It seems that every few months there is a new rash of questions about the making of yogurt. It also seems as if we all have slightly different methods. I'd like to get all our different ways together in one easily accessable thread. Anyone willing to play along? Feel free to add points that you feel I have neglected.
#1 - What kind of milk do you use? - I use organic whole milk, homoginized and pastuerized, because that is the best I can do where I am. However I have successfully used regular supermarket milk, at all fat levels, including skim, in the past
#2 - Do you heat it, and if so, how high? - I heat the milk to about 190*; I've read that 180* or 185* is adequate, but I seem to have better results when I get it a bit higher. Lacking a thermometer I would heat till I see small bubbles forming around the edge (which is probably a little higher than 190*
#3 - When do you add your starter culture? - I add it after the temp. has fallen to between 115* and 125*
#4 - What do you use for a starter? - I use a commercial yogurt that I like the taste of; it must be plain yogurt, free of additives, and marked as having live cultures. For many years I have used Trader Joe's yogurt.
#5 - How do you maintain/renew your starter? - I buy a quart of TJ's plain whole milk yogurt, and put a couple of spoonfuls in the compartments of an icecube tray. Once frozen I bag them up, and use one or two per batch when making yogurt. I put them in a small bowl before I put the milk on to heat, and by the time the milk is cool enough the little yogurt cubes are defrosted, or very nearly so. I stir this starter into the warm milk, and incubate. When I get to the last of my frozen cubes I just make a double batch of yogurt, and freeze some more cubes. I have read that after about four generations the yogurt has probably been compromised to the point that it won't work as well, so after the 4th freezing I buy another quart of the commercial yogurt. BTW, I don't usually use the whole quart for starter cubes, as I don't make that much yogurt. I only make enough for about 6 months worth, as it tends to lose power after time in the freezer IME - but still, that is 2 years of homemade from 1 quart bought
#6 - How do you incubate your yogurt? - While the milk is heating I heat water to fill a quart jar. I have a small-ish picnic cooler, just large enough for 3-4 quart jars, into which I put the jar with hot water (when I think of it I also fill the jar(s) that I plan to make the yogurt in with hot water, and place them in the cooler as well, both to heat the jars and to preheat the cooler, but sometimes I forget, and everything works just as well
). I put the cooled and innoculated milk into the jar(s), and then the cooler, and set the timer for 4 hours. Usually it is done by then; if it is not yet ready I reheat the water in the jar (microwave), put it back in the cooler, and close it back up. Then I check every hour or so. It very rarely takes more than 6 hours. Then it goes in the 'fridge.
#7 - How do you make it thicker? - I take a square of washed, dampened unbleached muslin, drape it over the open top of one of the clean quart yogurt containers, and attach it with a rubber band around it. The muslin hangs into the container. Then I stir the yogurt, and pour in as much as will fit. I put the lid back on - balancing it, it usually won't snap closed - and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. If, by chance, it gets thicker than I want then I just mix some of the whey back in. The whey goes into a glass jar, with lid, in the 'fridge.
Pros and cons of your method? - Pros - It is relatively quick; there is little hands on work involved; I can do a quart or two at a time (or more, if I wished), and not mess with the little containers of an electric maker; the electric maker I used to have had a hot spot, so one little jar never set up, it doesn't happen using the cooler; the only electricity used is to heat the milk, and the warming water - Cons - I can't think of any; after fussing with the electric yogurt maker for a couple of years I find this way so much easier. If I need to leave the house for something I know that the worst that can happen is that everything will slowly cool down, nothing more.
#1 - What kind of milk do you use? - I use organic whole milk, homoginized and pastuerized, because that is the best I can do where I am. However I have successfully used regular supermarket milk, at all fat levels, including skim, in the past
#2 - Do you heat it, and if so, how high? - I heat the milk to about 190*; I've read that 180* or 185* is adequate, but I seem to have better results when I get it a bit higher. Lacking a thermometer I would heat till I see small bubbles forming around the edge (which is probably a little higher than 190*
#3 - When do you add your starter culture? - I add it after the temp. has fallen to between 115* and 125*
#4 - What do you use for a starter? - I use a commercial yogurt that I like the taste of; it must be plain yogurt, free of additives, and marked as having live cultures. For many years I have used Trader Joe's yogurt.
#5 - How do you maintain/renew your starter? - I buy a quart of TJ's plain whole milk yogurt, and put a couple of spoonfuls in the compartments of an icecube tray. Once frozen I bag them up, and use one or two per batch when making yogurt. I put them in a small bowl before I put the milk on to heat, and by the time the milk is cool enough the little yogurt cubes are defrosted, or very nearly so. I stir this starter into the warm milk, and incubate. When I get to the last of my frozen cubes I just make a double batch of yogurt, and freeze some more cubes. I have read that after about four generations the yogurt has probably been compromised to the point that it won't work as well, so after the 4th freezing I buy another quart of the commercial yogurt. BTW, I don't usually use the whole quart for starter cubes, as I don't make that much yogurt. I only make enough for about 6 months worth, as it tends to lose power after time in the freezer IME - but still, that is 2 years of homemade from 1 quart bought
#6 - How do you incubate your yogurt? - While the milk is heating I heat water to fill a quart jar. I have a small-ish picnic cooler, just large enough for 3-4 quart jars, into which I put the jar with hot water (when I think of it I also fill the jar(s) that I plan to make the yogurt in with hot water, and place them in the cooler as well, both to heat the jars and to preheat the cooler, but sometimes I forget, and everything works just as well
). I put the cooled and innoculated milk into the jar(s), and then the cooler, and set the timer for 4 hours. Usually it is done by then; if it is not yet ready I reheat the water in the jar (microwave), put it back in the cooler, and close it back up. Then I check every hour or so. It very rarely takes more than 6 hours. Then it goes in the 'fridge.#7 - How do you make it thicker? - I take a square of washed, dampened unbleached muslin, drape it over the open top of one of the clean quart yogurt containers, and attach it with a rubber band around it. The muslin hangs into the container. Then I stir the yogurt, and pour in as much as will fit. I put the lid back on - balancing it, it usually won't snap closed - and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. If, by chance, it gets thicker than I want then I just mix some of the whey back in. The whey goes into a glass jar, with lid, in the 'fridge.
Pros and cons of your method? - Pros - It is relatively quick; there is little hands on work involved; I can do a quart or two at a time (or more, if I wished), and not mess with the little containers of an electric maker; the electric maker I used to have had a hot spot, so one little jar never set up, it doesn't happen using the cooler; the only electricity used is to heat the milk, and the warming water - Cons - I can't think of any; after fussing with the electric yogurt maker for a couple of years I find this way so much easier. If I need to leave the house for something I know that the worst that can happen is that everything will slowly cool down, nothing more.
