yogurt starter culture

[Marnica]

I'm totally new and cluless to making yogurt. I've decided to get a yogurt maker. As for the starter cultures do I buy them (they seem pricey)..or can I use yougurt itself?

Some one whom makes yougurt in a yogurt maker, please explain!!

[mamakims]

I make yogurt in my crockpot but the method is basically the same I think. THe first time I made yogurt I just bought organic natural (with probiotics) yogurt. Then the next time you make it, just reserve half a cup (or whatever your recipe calls for) of the yogurt you made previously.

[Llyra]

I use a yogurt maker. I heat whole milk until it's bubbling, then cool to about 110, then add a cup of commercial plain yogurt for every two quarts of milk. Then I incubate for 24 hours, then refrigerate the yogurt until it's firm. No stirring once the incubation starts, until the yogurt is fully cool, to avoid runny yogurt.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Llyra

I use a yogurt maker. I heat whole milk until it's bubbling, then cool to about 110, then add a cup of commercial plain yogurt for every two quarts of milk. Then I incubate for 24 hours, then refrigerate the yogurt until it's firm. No stirring once the incubation starts, until the yogurt is fully cool, to avoid runny yogurt.

if you can use yogurt itself as a starter culture....why would anyone use the actual cultures...they seem pricey? Is there a benefit to using these vs using yougurt itself??

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by Marnica

if you can use yogurt itself as a starter culture....why would anyone use the actual cultures...they seem pricey? Is there a benefit to using these vs using yougurt itself??

There's three ways to make yogurt:

1. Use yogurt from the store. This method works fine but you have to keep buying some yogurt to work as a starter. Some people have luck freezing the yogurt so they can just pull a little out when needed. Ultimately though, you just have to buy some yogurt to use as a starter but at least not all the yogurt you are eating.
2. Get a yogurt starter from the health food or grocery store (e.g. Yogourmet brand, etc.). There's no significant benefit of using this method over buying yogurt at the store except maybe that since they are packets of dried culture, you could stock up. They are one time use though.
3. Get a natural self-perpetuating yogurt starter. The natural starters are meant to be serial-cultured, that is a small amount from each batch is used to inoculate the next batch of yogurt. So it works like the yogurt form the store but with care should last indefinitely. They tend to be more costly on the front end but since they last a long time, they do save money in the long run. The other benefit is that they are natural cultures--passed down through the generations--not manufactured in a laboratory.

For what it's worth, there are also natural cultures that work at room temperature (70-78 degrees) called mesophilic cultures (aka counter-top yogurt starters). They aren't quite as thick as the heated cultures but they also don't require any sort of heating appliance.

[HappiLeigh]

I make yogurt. I like to keep a small tub of plain, full-fat, store-bought yogurt on hand to use as starter, and so I have some plain yogurt on hand to use in recipes. The yogurt I make I lightly sweeten and add vanilla, because that is how we eat the vast majority of our yogurt (usually with fruit or homemade nutty granola, or for dessert with chocolate syrup!).

[erratum]

Nope, you can just use a bit of plain commercial yogurt to start and then freeze a bit from each batch to start the next. (I've read somewhere that using this method can eventually result in too sour tasting yogurt, after 8 batches or so, but I've never had this problem.)
you don't even need a yogurt maker, since the bulk of the "work" is sterilizing containers and heating and stirring the milk constantly, which i think you have to regardless. You can use an insulated cooler with jars of hot water in it or a large thermos. If you already have these materials on hand, I recommend trying it out this way at first to see how you like the whole process.


I used this guide with a lot of success.