But the batch that was plugged in appears to be working fine! So I guess it wasn't the fact that I didn't use enough yogurt starter last time.