I got spooked about my own yogurt-making, after reading of others' unfavorable results in their forays into home yogurt production.
The last two times that I've made yogurt, I have felt very sure that something was going to go wrong, and that my yogurt would turn out runny or stringy or something else that I know I couldn't get even my good-sport family members to eat.
Silly of me, really, to let someone else's experience make me think mine would also fail. I'm still doing everything the way I have up until now, and still with success.
These last two batches? They turned out thick and creamy as always.
Info that I'd like to add to my original post, though, is that freezing yogurt for starter works incredibly well. Every 4 or 5 batches, I scoop out into 4-ounce containers, some of the 2nd day of freshly made yogurt. I freeze this.
Then if I just go through a period of feeling blah on making my yogurt, it's not a big deal. When I'm in the mood to make more, I thaw a small container of the set aside yogurt for my starter. Just a note, the thawed yogurt will look yucky and runny, but it will still set new yogurt. This freezing of my own starter has been working out very well for several months now. I have not bought any new starter at all, since my first batch.
As for other bloggers' problems with making their yogurt, well I can only speculate as I don't have all the details. But this is what I learned in my research before my own first attempt.
Temperature is key!
- commercial home yogurt machines don't always heat to the correct temperature, and can result in poor set (this is a lot like what I've recently heard about some crock pots, some don't heat to proper temps)
- getting the temperature in the correct range for each phase is critical. Heat milk to about 190 degrees F to kill competing bacteria, cool to about 120 degrees F, so as not to kill the yogurt culture, but still provide the happy temp for the yogurt cultures to proliferate. And keep at roughly 110 to 120 degrees F, for the duration of the incubation period.
- a picnic cooler filled with 120 degree F water is an excellent incubator. Other incubation methods have a hit or miss quality when keeping the temp at a steady 110-120 degrees F (these methods include: blanket wrapping, crock pots, thermoses). Incubation temperature is very important.
- one really does need a thermometer to determine the correct temperature. Use the thermometer for the heated and cooled milk as well as the warm water in the picnic cooler.
Fresh, live active cultures is the other big component to successful yogurt-making
- the right yogurt starter makes a difference. I've heard reports of store brand yogurts not performing as well. The brands with successful track records are Yoplait, Dannon and Stoneyfield. The yogurt should be plain or vanilla, no fruit added stuff.
- if chain-yogurting with your own yogurt as starter, use yogurt that has either been frozen, or is no more than 5-6 days old. The bacterial population begins to decline significantly after that time period.
Sterilize just to be sure
- sterilize your jars thoroughly. There could be bacteria in the jar itself that could compete with the yogurt culture. I know not every one sterilizes their jars. I do. I want to provide controls for as many of the variables as possible. And it doesn't take all that much extra work.
Take your time
- don't rush the milk to it's proper temperature. I plan for about 45 minutes for the milk to reach 190 degrees F. I just work that into my schedule for the morning. I'll usually be doing other things in the kitchen, so I can stir the milk regularly.
I really want to encourage those who may be interested in trying yogurt for the first time, or retrying after a less than successful attempt, to give it a go. There's something very satisfying about making something that I once thought "had" to be bought.
To see my original post on making yogurt, you can read it here.
