Every recipe I see for making yogurt calls for dried milk.

Tell me all you know abut homemade yogurt. Please

True but there is milk and there is milk lol I just found a Goats yogurt and a sheep's yogurt in Sainsbury's In Belfast, testing them both one this week and one next week with Emily. more as a treat than a staple though. no added anything.

if you can make cheese from almonds why not yogurt? just s thought.

Looks like most starter cultures are just probiotics?

I guess I could just use the polyflora A.. and some store bought yogurt?

Can I then stop using the polyflora A once I have a culture?

Anyone making kefir?

There are lots of experienced yogurt and kefir makers on this forum:

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/list/365

They should be able to help you figure out the nitty-gritty of yogurt making, help you obtain kefir  grains, etc.

I haven't made yoghurt using dairy (not many options on my list I'm afraid), but I did make it once with my homemade almond milk and I only used a probiotic capsule as a starter - so your Polyflora A should hit the button.

Andrea, I've made my own yogurt for decades.  As in Ghee making, once you have done it successfully a few times, it's so fast and easy, it hardly requires thinking.  I buy fresh goat milk from a local farmer, but you can use any kind of milk.  I've never tried non-dairy.

If you have an electric yogurt maker, use the directions on it.  I use a small ice chest that is the size for a six-pack of soda or beer.  Preheat it by filling with hot water while you get the milk ready.

Heat 1 quart of milk to the point that it starts to lift the foam.  Immediately remove from heat.  Cool for a few minutes and pour into very clean pint-sized glass canning-type jars (heavy glass).

Let the jars of milk cool until you can hold one of them against your cheek for 5 seconds and it feels comfortably warm with no pain. Think 'giving this to a small child to drink'.

To each pint of milk, add 1 rounded Tb of yogurt that has live cultures.  Close the lids tightly and shake very well.  Once your own yogurt is established, you can use your own yogurt to start the next batch.

Pour the hot water out of the little 'ice chest' and refill with hot tap water.  Set the jars into hot water with the water level reaching to the bottom of the lids, but not over, just to avoid the chance of water leaking into the yogurt.

Close the chest, set on a folded towel or rug in an out of the way place that is on the warm side.  Wrap a thick folded towel over top and sides and leave it alone.  It generally takes a minimum of 8 hours for the yogurt to set up.  I leave mine for 10 hours because I get the best consistency that way.  The longer it works, the less lactose the finished product will have.  If it sets to long, it will go in the other direction and begin to thin out again and get more tart.

Quoted from Andrea AWsec

Looks like most starter cultures are just probiotics?

I guess I could just use the polyflora A.. and some store bought yogurt?

Can I then stop using the polyflora A once I have a culture?

This past winter, I switched to using my Polyflora as the starter.  It took a couple of attempts to establish the culture, but now it's all I use -- no need to add any store-bought yogurt.

Since I make my yogurt in 1 pint containers, I started with 2 capsules for each jar.  The first batch  was a little too thin.  So the next batch, I used a couple of spoonfuls of the 'thin' yogurt and added another capsule of Polyflora to each jar.  It turned out better.  After that, I didn't need to add any more capsules to the yogurt.  I've been using only the yogurt to start each batch.  It stands up beautifully, even when the jar is tilted.

If you have any problems, speak up.  I've got several trouble-shooting suggestions if needed.

wow that sounds very doable victoria. might give that a go. have to llo for a goat to hijack lol

i use easiyo to make my yogurt. So easy and so delicious and more nutritious! check it out at http://www.easiyo.com

Quoted from bel

i use easiyo to make my yogurt. So easy and so delicious and more nutritious! check it out at http://www.easiyo.com

Bel, that's an interesting little device.  I wonder if it would work well for someone who just wants to scald whole milk and add living cultures without buying their packets.  What do you think?

Quoted from Andrea AWsec

Every recipe I see for making yogurt calls for dried milk.

Tell me all you know abut homemade yogurt. Please

Interesting, I wonder if dried buttermilk could work with polyflora caps as per Victorias GREAT instructions?

Quoted from Victoria

Bel, that's an interesting little device.  I wonder if it would work well for someone who just wants to scald whole milk and add living cultures without buying their packets.  What do you think?

heys, you can check up their faqs, i think they did mentioned something about using your own milk/starters but im not sure about that cause i usually buy their packets as its economical and healthier (can read up about their products) I usually get the unsweetened one to avoid the sugar and add my own fruits or honey to it! Its really convenient and makes excellent yogurt cos you can determine how tart you like it   and most importantly no avoids!

polyflora works with practically any milk.....be it dairy or seed or grain or pulse....
experiment

I haven't made yogurt in years but if I remember correctly the reason they use the powdered milk is to make it thicker.  The yogurt maker came with recipes and it said to use milk plus powdered milk if you wanted thicker with out having to add gelatin.

I was quite pleased with how the Polyflora capsules make my yogurt as thick as the commercial brands without adding any thickeners or powdered milk.

Yogurt came out great!

Thick and delicious.. Wow who knew that adding polyflora to it would make it so thick.

Thank you for all your great ideas and support.

    

have been telling you this from the very start.....but you wouldn t listen!!

Quoted from Lola

have been telling you this from the very start.....but you wouldn t listen!!

Lola, I sense that you feel "unheard" (this is the second reference you've made that we aren't listening ).

I ll get over the dilemma, no worries

Quoted from honeybee

Interesting, I wonder if dried buttermilk could work with polyflora caps as per Victorias GREAT instructions?

Most commercial dried buttermilk doesn't have any active cultures in it, unlike the refrigerated "cultured buttermilk" that can be used to make quark or farmer's cheese (using buttermilk as the only source of cheese cultures.)

My recent cheese-making research tells me that you can use reconstituted dried milk, then add whatever cultures you want, and make cheese that way. I imagine it would work the same way with yogurt. So I'm sure you could use reconsituted buttermilk as the "milk" and then add polyflora as the "culture" and make yogurt that way. But it won't have any cultures from the buttermilk itself.

I was doing my yogurt with goat milk and sheep or goat cheese before. Milk will ferment into yogurt best when the mix stays on room temperature some time than raise to a temperatue no more than 37-38 centigrades for some time.

I'll be doing yogurt again when I find raw goat milk a few months later. Yogurt from goat milk is too fluid, some people say but it's the best I'll be able to find. I'd try with sheep's milk also if I found.

Os aren't really supposed to have yogurt Onur. It's a healthy food for As, Bs, and ABs, but not for us Os. We're better off getting our probiotics from cultured vegetables, rather than from cultured dairy.

I'm making my own yogurt with polyflora AB! Thanks for the ideas. Great advice!

Quoted from Sharon

I'm making my own yogurt with polyflora AB! Thanks for the ideas. Great advice!

Way to go, Sharon!    

Can anyone make recommendations for making yogurt with raw milk.  My first attempt did not set up properly.  Also, because I am using raw milk, I wasn't sure I could reuse the yogurt for the next batch or needed to keep a starter batch that was not from raw milk.  Somewhere I read that the starter from raw milk won't continue to culture properly so I should use store bought yogurt for the starter.

paneer
http://www.recipedelights.com/basics/Paneer.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQu5jVagfao

Quoted from Kim

Can anyone make recommendations for making yogurt with raw milk.  My first attempt did not set up properly.  Also, because I am using raw milk, I wasn't sure I could reuse the yogurt for the next batch or needed to keep a starter batch that was not from raw milk.  Somewhere I read that the starter from raw milk won't continue to culture properly so I should use store bought yogurt for the starter.

It can be almost like luck to be able to come out with a successful yogurt made from raw milk.  This is because heat has not been used to kill bacteria in the milk.  This doesn't mean that the bacteria would necessarily be unhealthy for people to consume, but the bacteria might compete with the yogurt cultures.  This is very common and can result in weakening the yogurt strain.  Often, the yogurt will not even 'set up'.

I purchase raw goat's milk from a local farmer and bring the milk to a quick boil.  The resulting yogurt is consistently perfectly and provides a strong starter for future batches.

The original starter is Dr. D's Polyflora!  

I have had powdered goat milk before but never the real thing.  I have heard good things about it.  I am going to see if a farm nearby has it.  Not sure if it is legal in VA to sell it or not.  I have a cow share to get the raw milk, (which I can't have now to drink), so maybe I might have to do the same to get the goat milk.  I want to make my own yogurt and stop buying it.

We live on 19 acres and are trying to become self sufficient.  In another month we are getting Turkeys to raise for meat.  I was going to do chickens for meat until I found out that they are not allowed for me.  

Thanks!!

Goat milk has a thicker consistency than cows milk.  Depending on the breed of goat, can also be much more flavorful...  

Goats are relatively easy to raise, as long as you have a tall enough fence to keep them where you want them...

We thought about raising them but we have maybe 12 acres cleared out of 19 acres and we have horses.  Normally there would be plenty of pasture for both, but last year we had a long drought and we didn't even have enough pasture for our three horses.  If I can find a farmer who sells the milk or lets me buy a share that might work.  Right now, I am not well enough to handle the goats.  I haven't even been able to ride my horses in three years.  I am hoping that the GTD is going to help me heal.