Troubleshoot lumpy homemade yogurt

[AwakenedMama]

I've been making homemade yogurt for a few weeks now, and it was working great when it was warm outside. Now that it's cool, though, I'm having to use a heating pad to get it to turn into yogurt, but it's also getting lumpy. Am I heating it too much? What can I do?

[dogmom327]

The heating pad may be too hot unfortunately. If you're using a yogurt culture that likes heat (normally needs to be kept around 110 degrees), you might try using your crock pot on a warm setting. If you are using one of the mesophilic (aka counter-top or room temp) yogurt starters you might try getting a reptile heat mat from a pet store. There are some made by ZooMed that keep the culture about 5-10 degrees above the temperature in your room which is often enough. I find them really useful for all sorts of cultured items when my house gets too cold in the winter. If you happen to have an Excalibur Dehydrator (so one of a similar size/shape), you can stick your yogurt in there too.

[artemis33]

Just a warning that my crock pot even on 'warm' is WAY too hot for yogurt.

I've started using a hot water bottle and a small cooler. I usually start the yogurt in the AM or afternoon and put 2 quart jars in my small cooler with a hot water bottle. Then before bed I refill the water bottle again so it stays warm overnight.

[TonyaW]

I use a yogurmet culture. I stick my yogurt in the oven with a light on for 24 hours and it comes out creamy every time. If your oven is cold like mine is because it is next to an outdoor wall, I will preheat my oven for a couple of minutes and then turn it off...not while the yogurt is in there.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by artemis33

Just a warning that my crock pot even on 'warm' is WAY too hot for yogurt.

With the lid on, mine is too. But with it off, it's the perfect temperature for a warm water bath for yogurt.

[nerdymom]

I put my oven on the lowest setting and left it on about 30minutes so it was good and warm then turned it off and let it cool for 20 minutes, then put my yogurt in jars in a warm water bath in a dutch oven and put it in the oven. Worked well for me.

[MyLittleWarrior]

My gas oven has a pilot light, so the temp in an off oven is perfect for yogurt. I hope you can find a solution that works for you! There are lots of ways for keeping yogurt warm without a fancy yogurt maker.

[AwakenedMama]

Thanks everyone for the tips! My oven has a "proof" feature that I thought would be good, but it wasn't--it turned into cheese or something. But maybe if I turn it on proof while I'm prepping the yogurt, then turn it off and just stick it in there?

I'll try this with the next batch...

[Sundance_11]

My yogurt is often quite lumpy with a lot of whey. I make a quart of it, then I pour it into a strainer, lined with a kitchen towel, and stick it over a bowl in the fridge for a few hours and let the whey drain out. Then I take the (very thick) yogurt, and put it in the blender, and add some of the whey back in to make it the right consistency. This is AWESOME. It turns out just as thick and creamy as store-bought yogurt is.
I end up with about a pint of yogurt from this, and I try to use the whey for other things during the week (mayo, and putting the extra in bread, usually)

HTH

Melanie

[Jj51]

Thank you this was very helpful. My yogurt is lumpy Very thick, like I want it though. I strained whey off as well and was wonderif I could put it in the blender with out disturbing the cultures. Thanks!