Homemade yogurt. It's so easy! NO FAIL

September June

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 4:39 pm

Mommastuff wrote:

sarahd wrote:

Why don't you get a yogurt maker? They're not so expensive and they save you all the headache of trying to find a warm but not too warm place and worrying about spoilage.

do you have any recommendations for a particular one?

This one and this one are under $40 and have good reviews.

mvp

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 4:47 pm

I think yogurt maker is one of the most inconvenient appliances out there...
It is not necessary at all for making yogurt, and it's so annoying the way they make them with all those separate little jars.

there are so many ways to make yogurt without a yogurt maker, if none of them work for you, get one, but first try.

Sparkle

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 8:49 pm

It will not taste spoiled, and if it's too tart - add fruit or honey!

I make mine in a crockpot - so easy!

And to the person who asked what the point is if you are using a yogurt starter - there are waaaaaay more probiotics in homemade yogurt (or any homemade fermented food) than store bought.

penguin

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 9:37 pm

a. I would not use lactose free milk. I am pretty sure that yogurt would not be a problem if you're lactose intolerant, but do research that further

b. I don't think there would by any problem in using your fleishig oven. You are inserting a container of milk that has cooled enough to keep your finger in it for 10 seconds or so. But by all means AYLOR.

c. I would not use toaster oven, it would not give you the correct temp. Maybe you can warm it a little, turn it off, (but make sure you can keep your hand in there after cooling a bit) put your yogurt stuff in, and wrap in towels. Or just skip the toaster. In this weather it will probably work.

d. It will not spoil is done properly. However if it gets too hot it will curdle. Happened to me when DD started cooking for Shavuos. I was kicked out of milchig oven (didn't think of using fleishig but it was probably busy too). So DD put my stuff on top of stove thinking it would keep it warm, but it basically got almost boiled & curdled. I wasn't sure if it was yogurt cheese or spoiled milk, so I threw it out.

mummy-bh

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 1:49 am

I have this machine:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3440.....Maker

I agree it's a bit of an outlay, but I have used it probably several hundred times. It's so easy to use. I think I have had maybe two or three batches go wrong in all the years that I've been making yoghurt.

(As an aside, I never noticed until now that there are two different ways to spell 'yoghurt' - must be a British / American thing!)

sarahd

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 6:15 am

mvp wrote:

There are yogurt makers that make one big bowl of yogurt instead of little jars, if that's what people want.

r_ch

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 6:28 am

studying_torah wrote:

Sorry for my ignorance and no disrespect, but whenever I see a recipe for home made yogurt I always wonder- if you need a spoonful of regular yogurt, well why bother making your own? And why do you need the bought yogurt in your home-made?
I kinda feel like it's taking cake mix, adding in eggs and calling it home made- how is this different?

This way it's much cheaper and healthier. Out of 1 yogurt and 1 liter milk you get 7 yogurts, our of 1 of the 7 of your own and 1 liter milk you get another 7 and so on. I wouldn't try out of the fourth batch though, it won't work.

sarahd

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 8:28 am

Why not? I have made half a year's worth of yogurt out of one store-bought one. In fact, the further away I go from store bought, the better the yogurt becomes. My first batches are always a little watery.

mommy2

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 9:38 pm

After you heat up the milk and mixed in the yogurt, you can put it in the oven. Heat it to 170 and then turn it off and keep there around 8 hours. I did find that homemade yogurt is more tart than storebought.

r_ch

Wed, Jul 10 2013, 5:10 am

sarahd wrote:

I dunno. It said so in the instruction manual to my yogurt maker but I tried it anyway and the fifth batch was all water. The instruction says, you should use a new store bought one as soon as you notice the watery consistence. Or was it wrong? Should I overcome the watery one and use it further on anyway?