Yogurt

[lisaann]

I like to make my own yogurt but was wondering if I can freeze my starter between batches? :thinking:idunno I know as a general rule milk products don't freeze well but the point of the starter is the active cultures. I wonder if freezing them will kill them. :thinking

[icebear]

i think you can.... its supposed to be possible with sourdough culture...

i heard of people freezing store bought yogurt in ice cube trays for later use in inoculating their homemade batches. if that is true, it should work for you.


a store bought , freeze dried type, yogurt starter i once bought said you could store the package in the freezer for a longer shelf life.

[lisaann]

I just start mine with plain yogurt with active cultures.

[icebear]

i wish i could learn how Stonyfield makes the cream-on-top kind. its so yummy, i'd try to make it with double the cream if i could find a recipe.

have you ever made it like that?

do you use a yogurt maker 'machine' or something else? i made myself an incubator once, but i heard you can use the oven with just the light bulb to keep it warm.

[lisaann]

I just use a cooler and warm water. :lol2 Every hour or two I check the temp (should be 90-100). My oven doesent do "warm" and the light bulb is burnt out. :ohno

I would love to find a recipe for Stonyfield. :drool

[icebear]

yeah, they are the best!


all the making yogurt recipes i find don't mention if you can replace some of the milk with cream in them. and the rest of them are for making stuff with yogurt.

i don't know if i should experiment or not. milk is more than $4 a gallon here, so i hate to waste it and the money. But a 32 oz container of Stonyfield is over $3 now.... might be worth risking it once- if it works i could save a few bucks.... :idunno

[lisaann]

We live on a dairy farm so I could get raw milk and try it. :thinking I usually use 1% milk because dh is supposed to be on a diet. :ohno :whistle

[icebear]

After searching all this time, i found this reference:


The richness will depend on the amount of butter fat; the
thickness will depend on the content of both butter fat and
of protein. Evaporated milk increases both.

If you use all heavy cream, you'll wind up with a wonderful
substance very much resembling sour cream, most like old
Breakstone's if you limit processing time to 8 hrs.
It will have an additional rich undertone, however.
Half and half (milk and heavy cream) makes a yoghurt that
goes very well with ripe fruits.

The lighter you go up the scale, the more delicate the
result; the more delicate the result, the more it will tend
to "weep", or discard and pool its own water content in
an acidic whey.

A nice thick yoghurt for those not into fat (although why,
I can't imagine :-) is a milk or skimmed milk with additional
nonfat dried milk. This increases the protein, without
increasing the fat content

http://graham.main.nc.us/~bhammel/tscd/misc/yoghurt.html (http://graham.main.nc.us/%7Ebhammel/tscd/misc/yoghurt.html)
it doesn't say anything about cream rising to the top when using half & half, so that part must be some yogurt maker's secret- or its done with unskimmed milk and the cream rises out naturally, milk cannot be 'unskimmed' by adding cream and hoping it will separate during yogurt incubation, i bet...

What brand of yogurt do you use as a starter?

i used a store bought powder, Stonyfield has pectin in it, so i don't know that i can use it :scratch

[HSmomto4]

We make yogurt all the time. I even made a batch yesterday and used my oven for the first time to incubate it. It worked really well so I am not going to worry about using a cooler anymore. I add unflavored gelatin to the milk to make it nice and thick as well as a little sweetener (sugar or honey) to take the tartness away. This morning we had crepes with homemade yogurt and fresh cut strawberries and blueberries from the yard. It was soooo yummy!! I would never go back to buying store bought yogurt after making it myself.

[lisaann]

I've used Activia before and this time I just got the store brand. I usually add dry milk powder to mine to make it thicker and usually stir in jelly so that the kids will eat it. :lol2 I'm going to use my fresh made strawberry freezer jelly with this batch. :drool I haven't been able to save any starter up until now just due to a busy schedule. I don't always have the time to make new yogurt when we run out which is why I am wondering about freezing some starter. I would much rather use my own than buy starter. :thumb

Crepes sound yummy HSMom! :drool Blueberry season is just getting started here so that might be a good addition for them.