My yoghurt ain't quite the thing

[Smokering]

So I make Easiyo packet yoghurt, in general. This time, as a baby step towards TF, I topped the almost-empty container up with milk (regular pasteurised storebought milk). There was maybe a tablespoon of yoghurt left? Not much. I put it in the yoghurt maker as usual. In the morning, after 10 hours or so, it was still very liquidy, so I filled the yoghurt maker up with boiling water again and left it all day. Nope. Tonight it's still very runny. Clearly SOMETHING happened, because it isn't just milk... but it's definitely too runny to be proper yoghurt.

What did I do wrong? Not enough yoghurt? Did I need to add sugar? Does it not work with pasteurised milk? And is there anything I can do now to save it? (I don't have any more yoghurt in the house to add to the mix.) Should I just use it in place of buttermilk for baking?

[dogmom327]

Couple of things might have gone wrong.

First, depending on how much milk you used, it may not have been enough yogurt to culture that much milk. You will generally need at least a teaspoon of yogurt per cup of milk and the exact amount depends on the culture (some require a tablespoon per cup).

Second, did you put cold milk or warm milk in the yogurt maker? Generally you need milk that's around 110 degrees when it goes in. Theoretically the yogurt maker would eventually heat it up but it might cause the process to take a lot longer.

Third, not all yogurt starters are meant to be recultured (using a bit of yogurt to make the next batch). I've never personally tried Easiyo so hopefully someone who has will chime in. It may be that the bacteria just weren't strong enough to multiply effectively.

Since you got runny yogurt out of the batch, I suspect it's probably option one or three and it's simply a matter of the yogurt bacteria not being strong enough to fully culture the milk. As for whether you can use it, theoretically you could but of course use caution and I would use the look/smell/taste test to determine whether it's something you want to consume and even then, I'd only use it in cooking where it's going to be heated (to potentially kill any unwanted bacteria).

[JMJ]

Could I add another question here? I got my Villi yogurt starter in the mail yesterday and followed the directions for mixing. The house was about 72 degrees when I went to bed last night, and it was just starting to snow, so I shoved it in the oven with the light on. When I got up this morning, the house was about 60 degrees, and I checked the temperature in the oven, and it was just over 90 degrees. Yikes! It's only been going for about 12 hours, and it's a thick liquid that smells sour but not foul. Is my yogurt going to be OK?

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by Smokering

So I make Easiyo packet yoghurt, in general. This time, as a baby step towards TF, I topped the almost-empty container up with milk (regular pasteurised storebought milk). There was maybe a tablespoon of yoghurt left? Not much. I put it in the yoghurt maker as usual. In the morning, after 10 hours or so, it was still very liquidy, so I filled the yoghurt maker up with boiling water again and left it all day. Nope. Tonight it's still very runny. Clearly SOMETHING happened, because it isn't just milk... but it's definitely too runny to be proper yoghurt.

What did I do wrong? Not enough yoghurt? Did I need to add sugar? Does it not work with pasteurised milk? And is there anything I can do now to save it? (I don't have any more yoghurt in the house to add to the mix.) Should I just use it in place of buttermilk for baking?

This is what happened the first time I made yogurt and I chalked it up to 2 things - the milk was too cool when I added the starter and not adding enough starter.

I make mine just using a crockpot and use typically 4 oz of yogurt (I'll get the greek style organic yogurt if I need it) for every 1/2 gal of milk I'm trying to culture. I use pasturized milk, just making sure not to use the ultra-pasturized. I'm not sure why, but its what I've come across so far.

Its worked out everytime since just perfectly since making that change.

As for what to do with it now - Would you be able to salvage it for ricotta possibly?

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by JMJ

Could I add another question here? I got my Villi yogurt starter in the mail yesterday and followed the directions for mixing. The house was about 72 degrees when I went to bed last night, and it was just starting to snow, so I shoved it in the oven with the light on. When I got up this morning, the house was about 60 degrees, and I checked the temperature in the oven, and it was just over 90 degrees. Yikes! It's only been going for about 12 hours, and it's a thick liquid that smells sour but not foul. Is my yogurt going to be OK?

90 degrees is really hot for Viili but the fact that it's thickening and seems to be doing okay is a good sign. Pull it out of the oven and just let it sit on the counter if your house is back up around 70 degrees. Watch it carefully for the next few hours. If at some point it solidifies (pulls away from the side of the jar when tipped), go ahead and put it in the fridge. It's pretty rare for that first batch from the dried starter to take less than 24 hours (and in most cases it's close to 48) but given the unusual circumstances, anything is possible.

If at some point in the next 24 hours it separates into curds and whey instead of solidifying, just let me know and we'll go from there. Separation tends to happen when the culture dies (heat can do that). But I think your odds are good!

[Smokering]

Ahhhh, OK. I added cold milk. The Easiyo packets specify adding cold water to the powder, so I didn't think. Ten points for brains!

If it smells OK, the buttermilk thing should work, right?

I did intend to leave more yoghurt in the jar, but needed it for baking. It doesn't seem very sustainable to use 4oz of purchased yoghurt every few batches to keep things going - talk to me about yoghurt starter cultures!

[JMJ]

I got mine from Cultures For Health. Dogmom's got all the links in her siggy. Some (like mine) can be done on the counter (just don't put them someplace that's 90 degrees), and some can be made in a yogurt maker. You use a small amount of the previous yogurt and add a proportional amount of milk to make a new batch, and as long as you take care of it, it can reproduce endlessly.

Thanks for the support, dogmom. I think it's fine. The only separation I see looks like fat (using non-homogenized whole goat milk), and it seems to be getting thicker, but not quite there at 24 hours. My house was barely 70 degrees all day. I think I'll try proping the oven door open tonight, and I bet it will be done by morning.

[Smokering]

OK, so I chucked the yoghurt in the fridge for no particular reason and forgot about it. I took it out to throw away tonight, but it had thickened up a little and smelled... I'm not sure. It smelled yucky at first blush, but upon deeper inhaling smelled kind of cheesy and yeasty. Does that sound like it'd kill us, or like it might be OK strained into yoghurt cheese? I gave it to DH to sniff, and he gave it the same reaction - negative for the first half-second, then "Hmm" and a deeper sniff and "I don't know". Can anyone translate that into strains of bacteria?

[treegardner]

Originally Posted by Smokering

OK, so I chucked the yoghurt in the fridge for no particular reason and forgot about it. I took it out to throw away tonight, but it had thickened up a little and smelled... I'm not sure. It smelled yucky at first blush, but upon deeper inhaling smelled kind of cheesy and yeasty. Does that sound like it'd kill us, or like it might be OK strained into yoghurt cheese? I gave it to DH to sniff, and he gave it the same reaction - negative for the first half-second, then "Hmm" and a deeper sniff and "I don't know". Can anyone translate that into strains of bacteria?

My policy is if you are questioning it, then you probably shouldn't eat it.

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by treegardner

My policy is if you are questioning it, then you probably shouldn't eat it.

Same here. It's likely just over-cultured (lots of bacteria) but it's never worth the risk.