Hi all!
I've been making our yogurt for about a year now, using organic whole milk from the grocery store, the ABY-2C culture from the Dairy Connection and my Excalibur Dehydrator set at 105 degrees as an incubator.
However, I now have access to raw, organic goat milk and so want to use that.
1st attempt: Followed directions on fiascofarm.com for raw milk yogurt (using the exact same culture, exact same incubator, etc. The only difference was that their milk was warm directly from the goat, while mine was cooled first. I warmed it to 105 degrees using directions on that site). The yogurt was basically just slightly thickened milk, and this from a culture that produces an almost-pudding-like consistency with cow's milk.
2nd attempt: Realized I used as much culture as I normally did (1/16 tsp per 2 gallons) rather than the amount specified on the website. It made sense that my yogurt would have been really loose because of the natural bacteria in the goat's milk. Made again, using more culture. Thicker, but still very loose, stringy, not good.
3rd attempt: I did more reading on raw milk yogurt and, though frustrated because fiascofarm seemed to be able to get a thick curd using the exact same equipment where I couldn't, decided to give up and try cooking the milk first. Made yogurt the exact same way as I did with store-bought cow's milk. Not stringy, but not very thick. Definitely thicker than previously, but nowhere near even what I used to get using a store-bought yogurt as my starter, and the ABY-2C culture produces a much thicker curd than that. We did eat this batch.
4th attempt (yesterday): I brought the yogurt to 180 degrees as before, but left it there for 30 minutes. I also dissolved 2 ounces of gelatin into the yogurt when it was hot (for a 7 quart batch). This morning, after incubating yesterday and chilling overnight, the curd is what I would hope it to be (maybe slightly less thick than the cow's milk yogurt), but it's got a really weird taste. It's maybe slightly more sour than it generally is, but not much. It has a very long, strange aftertaste that is not pleasant. Any ideas? Could it be the gelatin? It's not a gelatin-y taste. I thought that by keeping it at 180 degrees it would kind of sterilize it, so it shouldn't affect the culture. I can't think of what else it would be though.
I'm so frustrated. Any help would be much appreciated!