I guess one test for the culturing might be to make a very small quantity w/o gelatin and see what happens after incubating – or just buy whatever brand you used to use as starter. At the last second I looked online to realize the temp on low is 176 so it will kill the enzymes, which kind of destroys the purpose. Now that’s an interesting question. Please remember that I’m just a gal who reads a lot and spends way too much time in her kitchen.

2. The probiotics already present in raw milk compete with those trying to culture and grow to make yogurt, and that battle means a few things for the yogurt maker: For a long time, I didn’t even pursue raw milk yogurt anymore because it wasn’t a pleasant experience for my family. If using a perpetuating yogurt culture, it is necessary to first make a pasteurized mother culture to inoculate each batch of raw milk yogurt, to keep your yogurt starter healthy. for an entire quart jar. Katie. All I could do was sit and stare at my beautiful tasteless creation , Kristian, Raw milk generally makes yogurt that has a much thinner consistency than yogurt made with pasteurized milk. I am lactose intolerant, so store-bought milk won’t do and goat’s milk is sooo expensive! If your milk is a few days old or wasn't chilled quickly enough, that bacterial count can be high. I love your blog! You can make it at home very easily. I am part of a herdshare so have access to Raw cow’s milk. Raw yogurt is a tricky beast! It didn’t turn out as smooth as the yogurt I’ve made with store bought milk. Made me laugh first thing in the morning : ) I’ve been reading a lot about raw milk (largely from you!) Neither batch seemed to “gel”. Argh!

Put 2 qts raw milk in the crockpot, turn it on low for 4 hrs. Whisk some more. A dehydrator does a good job. These starter cultures contain specific strains of bacteria that give your yogurt its consistency in flavor and texture. Although I’ve started yogurt with Dannon, Stonyfield, and Fage brands of yogurt, I prefer to use a starter from a previous batch to start my new batch; it’s much more frugal that way. You need to add a bit more starter to give the yogurt buggers a leg up – instead of 2 Tbs., be sure to add about 3 Tbs. When you make yogurt, you inoculate milk with a starter culture that’s rich in specific beneficial bacteria that will give your yogurt flavor, texture and many health benefits, too. ….note: I use very fresh milk that is never more than 2 days old (I have a farm), I use plain yogurt with active cultures from a grocery store, and I use the oven method because I don’t have a yogurt maker or dehydrator. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. : ), Judy, The cow’s milk yogurt is a little thicker, but the coconut milk yogurt didn’t seem to gel at all. Whisk really, really well, hard, and for a long time: I learned that the gelatin has a difficult time incorporating into the warm milk, and if you don’t work very hard to make sure you get all the way to the bottom and really whisk the granules into the milk, you’ll end up with a layer of yogurt jello at the bottom of your jar and still funky-textured yogurt in the rest of the jar. .

I let them sit 10 – 12 hours, and the result is yummy. Trust your own judgment…I can’t be liable for problems that occur from bad decisions you make based on content found here. I’m afraid to try this method, with raw milk, glass jars and a pot on the stovetop. Then, wanting to duplicate the yogurt from my local farmers market, I put a bit of honey with vanilla on the bottom of a couple of jars then put 1.5 T of organic fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries) mixed with honey on the bottom of the others. The internal temp surely didn’t get that high. The yogurt was just separated – the worst offenders were the ones where I added too much starter on purpose. Hello, Katie! Since you just boiled the pot, there will be plenty of steam, and I’ve found that it’s usually too much/too hot for proper yogurt if you trap it all. You can also use the yogurt setting on your Instant Pot, too. Luckily, it doesn’t. Turn off and let sit for 4 hrs. 15. While you’re boiling the water in step 9 above, you can just leave one jar in. (First of all the fat phobia is nonsense–sugar, as we all are beginning to know, is the real danger–all those lovely enzymes and fat soluble vitamins in milk…) What I do find is that mesophilic cultures don’t do as well: for one thing so-called “room temperature” varies.

I’m sure you could do a gallon at a time, you’d just have to adjust the timing. I wonder if standard unflavored gelatin works also? It has been going wonderfully, but I am always in search of new and improved ways to achieve the ideal creaminess my kids prefer to get them to eat as much of it as possible. Incidentally, it is called “French Culture Yogurt” because of the layer of cream at the top.

I am going to experiment with carrageenan as a thickener as I live on the coast and it is so easily available to me.

The honey/vanilla came out fine but the ones with berries had about 2 tsp of water between the yogurt and the layer of cream that comes to the top. When using raw milk to make yogurt, there are several factors to consider. The weird thing was it happened in just a few hours, but it was also a really hot day. By this time, your water has certainly boiled in the pot.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. since it’s so well-sourced. Traditionally, you make yogurt by whisking starter into pasteurized or scalded milk. I don’t see why not – I never thought of that!

She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. Thanks so much for this post!

You can make it at home very easily. I have learned a bit over the years, mainly that: Therefore, my previous method for winning the raw milk yogurt battle was to incubate in my Excalibur dehydrator at 100 degrees F. I don’t love doing that, however, because it’s hard to justify using electricity to make yogurt when I have a simple energy-free method to make homemade yogurt already.

Get the exclusive content you crave straight to your inbox when you join our free community. This usually makes it pretty thick, but it can always be strained if you want yogurt cheese.

I tried putting a jar in the oven with it off (the oven) but forgot to turn the oven off and the milk got up to 155 degrees before I realized! I refrigerated them for at least 8 hours after fermenting. Other cultured milk options include simply making a countertop yogurt culture from Cultures for Health (that incubates at room temp, so it’s brain-dead simply but always runny) or checking out what the GNOWFGLINS Cultured Dairy and Cheesemaking eCourse has to offer (lots!) Place jars in pot; fill with tap water (I use hot), and put the lid on. Thanks for all the great info, and do the ‘leg work’ for me! However, if you’re committed to making only raw milk yogurt and have the equipment, it’s not a bad way to go. Serve it plain with fresh fruit an a drizzle of honey or make homemade yogurt panna cotta for a special dessert. A high quality gelatin from grassfed cows.

Still tastes delicious though! This is a very timely post for me.

Have you made raw milk yogurt yet? The simplest option is to drain whey from the yogurt using butter muslin or a tight-weave cloth. If your yogurt thickened up…it must be yogurt, right? Maybe when I taste the coconut milk when I’m making a recipe, it’s actually the thickener I taste! For 1 quart I used 3 capsules of Advanced billion dophilus. Mix the gelatin with a little bit of cold water (or cold milk if you don’t want to dilute the milk mixture).

Sorry! It only became completely liquid since I broke all the connections in the original runny yogurt. 7 works like a charm! Katie. I try to make at least 2 liters of full fat yogurt and snitch my cream from the rest. I would just do 2 qts at a time, back to back. However, since just prior to Christmas every batch I make turns out horrid, there was one day where I actually made 3 batches before eventually giving up and accepting defeat for the day.

All depends on your goal! Thanks so much for all your helpful information! into the cooled, pasteurized milk jar and simply add it to the cooler (quickly so you don’t lose much heat). I’d be curious to see the bacteriology on that. Put the lid back on the (nearly empty) pot and bring the water to a full boil. Cheese looks like that at one point, too, it doesn’t mean it has bad bacteria, that you can tell by the smell.

): I think the milk in the crockpot itself might work really well for me I’m gonna try that next. Let me know if that works better! I’d like to try your gelatin method though to see if I cold skip the straining step. 17. Serve it plain with fresh fruit an a drizzle of honey or make homemade yogurt panna … It seems to me like it might be easier to dissolve it that way. Then, add about 2 tablespoons of boiling water (or milk) and stir until the gelatin is COMPLETELY dissolved. Gelatin is a great thickener for coconut milk yogurt as well…, Nicole,

This includes: Using a Direct-Set (Single-Use) Yogurt Starter Culture, Traditional Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture, Kosher Traditional Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture, Kosher Mild Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture, Using a Mesophilic (Countertop) Re-Usable Starter Culture, Using a Thermophilic (Heat-Loving) Re-Usable Starter Culture.

okay thanks! So I talked to a cheesemaker here, got some high quality Thermophilic cultures and haven’t stopped since. , Michelle, Thanks Two questions: Katie. 1. I did 2 jars – I used 3 packages of gelatine… and have what looks like spackling paste… gonna try it on pizza lol. A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress. I’ve never used capsules – are they for starting yogurt or just supplements? Funny, I make 10 liters of raw milk yogurt every two weeks. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Accordingly, these cultures may interfere with the bacteria in your starter culture, creating undesirable flavors or texture. Put your jars in the refrigerator when finished – do not disturb the contents until they are completely cooled, and don’t worry if it looks runny going in. I have recently discovered the key to perfect, thick, almost-like-the-store homemade raw yogurt every time. The ‘whirring’ of the blender splashed the milk right out of the jar. It’s your typical plastic picnic cooler. Busy moms look to this certified educator for honest, in-depth natural product reviews and thorough research. 1. The gelatin she is recommending is beneficial, as it is sourced from healthy cattle. I’ve been milking my own cow for about a month now. Katie, Thank you! I’m so heartbroken if I have to pitch it, it really set well! Now add your 2 1/2-3 Tbs. Priscilla, I do, however, have 2 crockpots, so I could use both. Or maybe it’s because I used actual yogurt starter? You can also mix all of the gelatin you are going to use for all of your jars, follow the procedure above, and add an equal amount of dissolved syrup to all of your jars. I had a very strange thing happen.

Helping busy families live well without going crazy! Your email address will not be published. 664-6982) Pei, R., Martin, D.A., et al. Further, use the freshest milk possible rather than old or sour raw milk. Likely you have other things going on too if it was that yucky. I came back to troubleshoot and see what I did wrong and I realized I forgot to put in the yogurt starter!!

Hope I’m in time – if the yogurt smells good, I’d say trust your instincts. I’ll have to check out the gelatin.