homemade non-dairy yogurt

[Sayward]

Hey guys, I know this might be weird for this forum, but there does seem to be quite a few dairy-free folk and I hear a lot of talk about coconut yogurt, so maybe you guys will be able to help me after all.

I've made a few batches of almond yogurt, but I'm not convinced that it's . . . 'yoged'. It doesn't taste much different and it isn't much thicker (I do use tapioca starch to thicken it up some).

Basically, I'm wondering how I know if my culture actually cultured, or if I'm just eating thickened almond milk . . . =(

For those that make coco-yog, does it get a noticeable tanginess? Does it get thicker? How do you know that it's worked?

I've read the other yogurt threads but couldn't find what I was looking for. Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[mountainsunshine]

I sometimes drop my Kefir grains in coconut milk- Og full fat. It gets super thick and I use that for mt casein intolerent DD with some granola on top to sub for yogurt if I don't have any Turtle Mt on hand. I usually add some honey or maple syrup to sweeten it. HTH

sarah

[FairyRae]

I've done coconut milk yogurt using gelatin to thicken and it worked well enough--kinda lumpy though. I always fermented for 24 hrs and it definitely tasted tangy.

[Sayward]

Originally Posted by FairyRae

I've done coconut milk yogurt using gelatin to thicken and it worked well enough--kinda lumpy though. I always fermented for 24 hrs and it definitely tasted tangy.

Hmm, so you do get a tang even with non-dairy yogurt? That's good to know. I've been doing 12-hour ferments, so maybe I'll try 24.

Do you add additional sugar for the cultures to eat?

How much starter do you add to how much coconut milk (I'm adding 1 tbsp store-bought yogurt to 4 cups almond milk, though last night I tried 1 tsp because Sandor Katz talks about the bacteria 'needing room', but it didn't seem to make a difference)

In other more exciting news, I finished fermenting my first batch of kimchee today and it is DIVINE!