Raw milk vs scalded milk yogurt and beneficial bacterial counts

[tempestjewel]

So, we have a great raw milk source, and I want to make yogurt. I know lots of people make raw milk yogurt, but if I want it to have a high bacterial count from my specific culture should I scald the milk first to kill of what is naturally in the raw milk so that it doesn't compete with my culture?

I was thinking that if the strains in my yogurt weren't that important I'd probably leave it raw, but I want to use a specific probiotic and use the milk to propogate it to last longer, so I was thinking perhaps I should scald it.

I know pasteurized is bad, but since I'm gently heating it at home, does it pose the same risk? Is it best to leave the milk raw?

[quietserena]

I don't know the terminology well, does scalded mean that it basically gets brought up to a boil? If that's the case, from my understanding, that basically breaks down the proteins in milk and actually makes them more digestable. I could have sworn there was a reference on the wapf site for this but my quick search isn't turning up anything.

If you're looking for a very specific strain, that'll work, IMO but I don't know if there's a way to keep that strain of bacteria and *only* that strain growing. Getting things 100% sterile and keeping them that way for quite a few batches might be complicated.

But if you have a source for the bacteria (like probiotic capsules) then it should work cause you can always replenish.

[tempestjewel]

I thought scalded meant bringing it hot enough to kill bacteria but not to boiling (I'm thinking around 180F as you do for making 24-hour yogurt on the SCD). But I'm not super good with my kitchen terms

My DD is on a very expensive probiotic, and as long as she has it, she does not have eczema. But, I want to try culturing it to see if I can stretch it further. Hence why I was thinking I should heat the raw milk before adding it so that only the strains in the probiotic (VSL#3) grow and they don't have any weird interactions.

I also have some Pro-gurt Yogurt starter.

[JaneSmith1010]

I would like to know this too. I just made some raw milk yogurt cultured with starter yogurt and probiotic powder. I was hoping it wouldn't be runny but it really is. I am wondering if I did something wrong. I didn't think about the competition between cultures though.

[tempestjewel]

Well, I went ahead and brought the milk up to 180, then cooled it and tried just my Pro-gurt starter cultured overnight and it turned out really, really well. Now I'm feeling more confident to try it with DD's probiotic.

I also scored at nice yogurt maker off of Craigslist so I will definitely be making more soon and doing some experimentation

[Bensmommy]

FYI- scalding is just prior to a boil, when itty-bitty bubbles form around the sides of the pan, but no bubble come from the middle. I have no idea what temp that is, though.

OP- great to hear the yogurt is turning out!