Anyone make their own yogurt?

[Frita]

@Alphaville
Your more measured tweaks in yogurt making help me realize that some of my mishaps miniced that process in a more random way but with tasty results.

Due to limiting dairy and my family only be will to eat sugared storebought products (except in cooking and baking ), I am shifting to balancing with lactofermented veggies. Sourkraut juice shots are downright addicting. Right now I have watermelon rind going at a couple different stages. After refrigeration, the flavors continue to evolve. I eat this stuff a couple times a day. (My family won’t eat this either, but no worries, because I can eat it all.)

[Alphaville]

@Alphaville
Your more measured tweaks in yogurt making help me realize that some of my mishaps miniced that process in a more random way but with tasty results.

yeah, randomness is delicious!

the reason i'm doing half-steps is to develop a consistent methodology so that i can move the process to system 1/intuitive thinking in my head, so then i can move on to other experiments. i think i'm almost there... maybe the next step is cheesemaking. new tools, new processes... but i really don't want to add a cloth that then requires washing--really trying to keep it lazy

I am shifting to balancing with lactofermented veggies. Sourkraut juice shots are downright addicting. Right now I have watermelon rind going at a couple different stages. After refrigeration, the flavors continue to evolve. I eat this stuff a couple times a day. (My family won’t eat this either, but no worries, because I can eat it all.)

wow! would you mind sharing your veggie experiments in a dedicated thread? i used to make sauerkraut but my last attempt i failed hard and got black mold and ooof... but i'm trying to get back into it at some point. and cheap produce is coming so it's probably a good time to start practicing,

any tried & true books or videos you'd recommend? any pointers/ideas/preferred tools & ingredients? would be nice to see what works irl/non-marketing scenario.

Due to limiting dairy

i'm wondering if you might be willing to experiment with soybeans? high protein, no starches, and lots of vitamin k to boot... see: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11895 -- the fermentation bit starts in page 2. i posted some nice grotty pics of my fail

[Frita]

would you mind sharing your veggie experiments in a dedicated thread? i used to make sauerkraut but my last attempt i failed hard and got black mold and ooof... but i'm trying to get back into it at some point. and cheap produce is coming so it's probably a good time to start practicing,

any tried & true books or videos you'd recommend? any pointers/ideas/preferred tools & ingredients? would be nice to see what works irl/non-marketing scenario.

Of course, yes, I can start a new thread for lacto-fermentation (not immediately but by the end of the week). I will start with my sourkraut recipe. Mine said to not use chlorinated water as that creates problems in not fermenting quick enough and, hence, spoilage. Could that have been your issue?

It is still chilly here. As with making tepache during non-warmer months (pretty much any time not between mid-June and mid-August, though our best weather is more like spring , it takes longer for the veggies.

i'm wondering if you might be willing to experiment with soybeans? high protein, no starches, and lots of vitamin k to boot... see: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11895 -- the fermentation bit starts in page 2. i posted some nice grotty pics of my fail

How are you using it, and how often is it on the menu? I don’t eat that much soy. The soymilk is gross IMO. Soy yogurt is okay; however, if I am going to have one, I would rather have the full-fat dairy (homemade, FAGE 5% plain, or maple Brown Cow). Tofu is on the menu occasionally in baked tofu with peanut sauce or chocolate tofu pie. Unlike veggies, which I eat a lot of, the soy is a rarity. Personally, I doubt I could use it fast enough.

[Alphaville]

Of course, yes, I can start a new thread for lacto-fermentation (not immediately but by the end of the week).

awesome! thanks so much. i'll get into the details once the thread comes online.

How are you using it, and how often is it on the menu? [...] Personally, I doubt I could use it fast enough.

right now it's zero, but i'm trying to incorporate it in fermented form for digestibility + sugar reduction. eg my favorite soy forms are fermented: soy sauce (lol) and tempeh. might buy tempeh today actually.

and lately been playing with edamame as a snack. not bad. alt-peanuts.

but i don't use it as a staple. would be great to consume soy as a staple if i can find a more edible (digestible+palatable) form.

also... can proudly say my full fat yogurt beats all commercial yogurts

last batch is more tart than the previous one but kept some cheesiness as well. yum!

[white belt]

Random question: does fat content make a difference for the yogurt cultures? I’d like to have the option of making full fat or fat free yogurts from the same culture. I guess since I’m using so little culture per batch that almost all of the fat content is going to come from the milk anyway.

[Alphaville]

Random question: does fat content make a difference for the yogurt cultures? I’d like to have the option of making full fat or fat free yogurts from the same culture. I guess since I’m using so little culture per batch that almost all of the fat content is going to come from the milk anyway.

right, 1tbsp per qt will make no real difference.

[white belt]

Ok I followed the steps to make my yogurt in the instapot. I put it back into the gallon jug after completion as you said to do and stuck it in the fridge. It seems like all the thicker yogurt part has settled at the bottom with all the liquid at the top. Is this normal? Do you just shake the jug before using?

[Alphaville]

Ok I followed the steps to make my yogurt in the instapot. I put it back into the gallon jug after completion as you said to do and stuck it in the fridge. It seems like all the thicker yogurt part has settled at the bottom with all the liquid at the top. Is this normal? Do you just shake the jug before using?

yeah!

if you preboiled the yogurt it will be more custardy and if you break it to gointo a bottle it might separate more, yeah,

if you didn't preboil, it would stay more liquid but will eventually separate too. caseine is heavier, whey protein stays dissolved in water.

so, separation is a feature of natural yogurt, yeah, since time immemorial. using a strainer to increase separation gives you "greek" yogurt plus sour whey.

commercial yogurts use algae gels, pectins, starches and all sort of thickeners to keep yogurt from separating. this is not normal, but people have gotten accustomed to the artificiality.

just shake/stir it to homogenize and drink, or strain to further separate--your call.

congrats on your positive results! now you have to dial the correct inoculum + fermentation time and temp going forward, and develop your own culture as time passes.

[white belt]

@Alphaville

Ok that makes sense. After 12 hours the flavor tastes pretty similar to the store bought yogurt I’m accustomed too so I think I will stick with that fermentation time. I think I will strain it to get things a little thicker for my uses.

Edit: Have you experimented with any other methods of thickening? Straining 1-2 quarts of whey to get the yogurt seems like it’s going to cause a lot of waste if I can’t figure out how to use all that. I read some people add things like gelatin to provide thickness without having to strain off the whey.

Edit2: I guess it isn’t all that much waste since we’re talking about each gallon of milk only having ~22 grams of whey protein anyway.

[Alphaville]

sour whey makes a nice recovery drink, chicken marinade, salad dressing ingredient, fermentation starter, pancake batter liquid, bread dough additive, etc.

[white belt]

I made another batch of yogurt using the instructions posted above in the thread. This time I strained it for ~12 hours to make greek yogurt. It worked out fine, but only yielded 1 quart (32 oz) of greek yogurt per gallon of milk (and also a ton of whey that I didn't really have a good use for). So, it only saved me $.75 vs just buying the store bought greek yogurt from Aldi. The calculation would change if I had a source of my own milk or for some reason I couldn't get yogurt from the store but could still source milk.

[RealPerson]

@WB
I believe the swiss have turned whey into a commercial drink sold as "Rivella". Maybe drink the whey?

[white belt]

@WB
I believe the swiss have turned whey into a commercial drink sold as "Rivella". Maybe drink the whey?

Yeah you can drink it, but it's basically just sugar water which I don't have much use for with my current lifestyle. I save some to use as starter for the next batch of yogurt and dump the rest in the garden.

I made yogurt again but only strained it for 6 hours, which seemed to give the correct consistency for greek yogurt. My yield was 1.1 kg, so about 1.25 quart containers that I usually buy from the store. I think I'll continue making it since it's so easy and the gallons of milk are cheaper than the yogurt.

The first batch I strained for 12 hours, which was definitely too long. It was so thick and dry that it was difficult to eat.

[theanimal]

I’ve been making yogurt for about 9 months now. I do not own and do not use an instapot. The process is extremely easy with maybe 5 minutes of hands on time. The cost is ridiculous too, using whole milk I am able to consistently get 32 oz of yogurt for ~$0.50. Or rather 1000 calories/$.

The only trick I have to deal with is trying to keep my water bath on the warmer side. A lunchbox cooler would be perfect for this and would result in no issues but I do not have one, so I just use a pressure cooker to serve as my water bath and put it near a heat source.