Making Yogurt Part II

So, as I said yesterday, I sat on the yogurt, stuff for a while, then just decided that I would do it. I looked over the recipe that my friend had given me, and the one that had come with the yogurt maker. I was a little confused because they were just  slightly bit different. What I didn’t notice, until I had made the yogurt the third time (meaning today) was that the YogoTherm expected you to start with two liters worth of milk whereas my friend was starting with one quart. I couldn’t figure out why my mixture wasn’t yielding that much yogurt, and kept thinking I was doing something wrong.

Milk and dry milk

So, today, I started off with 2 liters, instead of one. What I find funny about the whole thing is that you need powdered, dry milk as well as liquid milk, but this was something that both recipes agreed on.

The first thing one does is to take the milk and heat it up in a sauce pan. What my friend said was to use a wide pan, so I did, which to me, is more a frying pan, but it worked. I set the thermometer in it, and watched as it slowed rose up.

The first time I did this, I watched very carefully, and kept checking all the time. This time, which was the third time I had done this, I chopped up my tomatoes and such for the tomato sauce I was going to make with my new food mill, which I mentioned getting. I chopped, and mixed, and glanced over at the dial to make sure it wasn’t going over 180, which is what it had to be.

Heating the milk

While the milk is cooking, you are supposed to add 1/4 cup of non-fat dry milk powder. I have tried varying this, but haven’t noticed a difference. It is part of what makes the yogurt thick, but adding more didn’t make it thicker. Use a whisk to mix it together. Not sure why a whisk, but it works.

Once the temp gets to 180, turn off the stove, and wait until it is down to 110-115. (The instructions that came with the yogertherm said to let it cool to 118F, so sometimes I would wait only that long. It take a while for the milk to cool, and I was glad I had another project to work on while waiting for it to cool off.

And once it cools off, you put it in the incubator and let it sit for at least 5 hours, according to the Yogertherm, but my friend suggested at least 12 hours, or even 16 hours. The first time, I did 12 hours, and since then I have tried to keep it at 16. Makes it hard, as you have to time when to start it, so that you’ll be around when it is time to move the yogurt into the fridge.

Oh, and I can’t leave off the most important step, the starter. You add that once you have poured your milk into the incubator, but before you close the lid on it.  The first time, I used the special package of yogurt culture, but since then have used my own yogurt  (4 table spoons worth) as my starter.  Apparently though, I shouldn”t do this for too long. My friend just said she used her favorite commercial yogurt as her starter (which seemed to defeat the purpose), but the instructions that came with the yogotherm said the reason to change out the culture was to prvent progressive contamination of yoguert by micororganismls from air, utensils, containers, hands, clothes, etc.

So, next time, I will either use a new culture from the cheesemaking place, or find as pure a yogurt in the market as I can, and use that.

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