I needed more culture in my life.

[badseed1980]

Sitting on my counter, covered in plastic wrap and wrapped in a towel, is a bowl. Inside this bowl, an awesome thing is happening: YOGURT is coming into existence! Squee! I bought some skim milk (hey, I might as well make yogurt I can eat, right?) at the store today. I heated it to 180*F (scalding it), then let it sit and cool to 115*F. I removed the skin from the top, and poured half a cup of it into a bowl. Then, I whisked in the magic ingredient: about 1/3 cup of T's homemade yogurt with live active cultures. I know the cultures are live and active because I took her yogurt out of the fridge and left it at room temperature for about an hour in its tightly closed plastic container. When I went back to it, the lid was domed, and gas escaped. I added in the rest of the scalded milk, mixed it up, and covered it as described. It will be yogurt in a matter of hours! I'm so excited about this. Yes, I am a food geek. Totally. I don't think I'll be able to resist lifting up the towel occasionally to peek and see how it's coming along. :)

Comments

[fyrebloom.livejournal.com]

Wee! Let me know how it turns out! I had terrible luck making yogurt So I hope yours comes out much better then mine!

[quepid.livejournal.com]

I made a delicious yoghurt a few years ago, and even went as far as making mascapone cheese and feta.

This biologist from University of Cincinnati Clermont's page is incredibly useful when it comes to making homemade cheese, yoghurt, rootbeer, and gingerale.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/CHEESE.HTML

I really like homemade yoghurt, what pisses me is that most yoghurt sold in USA is heavily laced with modified food starch and gelatin which to me isn't exactly good eats.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I'm a little sad that my yogurt came out extremely runny. I added a little Fage and am letting it sit out on the counter for a longer time to see if it reaches a more custardy consistency.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

You can use cheese cloth to wickout some of the water, which is a good way to make a more greek style yoghurt.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking about straining it, but really, it barely set. I'd like to see if I can get the culture jump-started again and see if I can get it tarter as well as thicker before I go buy more cheesecloth (I'm out, from making too much yogurt cheese. :) )

[quepid.livejournal.com]

The pH of the yoghurt will influence the firmness, the more acidic the more firm it will be, it has to do with acidity coagulating the milk proteins.

Temperature does affect the pH by regulating the speed at which the yoghurt acidifies, lower temps slow down the fermentation process, thus the acidification.

A really hot kitchen is a boon for yoghurt making.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

It's been quite warm here the past couple days, and the milk was at 115*F when I added the starter, and I wrapped it in a towel and left it out overnight. I might even add a little lemon juice if I really have issues.

[(Anonymous)]

I used active yoghurt cultures and also a crushed and dissolved Lactobacillus acidophilous tablet to sorta kickstart my last batch. Also a heating pad can help provide a warmer temperature. Lemon juice I have used with cheesemaking and it does leave a residual taste that isn't always pleasant.

Here are some tips from Dr. Frankhauser:
Proper incubation temperature. Lactobacilli and Streptococcus thermophilus are thermophilic bacteria, meaning they prefer elevated temperatures for growth. At such temperatures (50°C, in this case) pathogenic or putrifactive bacteria are inhibited. However, even these thermophilic bacteria are killed if exposed to temperatures over 55°C (130°F), and do not grow well below 37°C (98°F). We will incubate at 50°C, a temperature on the high side of its preferred growth temperature (122°F), a temperature which inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria. (Note that many recipes call for cooler temperatures than this. We find the results less dependable when incubation temperatures are lower.)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I wonder if re-heating it to maybe 115-120 would be a good idea.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

Sorry bout that anon post, I apparently didn't realize I wasn't logged in.

As long as you do not go over 55°C. Really you want this stuff to acidify as fast as possible so that other bacteria do not innoculate the batch and start doing gas fermentation. If you had something that could hold it around 120°F you would be doing great.

[evaelisabeth.livejournal.com]

You can add a couple of spoonfuls of milk powder (when you add the yogurt culture) to make it a bit firmer.