A new method?

[Cheese Head]

Debi, that's interesting.

I find when using store bought past & homogenized cow's milk and milk powder that I get very little whey separation, even after a few days, when I incubate for 8 hours, but I do get alot of whey if I forget it in the machine and it incubates for 14 hours !

[DeejayDebi]

Hmmm well I do stick the pot in the oven over night. No time in particular just when I get to it. I am very lax about my yogurt. I have been known to forget it all day until I get ready to cook supper.

[Cheese Head]

Yep, me too , I forget mine overnight or in morning, and my little machine even has a dial on top so I know when I made it . . . good thing yogurt making is much more forgiving than cheese making!

[pamaples]

Yesterday, since my goat is drying up, I went over to the dairy and bought a gallon of milk. It is pasteurized and, most unfortunately, homogenized but the cows are not feed antibiotics or growth hormones. I used 1/4 cup of the last of my goat yogurt as the starter and put in 1/4 c. powdered milk mixed with 1/2 c. water just to see what would happen; firm, firm, FIRM. Like after removing a large spoonful, turn the jar upside down and shake and nothing falls out firm. NO whey accumulated either. I did not hold the temp longer, I will do that when I have goat milk again.

Debi, I wonder if the antibiotics that show up in the store bought milk, and they are passed right along into the milk -same as the growth hormones, I wonder if they inhibit the growth of the yogurt bacteria resulting in a weak set?

[DeejayDebi]

Beats me Pam but I know I get a creamier everything with raw milk.

[Sailor Con Queso]

By heating to 185 F, what you are really doing is precipitating the albuminous proteins and making Riccota. If you add a little bit of citric acid (1 tsp/gal) to the heated milk, the precipitation will be even stronger (and add a little citrus flavor). This will no doubt give a firmer yogurt. We make rennet ice cream all the time, so I am also thinking of trying just a few drops per gallon of rennet in my yogurt for an even better texture. I believe rennet is deactivated above 105 F. So I would heat the milk to 185 F, add some citric acid, hold for 20 minutes, cool quickly to <105 F, add culture & rennet, hold for 30 minutes , and then hold at curing temp until "done".

[hplace]

I like to hang my yoghurt in cloth (much like making cream cheese) to drain off some of the whey. You can achieve any thickness you like this way depending on how long you drain it.

Line a collander with a clean, fine cloth. Pour in yoghurt. Tie corners. Hang over a pot for a few hours.

[DeejayDebi]

OOPPPS! I made yogurt and cheese last Friday night from raw milk put it in the oven and forgot it. Made Cheese again on Saturday and  forgot about my yogurt until Monday night! Alot of whey on top. It didn't taste bad so I poured it into mason jars and there was a big PLOP about half way through.

Weird the middle made an almost cheese - like a soggy cream cheese.

[MrsKK]

My yogurt last year was okay, but I had fallen in love with Greek Gods brand yogurt and wanted to try to replicate that.

Last week, I used the method described in this thread of heating a gallon of milk (raw, in my case) to 185 degrees and holding it there for about 20 minutes.  I then quick cooled it to about 95 degrees, then cultured it with a cup of Greek Gods honey yogurt.  I removed a pint of the cultured milk to a canning jar as a future culture, then added a cup of sugar and about a quarter teaspoon of vanilla.  I put the gallon jar and pint jar in my Coleman cooler and filled it with hot (~115 degrees) tap water. 

I removed it 8 hours later and tried tipping the pint jar over - it was set solidly.  After the gallon jar was cooled off completely, I tasted it and loved the flavor, but still wanted it thicker, so I drained it through butter muslin.  I ended up with about a half gallon of really nice, thick yogurt.  Slightly tangy-er than Greek Gods, but that's okay, because I think that GG is a bit too dessert-like.

I'm very happy with the results.

[DeejayDebi]

I was just thinking ... (dangerous thing) ... After i put the yogurt in the fridge over night I mix in my pulverized fruit. I mix it in adavance becuase I take a jar to work for lunch every few days. I wonder if it's the fruit that's making the puddles and not they whey. I use mangoes most of the time. Love those litttle buggers!