Yoghurt knitting - I'm doing it wrong!

[Milims]

I've tried several times of late to make youghurt and it's just not sucessful! I'm using the same equipment as before (when it was successful) and the same technique, but it's just not setting. What am I doing wrong? Am I using the wrong starter yoghurt? it's the only thing I can thing is happening.

[homegrown]

Sorry I don't know much about yoghurt making the OH has an easy-yo yoghurt maker which is reliable but probably takes all the fun out of it. But I had to comment I had this mental picture of you with a pair of knitting needles and tubs of yoghurt, going knit one purl one

[Green Aura]

I have to admit my yoghurt making is a bit hit and miss to milims. It should come out the same each time - I've got one of those Bel yoghurt makers. It's a bit aged now but seems to work OK.

It seems to work best when I add a bit of dried milk to the fresh milk.

The other thing I've wondered about is the varying temperatures up here - it shouldn't affect my little maker but I suppose if it's starting from a much lower temp it must.

I've often looked for advice, online, but everyone just seems to tell you how easy it is, not how to put right what's gone wrong - or how to stop doing it again!

I'll wait with interest for advice.

[Rosendula]

Milims, before when you were making it, was it summer? I'm wondering if the cold weather has anything to do with it. And when you say 'equipment', what do you use? Do you have a yoghurt machine? I use a pan to heat the milk, then pour it on top of the starter which I've placed in a plastic tub. In summer, I wrapped it all up in blankets and put them in a huge black bowl in the greenhouse. Now it's too cold out there, I wrap it in a towel and put it on top of the radiator with a couple more towels folded up and placed on top. Well, when the radiators are actually working I do that. It wouldn't work today. Brrrr.

[Milims]

I have a machine that has a wee warming plate and 6 jars. I heat the milk in a pan, leave it to cool to body temp, add the live yoghurt and then pour it into the 6 jars. It supposedly takes 4 hours for semi-skimmed milk, but it took mine for at least 10 and I'm still not sure it's right! I've also tried the flask method and it didn't work either.
I'm guessing that it may have something to do with the temp here - it's bl**dy freezing!

[sleepyowl]

This is not the same as yoghurt weaving then

[Millymollymandy]

When I tried some years ago I put it in a flask overnight - so it doesn't matter what the temp is in your house, it will stay warm, at whatever temp you heat the milk too (can't remember details, is it blood temp or something?)

[Rosendula]

When I make it I warm it to 180 degrees (F, I think) to kill off any germs. I know it's not meant to matter when you use paturised milk, but the one time I didn't bother it turned to cheese. Then I cool it to between 110 and 120 degrees, and that's what I try to keep it at.

[carolinew]

Hi, it's almost certainly your starter. I had the same problem when I came to make yogurt again after several years break. The method I had always used successfully no longer worked Turns out that most yogurt manufacturers now tamper a bit with the balance of bacteria (ie friendly ones) in the yogurt to stop us using it to make our own, so that we have to continue buying theirs. Sneaky, ay?

There are several brands which don't do this. St Helen's goat yogurt is the one I use (the white goat looking out of the circle, blue background). The Greek Total yogurt is also good, apparently. Also the Lidl bog standard own brand live natural yogurt - again, so I hear.

Hope this helps.

[Milims]

Thank you for that - I did wonder if it was my starter, and I didn't know that I could use goat or greek - guess what I'm going to try this week!

[matt_w]

Mrs W does the thermos flask method. Just asked her what she does. She started with a Yeo valley natural yogurt. We get reduced milk whenever we see it (last time was 5p/litre!). Boil the milk to kill bacteria, allow to cool, plop in a spoonful of commercial stuff then bung in the flask over night. By morning it is yoghurt. She also just said once you've done one load, pour the youghurt into ice cube trays. One cube per flask of yoghurt gets the whole thing going again.

[Thomzo]

I've found yogurt to be very hit and miss. I suspect it's a combination of temperature (do you use a thermometer? The milk will cool much quicker in this weather), the amount and age of the starter, and the age of the milk.

I use a flask but found it worked much better when I wrapped the flask in a towel and put it in an insulated bag.

Zoe

[matt_w]

Yes she does take the temp before putting the starter in, she says around 35 degrees but not that accurate! Our flask is an old stainless steel one. I don't suppose it's any better than any other, but maybe out kitchen is warmer.

[carolinew]

Yep, the ideal temperature is 37oC, but it's OK up to 50oC (and down to 35oC). Nowadays I use a thermomix (love it - the home farmers best friend) to heat my milk and do all the prep work for yogurt, which takes all the effort and guess work out of it. Before i had that I used to wash my hands thoroughly and dip a finger in to see if it felt body temperature - luke warm (highly scientific, I know ). Then I bunged it in the flask and left it alone for 8 hours. Officially it's 5 hours it needs, but I find 8 allows for any anomalies, plus I find it's easier to leave it overnight ready the morning. One other point is that it HATES being disturbed before it's ready - no idea why. So put it somewhere it won't be moved or touched until it's ready.

You can buy a yogurt maker from Lakeland for about £19 which takes the guess work out of it for you, too.

I also freeze individual portions of starter, ready for when I forget to save enough from the last batch I made or a member of the family eats the last before I can grab some to save. I just bung it in the milk I've heated, and it brings it down to the right temperature faster.

[Carltonian Man]

Hi Milims

We bring the milk to the boil, remove it from the heat for a few minutes then heat again and gently simmer for four minutes, stirring all the time. The heat process changes the molecular structure into chains and causes the yogurt to set.
Next it cools until I can hold the back of my fingers on the outside of the pan for ten seconds without yelping then it's mixed with the culture and kept warm for five hours.

Hope this helps