I tried to make yogurt today, where did I go wrong?

[peaceful_mama]

I got something that looked kind of like ricotta cheese. Separate curds and whey, LOL

My starter was nonfat Nancy's cause it was what I had.

My inspiration--a very full fridge and some cow's milk (1%) that most of the family does not drink. (but can tolerate YOGURT just fine)

I heated it to 185, cooled it to 115 (Did I get the temps wrong??) I used a thermometer....

I don't remember who told me this or where I read it but to 'incubate' it I stuck it in a small cooler with a container of hot water next to it. (It only fit one on one side of the yogurt container.)

I changed the water once to keep it warm.

Now this might have been part of the problem--it was suggested 8 hours and I forgot it for an extra 2, I should have checked it at 9 and forgot it till 11.

Where did I go wrong? How do I get YOGURT and not ricotta?

[bremen]

whisk it!
it is probably fine!
sometimes it jsut naturlly separates.
if it doesn't come together, just strain it through some cheesecloth, and you have some yummy yogurt cheese!
it sounds like you did everything right.
and far more accurate than i normally do.
let us know what happens

[sparkly]

that's my recipe...did you whisk in the yogurt really really well? keeping it in the cooler for more than 8 hours is fine--I've done 12.

I have heard that disturbing the yogurt can make it not set properly...if you had warm water in there to begin with, the cooler should still feel warmer than room temperature after the 8 hours, and there is no need to change it (it doesn't need to be 115 in there for the incubation time).

[katiesk]

whisk it - if it does not come together then strain it and you'll have nice cheese!

if you use fat free yogurt and 1% milk, it might be quite thin and runny.

it's fine to let the yogurt set longer. mine often needs some extra time.

[Mere]

My yogurt did that once, and I have no idea why. It is still totally edible, you just have to stir in the whey to get it to the consistency you want. I did find, however, when I used yogurt from that batch to make a new batch, it did the same thing! So, eat this batch but I'd recommend using a new starter unless you like it that way.

[ani'smommy]

Did you mix it or jiggle it when it was incubating? Otherwise, yeah, just whisk it up. Or you could wrap it in cheesecloth and drain it to make greek yogurt or yogurt cheese.

[peaceful_mama]

actually, uh, I dumped it...which is kind of stupid considering I've made basically a ricotta before using similar milk-heating but no incubation. and cheese cloth LOL

this wasn't a matter of mixing though this was solid and separate, not yogurt like at all.

next time i will try not changing the water or touching it at all.

also it COULD have been bumped or disturbed pretty easily. It was next to the dining room table in a corner.

It also probably did not get mixed the best. I'll try again!

[Llyra]

I don't think it's the time--- I let mine go 24 hours, to make sure all the lactose is consumed, because I can't digest it.

Mine always looks weird when it's done until I refrigerate it, and then it looks the way it should. And sometimes I do have to stir it up really well. You can also just pour off the watery part, and you'll be left with a nice firm yogurt underneath.

So I agree it was edible.