Runny yogurt! and a question about Activia

[Red]

Ok, help me out. I've made runny yogurt twice now, and it's irritating me.

I bought really good Greek style yogurt for starter, and ruined it. We eat lots of yogurt, but I long for thick, ceamy yogurt. Help.

Also, I tried the Activia and it really helped me. I just bought some. I wan to use it for starter, which should work, but has anyone tried it?

[RunnerDuck]

So I just posted about buying a yogurt maker... and then mentioned the idea to my husband who surprise surprise said "Oh, we had one on the farm, that would be great!"

Then he said, "Just so you know, home made stuff is runny, like that Trader Joe's stuff..."

I always gripe about the TJ's stuff you can eat through a straw.

Commercial stuff has lots of stuff in it to bind it up - geletin, pectin, tapioca starch depending on the brand. There's probably a way to thicken home made stuff but we haven't gotten that far yet. I find the runniness most irritating from a feeding a child standpoint... for myself, it is not such a deal.

Have you tried straining it? You put a coffee filter in a colander and let it drain over a bowl for a few hours to overnight - I used to make yogurt "cream cheese" that way.

[cristeen]

Actually, the homemade stuff doesn't have to be runny. There are any number of things that can impact the thickness of your yogurt. Like fat content. If you're using commercial (past/hom) milk, switch to half and half. That makes a really thick yogurt. Also, let it ferment for longer, I always do 24 hours, because it's thicker that way. You can also stir dried milk powder into your milk, which will increase the protein content of your milk and it will be thicker.

But, if you're using raw milk, you don't heat it, and you don't want to use dried milk powder, then your other options are to try different cultures or to strain the whey out of it.

[LemonPie]

Greek yogurt is thick because it's drained. You can put your yogurt through a cheesecloth to drain some of the excess fluid off.

[Red]

THanks, I thought I was doing something wrong. I'm off to try again. I'm thinking of mixing some over-priced Activia (which really does work, BTW) with some Stoneyfield. I'm going to use whole milk and some half and half for the first batch, and strain if needed. :

I'm going to get milk powder this week, as that sounds like a healthy way to make it richer.

I hate the runny stuff. I've been telling myself it's Kefir and drinking it, but, yuck.

[tricia80]

Originally Posted by cristeen

But, if you're using raw milk, you don't heat it, and you don't want to use dried milk powder,

Ok i am new to yogurt making and why don't you heat raw milk???? I am hoping to make yogurt this week for the 1st time....

[Ellp]

I've made multiple batches of yoghurt and all of them have turned out nice and thick, sometimes to the point of standing a spoon up in!

The way I do it is to heat the milk to 180F (it denatures the milk proteins to make the yoghurt thicker), then add 1/2C of milk powder to every 6-7C of milk. Once the mix is cooled down to 110F, mix in 1/2C of plain yoghurt as the starter. Put in the yoghurt maker for 7-8hrs, then refridgerate. Simple and yummy!

[Red]

I made one really thick batch and one more runny batch. No idea what the diff was. I'm going to get some millk powder and try that. straining it saved the runny stuff. Thanks for the help. (Activia made really thick yogurt, I used older yogurt the second time)

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by tricia80

Ok i am new to yogurt making and why don't you heat raw milk???? I am hoping to make yogurt this week for the 1st time....

Heating raw milk kills the beneficial bacteria and more or less negates the benefits of consuming raw milk.

The other option is to use a room temperature yogurt starter that doesn't require any heat.