Can you make yogurt with rice milk?

[Awaken]

Ok, all you yogurt and kefir makers, does yogurt work using rice or oat milk? And, is there a starter you can use that is non-dairy and non-soy?

Clearly I am a total newbie at yogurt-making. I used to make my own yogurt pre-kids but it was dairy and I had a yogurt maker. Have never done it without a yogurt maker, and we are now on diet restrictions, and I am missing my yogurt!!

Thanks!

[DevaMajka]

I don't think you can. I did a search on www.dogpile.com, and found some people saying it didn't work, and one person theorized that it could possibly be dangerous. I guess there is certain bacteria on rice, that thrive at yogurt-making temps.
But you can make it with almond milk, I'm pretty sure. I think you may have to add a bit of honey, for the yogurt cultures to eat. I'm going to try it tomorrow- I'm soaking my almonds to make milk today.

hth

[homemademomma]

i dont think rice milk has enough protein or fat in it. i have tried with almond milk, and i havent had luck. i've made cathe's cashew yogurt and that was incredible, but that is with ground nuts, not milk. maybe ground almonds would work too?

[Awaken]

Thanks for the info. Well, that's disappointing that rice milk won't work. I was hoping for a nut-free option as well as soy and dairy free! I did see the cashew yogurt recipe in cathe's book, and almonds sounds good, too.

I saw there was no starter needed for the cashew yogurt- do the nuts already have the necessary bacteria in them?

[beanma]

i tried it with rice milk one time and it just kinda separated and looked watery and yucky. maybe if you added some kinda protein, but i don't know what .

[JaneS]

I've made cashew nut yogurt from recipes here: www.pecanbread.com

You need to use a starter and add honey for carbs for the buggies to eat.

It comes out kind of fluffy and thin though.

[bluets]

i tried coconut milk yogurt. it works OK with coconut milk from a can but you have to spike it with a touch of honey (i don't recommend molasses - blech). at the end of 9 hours or so, i had something that resembled kefir. you can get powdered coconut milk from wildernessfamily.com (with powder you can control the powderater ratio) - that worked great except that i contaminated it and/or let it go too long (simultaneously letting it get too cool) and got red slime growing at the end of 24 hours. however, i'm sure that the process of making coconut milk powder must sweeten it because (a) it was sweet and (b) i didn't have to add any sweetener to feed the critters. i did get a nice texture though and a nice sour yogurt flavor.

i tried using almond milk. blech. though maybe again one needs to add a bit of sweetener.

a friend suggested adding pectin to help solidify these non-dairy yogurts. any thoughts on this?