Yogurt

[lisaann]

I've used the store brand before with no problem. You just have to make sure it says live or active cultures on it.

I've never seen the rubbery substance before. :scratch

[icebear]

hmmm, must be the odd physics in my kitchen... :heh


it all tasted fine and i didn't get sick eating it. don't know if it matters, but i used a powder starter- may have been YoGourmet brand. i tried looking it up, (i found the right company) but don't see the exact product i remember... anyway. i don't know if the film was due to something i did or maybe some anti-caking agents used in the starter packet... or maybe the culture settled along the sides...
i'll keep looking and see if any product reviews/recipe sites mention this....

[metroames]

one thing i remember from the first time i tried the yogurt, was that inside the jars, on the side was this white skin of some sort, it was like the rubbery white bit on the inside of an egg shell. from reading, i had expected that maybe on the top as i have seen described... but not along one of the sides... :idunno were the sides of my jars not as clean as they should have been? i boiled the daylights out of them...

How do you heat your milk? I do mine in a make-shift double boiler. Once the temp reaches 200 deg F I move it to a cold water bath and there is a thick film that I scrape off as it near the icubating temp of 115 deg F.

I've only tried the dried freeze starter once and it didn't work. I just use 1/2 cup commercial plain yogurt with active cultures for my starter in a gallon of milk. I also add 2 cups of dry milk and 3 packets of knox gelatin softened in an additional 2 cups of milk. I end up with 5-one-quart jars of thick creamy yogurt. :sunny

[lisaann]

I use 1/2 cup culture to 8 cups milk. I also add 3/4 cup powdered milk to make it thicker.

[icebear]

i have the Wolfgang Puck cookware, its pretty decent, so i use that thick bottomed stock pot (no double boiler, i somehow manage to get steam burns every time i do that, my technique is dismal or something ). i have a digital probe thermometer too, instead of dial or candy type.


the milk did skin over a bit while it was cooling in the pot, but it seemed to stir in ok...

i'm not sure if that would be what happened the first time... maybe when i was filling the jars i let the top of the milk skim over before i put the covers on and then the skin sunk to the bottom and thats where the film came from...?

this time i capped the jars right after individual filling...

i had some this morning and it is YUMMY

i used one gallon of whole milk

most of a half gallon of Half & Half

and 1 1/2 cups of the Stonyfield plain c.o.t. (i scooped off the cream with some yogurt and had a nice snack)

i prewarmed the oven to 175 * F, then let it cool down while the milk was cooling in the stock pot
i filled 6 quart jars almost to the very top, capped them and put them in the shut-off oven. they got about 6 hours in there, i was asleep so i don't know what temperature it stayed at...

but it worked :D

Stonyfield makes a very nice starter.

[metroames]

the milk did skin over a bit while it was cooling in the pot, but it seemed to stir in ok...

i'm not sure if that would be what happened the first time... maybe when i was filling the jars i let the top of the milk skim over before i put the covers on and then the skin sunk to the bottom and thats where the film came from...?


I've never stirred the film in. I've been making yogurt for years, so I don't remember which website I learned how from, but I'm pretty sure it said to always scrape the film off with a slotted spoon. Might be worth a try the next time to see if that is it.

[HSmomto4]

I never get a film :scratch