raw milk yogurt - what am i doing wrong?

1017 Views 17 Replies 9 Participants Last post by runes, Jun 29, 2008

motocita

Discussion Starter · Aug 17, 2006

i follow the NT recipe which has you heat the milk to about 110 i believe, then add starter and put it into my yogurt maker.

after several hours or overnight i check it only to find chunky milk! it looks seriously nonedible and tastes more like milk than yogurt. am i making clabbered milk instead of yogurt? i use strauss whole milk organic yogurt for my starter, because their store bought yogurt is delicious.

can anyone tell me what is going on???

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Pattyla

· #2 · Aug 17, 2006

2

A couple of thoughts.

Your yougurt maker could be too hot or too cold. It needs to keep the milk between 95 and 115. I think mine comes out perfect if it stays right at 100. If it is too hot is is solid in places with lots of whey.

I never heat my milk past 100. I find that when I get into the high 90's actually I turn off the heat. The pan and the stovetop keeps warming up the milk and before I know it I'm above 120 if I'm not careful. You don't want to add your culture above 115 at the highest. 110 is even better.

Also if the yogurt you are using has any extras it may not work right. Many add gelitan or other things to make it a better consistancy. That can interfere with it culturing correctly.

Or, if your yogurt is old and just doesn't have enough live bugs in it to get the culture going that could be your issue.

Good luck! It can be tricky to figure it out but once you do

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moneca

· #3 · Aug 17, 2006

I went through 3 yoghurt makers trying to find one that kept a good temp. They all overheated to 125 deg. Your yoghurt sounds like mine when it got to 125. Try making it with the lid propped open by a kitchen utensil. That may allow enough air to circulate and keep it around 110.
I also take my milk off the stove as soon as it hits 104 deg.
Good luck!

motocita

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 17, 2006

thanks for the tips! i looked online and the yogurt i use doesn't contain any additives, so i'm going to assume that i've been overheating my yogurt.

i never thought it could be the yogurt maker! i'll try the trick with the utensil and also make sure not to go past 105.

sedalbj

· #5 · Aug 19, 2006

OK, to continue the raw milk yogurt thread....

I just got a Salton yogurt maker. I heated my 4 cups of raw milk to 100 degrees on the stovetop, poured it off into the plastic container, added in 1/4 cup of raw milk yogurt, and gently stirred. It has been in the yogurt maker for 5 hours and is pretty runny. I took it's temp while in the machine and it is 104. What did I do wrong? Will it firm up a lot in the fridge? Help me, O Magic Makers of Yogurt!

MamaTessa

· #6 · Aug 19, 2006

Unless you heat your milk to 180, homemade yogurt won't be as thick at commercial yogurt is. I do leave mine for about 12 hours, and it does thicken up more, but it won't ever be as thick as the store bought stuff. A lot of times they add thickeners to their yogurt to make it thick.

JaneS

· #7 · Aug 19, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaTessa
it does thicken up more, but it won't ever be as thick as the store bought stuff. A lot of times they add thickeners to their yogurt to make it thick.

Ditto. It's because the raw proteins that are so beneficial cannot gel up like proteins which have been heated. We just drink ours.

sedalbj

· #8 · Aug 19, 2006

I definitely don't expect it to be like the commercial stuff, eewww! But I was hoping for something a little thicker than milk, which is pretty much it's consistency now... I am bummin... I am going to leave it for another 10 hrs or so and see what happens!

Pattyla

· #9 · Aug 19, 2006

Mine is pretty thick. We eat it with a spoon. Esp if you drain off the whey it is thick. Perhaps like a super thick milk shake, the kind you can eat with a spoon or drink. It does firm up quite a bit in the fridge.

That said we always culture our yogurt for at least 30 hours so i'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. I know that 30+ hour yogurt is much firmer than 24 was.

sedalbj

· #10 · Aug 19, 2006

so i just checked it after 20 hrs and took it's temp. it is 120, and the bottom is thicker there is a layer of yellowish (whey?) stuff in the middle, and funky stuff on top. I guess it is too hot?

Pattyla

· #11 · Aug 19, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by sedalbj
so i just checked it after 20 hrs and took it's temp. it is 120, and the bottom is thicker there is a layer of yellowish (whey?) stuff in the middle, and funky stuff on top. I guess it is too hot?

I'm sorry, I meant to warn you that the salton gets too hot for making 30 hour yogurt.

: You need to use a glass mason jar instead of the plastic insert and don't put the cover on it either. It will stay the perfect temp that way but will get too hot any other way.

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sedalbj

· #12 · Aug 19, 2006

That's OK! I didn't expect it to work the first time! I have a larger glass mason jar but didn't use it because i couldn't get the top on the maker, so not needing the maker top solves that problem! I am making bread today, so will wait till tomorrow, I hear the 2 don't mix well in the same kitchen...

thanks for all the help!

hmm, maybe i'll just put it in the upstairs bedroom.

sedalbj

· #13 · Aug 21, 2006

Pattyla, thanks so much! I put my 100 degree milk and starter in a glass mason jar, mixed it, put it in the Salton w/out the lid, and left it for about 20 hrs, and while it is a little sour, the texture after putting the fridge for awhile is great. Thanks again!

motocita

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 21, 2006

sedalbj,

did you put the lid on the mason jar? or no lids at all?

Pattyla

· #15 · Aug 21, 2006

Yes lid on the mason jar.

Glad I could help!

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Christian Mommy

· #16 · Jun 27, 2008

Hi Ladies,

I'm still trying to figure out this forum : ) I joined recently, but haven't had much of a chance to check it out. As I was searching the internet for info on raw milk yogurt, I was once again led to this wonderful sight with all these insigtful mommies!! I just love it! I too am trying to make raw milk yogurt with a Salton yogurt maker and am finding that it gets whey (pun intended- ha) too hot!! Rather than using the seven small jars that came with the maker, I've been using one large glass bowl. I did try leaving the top off the maker, but it was still way too hot. Maybe a mason jar will do the trick, given that there will be less contact with the yogurt maker.

bigknitwit

· #17 · Jun 29, 2008

I've had success with a cooler and heating pad to make my raw milk yogurt (and I have a yogurt maker, but am limited to making a half gallon at a time). I have a remote thermomoter, so I put it in with the milk and monitor the temp regularly to keep it in the 110ish area. That said, I am making yogurt this afternoon, and this morning I was making bread in the bread maker. I hope I haven't picked up too much airborne yeast into the milk. The last batch I made was a little on the mucousy side, for lack of a better description. I think my culture got old, but now I'm wondering if it was a yeast issue. Also, I always let my raw milk yogurt drain a bit to thicken it up.

runes

· #18 · Jun 29, 2008

we do the no-tech yogurt thing (glass mason jar in a cooler kept warm with jars of warm water), and i remember in the beginning i definitely had to play around with the culturing time. i found that i like 28 hour yogurt.

also, don't taste your yogurt before you chill it. it usually does not taste good until it's been in the fridge.

i have not had success with using commercial yogurt as a starter. i get starter at the hfs, it comes in a little glass jar in the probiotics section. yogourmet is ok and it does make a thicker yogurt, but the other starter makes really delicious yogurt. it's thinner but it's got a nice balanced flavor.

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