Yogurt! and a few questions regarding raw milk

[chickensducks&agoose]

We're making our own yogurt. I can buy a half gallon of organic pasturized milk for 3.75... or a quart of organic yogurt for the same price... so we've gotten a quart sized yogurt maker, and can now make 2 quarts if homemade yogurt for 3.75... so half price!!! (we eat a lot of yogurt). IF, and this is a big IF, i could get raw milk for cheaper than 7.50 a gallon, would the heating to 180 degrees (part of the yogurt making directions) kill off all the bacteria (good and bad) in the raw milk? Would I just be pasturizing it? my mother thinks that if I made yogurt with raw milk, it'd breed any bad bacteria in the milk, but i think the heating would kill it off... but then, unless it's much cheaper, there's no real benefit... right?

 

[CrownofThorns]

There are ways of making yogurt without heating it that high, but since I haven't done it yet (hopefully soon!) I can't say much about it.

 

[mandieg4]

I don't know about the heating question, but the good bacteria should destroy the bad bacteria. I read something not too long ago that was talking about using yogurt to test bacteria laden milk. They would put a couple drops of the yogurt in the milk and test it in 24 hours to make sure all the bad bacteria was gone. I wish I would have bookmarked the article because it was very fascinating.

 

[freemotion]

I make raw milk yogurt with my goat's milk all the time. I just heat it to 110 or so and then incubate it as normal. It works best if the milk is really fresh, as once in a while I will lose a batch to rogue bacteria. But it is always obvious so I'm not worried about killing my family! Everything gets the sniff test here.

The yogurt will be runny if made with raw milk, but it can be strained for a thicker, Greek-style yogurt.

 

[tamlynn]

Yes, heating it that high would be a waste of expensive raw millk.

Temperature-Time Pasteurization
Requirements for Fluid Milk
Temperature, Time

150F (66C) 30 minutes
(vat pasteurization)

161F (72C) 15 seconds
(high temperature, shorttime
pasteurization)

191F (89C) 1 second

212F (100C) 0.01 second

 

[freemotion]

Temps as low as 118 F will destroy delicate enzymes, too, so keep close track of the temp if you want the fullest benefit of the raw milk.