There is a fantastic shop here in the UK called Lakeland - it sells every kitchen and homeware gadget you could ever imagine - and then some! I have had my eye on their Yogurt Maker for some time and today my husband surprised me by bringing it home for me - awwww he’s so sweet!
I have just finished reading the instructions and I am quite disappointed by something. They say for best results use UHT (ultra-heat treated) milk or evaporated milk. Or if you do use normal, whole milk (raw milk is illegal here in Scotland) it says you should boil it first!
Now I am confused! There is so much misinformation about milk and everyone seems to be terrified of untreated milk here in the UK. I read the article on the WAPF website “To Heat or Not to Heat: A Yogurt Question” but she is discussing raw milk there - not pasteurised milk which I would have to use. Do the same rules apply to pasteurised milk? I am not sure what to do.
- Should I just try and make it with wholemilk and not boil it? or;
- Should I boil the milk first as the instructions stipulate, to be safe? or;
- Should I just go ahead and use UHT or evaporated milk? or;
- Should I just return it and keep buying supermarket brand yogurt? (Which they may very well boil anyway!)
I shall have to do some more digging on this topic. Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Jan 21st, 2008 at 1:53 am
Karina - my yoghurt maker says the same.
At first I used organic whole milk ( pasteurised but not homogenised -it is difficult/illegal to get raw milk here as well) that I boiled like it said and cooled down to 40 c and added milk-culture/ or yoghurt to it
- that produced a smooth - but also very boiled taste that i didnt like.
Since then I have used the same milk - I just heat it to 40 c and add culture- it gives a nicer taste
- but sometimes it behaves a bit unpredictable.. gets less smooth- I think it is because it is more wild still have some natural culture left.
I have tried different cultures- at first I used the ones that came with the machine
- since then I have either used my old yoghurt as culture or if that gets too weak
- got a nice live organic yoghurt from the shops ( I like balkan style)
that I use as starter.
So no it is not neccersary to use boiled milk - just get as a fresh a milk as possible
and live with the fact that sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt - yoghurt is live - just like bread and you never know how they behave :-)
Jan 21st, 2008 at 11:49 am
Tusind tak Henriette! I still haven’t tried to make it - it’s still in the bag ready to take back to the shop. Shop-bought yogurt is so expensive here and I do use quite a bit of yogurt each week so I’m not sure what to do. Honestly, I thought I could just pour the milk in, add some culture, turn on the machine, wait a while and hey presto! I might get brave tomorrow and give it a try - I’ll let you know how I get on.
Thank you very much!
K xx
Jan 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Use it!! Homemade yogurt is wonderful. I used to use several quarts a week when my children were young. They and I loved it. I still make it for myself. I purchase a new yogurt from the store every few weeks to use as fresh starter. I suppose its best to bring the milk to steaming temp but I don’t always. Also I add cream to the whole milk. Skim milk yogurt is nasty tasting to me. The only way I can eat skim milk yogurt is to mix it with fruit juice and drink it. Whole milk with some cream is beautifully smooth and creamy.
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 1:41 am
Det var så lidt ( you are welcome) :-)
Well then try kefir - that is much easier than yoghurt.
- But it is more like a thick buttermilk
Jan 26th, 2008 at 6:22 am
I have made yogurt several times, using Sally Fallon’s recipe for raw milk yogurt in Nourishing Traditions. I do find like Henriette that when I heat it just to 110 F. (is that 40 c.?), it doesn’t always turn out quite “right”. Like she said, sometimes it’s lumpier. Also, when I take it out of the warm spot after 8 hours, it sometimes doesn’t look “set up” at all. But after a night in the fridge, it gets thicker and tastes quite delicious.
I have also boiled raw milk to 180 F. and then cooled it to 110 F., as Sally says to do for the pasteurized milk. That works more predictably well, but I suppose is not so good for digestibility.
You can read about my yogurt-making on my blog, http://www.zahnzone.blogspot.com. I don’t even use a yogurt-maker, just a cooler that I’ve modified to be a “warmer”.
Jan 27th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Hey Karina, I can give you a good yogurt recipe and explain why you sometimes have whey separation and other mishaps with home yogurt making. Throw me an email. stihl2much4u@yahoo.com
Jan 30th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Lisa is right, you don’t need a yogurt maker. I bring the milk to a scald (not a boil) and then let it cool. After I mix in the culture I cover the bowl, wrap in a couple of towels and place in the microwave overnight (just because it’s a small insulated space, not to cook, just to sit). In the morning I have yogurt. The other thing you can do if your yogurt appears to be a bit thin is to add powdered milk to the scalded milk, while it’s warm, and then add the culture once the whole thing cools. Don’t know why but this seems to thicken it up a bit.
Jan 31st, 2008 at 6:02 am
Mira, how long is “overnight” for you? I’ve been wondering if I can leave my yogurt overnight, but sometimes that would be longer than 8 hours. It’s cold, it’s dark, we’re in Minnesota and we sometimes can sleep a long time! (i.e. 9 or 10 hours…) Is it okay to leave yogurt warm for more than the 8 hours?
Thanks, Lisa
Jan 31st, 2008 at 7:40 am
Hi Lisa, “overnight” is longer than 8 hours for me. I usually go to bed around 10 am and am up by 7 but sometimes don’t get to the yogurt until after 8 a.m. We’ve never had a problem. I think the active cultures help keep it.