yogurt making question

[lrpurro]

A question for the more "veteran" yogurt makers:

Could I use regular 2% milk as the base for a batch of yogurt
but add some organic whole fat milk or cream to try and make
it more "traditional"? We get WIC, so have an overabundance of
low fat milk...

Also, most recipes call for non-fat yogurt to be used as the starter
culture, but could I use a whole fat yogurt as the starter?

Thanks so much for any advice!

Lisa

[clothdiapermama]

I always use whatever milk I happen to have on hand. Whole milk yogurt is yummy - but I've never had a problem using 2% or even 1%. Use what you have. Good luck!

Originally Posted by lrpurro

A question for the more "veteran" yogurt makers:

Could I use regular 2% milk as the base for a batch of yogurt
but add some organic whole fat milk or cream to try and make
it more "traditional"? We get WIC, so have an overabundance of
low fat milk...

Also, most recipes call for non-fat yogurt to be used as the starter
culture, but could I use a whole fat yogurt as the starter?

Thanks so much for any advice!

Lisa

[Llyra]

Of course you can, to both questions.

What I've found-- lower-fat milk makes a yogurt that comes out more tart, because the cream has a naturally sweet taste. You'll also see I think some small differences in consistency, with the lower-fat milk maybe making a thinner yogurt. I actually add extra cream even to the whole milk that I use for yogurt, because my kids eat it more willingly if it's fattier-- if I used low-fat milk, I'd wind up having to sweeten the yogurt, but with the cream, they'll eat it plain.

I've never fussed with the level of fat in the yogurt I use as starter. I guess you'd see a similar effect-- less tart with the full-fat, more tart with the low-fat.

[CookiePie]

Yes and yes!