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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => FRESH LACTIC ACID COAGULATED - Normally No Whey Removed => Topic started by: sgshoemaker09 on November 08, 2011, 01:28:19 PM

Title: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: sgshoemaker09 on November 08, 2011, 01:28:19 PM
I have been having problems with making yoghurt. Sounds crazy I know. The last three times that I have made it it has come out grainy.

Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?

I use raw milk, but heat to 175-185 and then let it cool to 115 before adding 3 cubes of frozen yoghurt from a previous batch. I let these melt then whisk them smooth before adding them to the mixture. Once they are added I whisk for about a minute then it goes into my yogotherm for 6 hours.

Sarah
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: MrsKK on November 08, 2011, 03:48:33 PM
Your cubes of frozen yogurt from the previous batch are most likely the culprit, as the culture is probably degraded.  Graininess is my cue to buy new culture.

When I make a batch of yogurt, I remove a pint of the cultured milk to a sterilized pint jar and cap it off.  That jar is my culture and gives me enough for two one-gallon batches of yogurt.  As long as I use it within three weeks and keep the culture jar tightly covered, it works quite well.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: sgshoemaker09 on November 08, 2011, 08:17:59 PM
I thought that was the most likely culprit as well, but even the first batch was a little grainy too. Not nearly as bad as the second and subsequent batches though.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: Cheese Head on November 09, 2011, 12:40:23 AM
Hi Sarah, I also get grainy yogurt if I ferment too long/much (normally when I forget to unplug my machine).
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: sgshoemaker09 on November 09, 2011, 04:37:54 PM
Thanks John,

That would definitely be the problem from this last batch then, it went for about 10 hours before I remembered I had it going and unplugged it at 1am when I incidently woke up.

Maybe I'll try dropping it to 4 hour incubation and see if that helps.

I am guessing the frozen culture is not helping either, although if it works for cheese cultures you would think that it would also work for yoghurt.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: Leasa on November 12, 2011, 12:19:54 AM
Hi Sarah.
Are you adding the yoghurt still frozen?  This could be a problem as well.   Try defrosting then slowly mixing the warm milk into yoghurt till you get a runny slurry, &then mix that back into the milk.  This way the culture doesn't get shocked(or so i've been told). 
Cheers Leasa
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: Cheese Head on November 12, 2011, 12:10:05 PM
Hi sgshoemaker09, yep when I've gone 10 hours mine gets too grainy, I try to remember to unplug at ~7 hours and then after cool down put in cold kitchen fridge another few hours later, I also find it sets up a bit more after 1-2 days in fridge. ~7 hours is my rule of thumb for milk, high heat denaturing, and starter I use (some store bought yogurt), your optimal time will be different.

I also find ones of these (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1842.0.html) is handy, when I remember to use it :).
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: sgshoemaker09 on November 12, 2011, 02:59:48 PM
Ah yes, I completely understand. I have 4 different timers in the kitchen, its a matter of remembering to turn them on. Well thats a brain injury for you. At least now I have a legitimate excuse  ;D before I was just scatterbrained.

I've had yoghurt turn grainy after as few as 5 hours though, so I think at least some of it may be that I have been using frozen yoghurt culture from my previous batch. Which likely got grainy because I left it too long in the first place  :o

It must be something in my milk that makes everything work....faster LOL. I've had recipes that required three drops of rennet and 8-12 hours of renneting time become a solid puck of curds with an inch of whey all the way around in 4 hours!!!

Ah well. Learn as you go right?
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: opalcab on November 16, 2011, 04:20:22 PM
try heating the milk to 175 Degrees in a pot than put pot in the oven over night with to light on and in the am you should have good stuff.
In my oven the light keep a temp of around 100 degrees to 110 degrees all night i have never had grainy yogurt
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: eric1 on December 26, 2011, 01:42:49 AM
Your cubes of frozen yogurt from the previous batch are most likely the culprit, as the culture is probably degraded.  Graininess is my cue to buy new culture.

I've got a tangential question.  Now I basically follow MrsKK's advice when my yogurt seems to be getting progressively poorer, but I feel like there ought to be a more homegrown solution.  People ate yogurt for many centuries before laboratory cultures, so I figure there must be a way to make good yogurt without modern commercial cultures.  For that matter, the world's first batch of yogurt must have been made without intentionally adding anything for culture at all, right?  Why should we have to accept the curse of ever degrading yogurt cultures?  I pretty much do accept it, but it doesn't make sense to me that I should have to.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: dthelmers on December 26, 2011, 02:18:01 AM
It might be a matter of luck, or perhaps some strains are better at re-culturing than others. I once re-cultured yogurt for a full year with L. Bulgaricus. After the first few batches the yogurt started so set thick after only 4-5 hours, and was thick and not too tart. We had an oven with a pilot light that we used for making the yougurt, and we made 2 batches at least every week. Maybe it was the Bulgaricus, or maybe it was just a fortunate confluence of factors where we lived, but that culture really thrived!
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: linuxboy on December 26, 2011, 04:50:23 AM
Quote
People ate yogurt for many centuries before laboratory cultures, so I figure there must be a way to make good yogurt without modern commercial cultures.
Define your standard for good? Because if you want batch 1 to be exactly the same as batch 677, then it's nearly impossible to do using traditional methods. Yogurt in the past was not so consistent among batches. If you want an idea for how it was done in the past, I wrote a thread on whey starters, yogurt is about the same.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: eric1 on December 26, 2011, 06:49:41 PM
By good I only mean that over the long-term average qualities of the yogurt aren't trending in any direction.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: eric1 on December 26, 2011, 08:07:13 PM
dthelmers, I'm curious, do you still favor L. bulgaricus?  Have you not been able to replicate what you did for that year, or is there a reason you no longer want to?
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: dthelmers on December 26, 2011, 08:17:37 PM
There were four of us sharing a house then, and yogurt was what we had for lunch every day. Now I just don't go through that much yogurt, so when I make it I use a spoonful of Chobani brand yogurt, which uses L. Bulgaricus and S. Thermophilus. I generally eat more cheese than yogurt these days, cottage cheese and fromage blanc for fresh cheese, Caerphilly and cheddar for pressed cheese.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: linuxboy on December 28, 2011, 12:24:55 AM
Quote
By good I only mean that over the long-term average qualities of the yogurt aren't trending in any direction.
If you control your temps and follow the exact same handling process for your culture rebatching/mothering, and use a multi-strain, multi-species mix, it is possible without too much hassle. Generally, only would recommend when using on a small scale, because it's tough to throw away a large vat when one could use modern practices and ensure a good result.
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: eric1 on December 28, 2011, 07:39:06 PM
Thanks for that input.  The consideration of a multi-species culture seems particularly helpful.  I had thought perhaps the opposite might be true -- my thinking was that one species might outcompete another over time leading to changes in the product quality -- but I trust your advice more than my speculation.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Yoghurt - Texture Grainy, Causes?
Post by: linuxboy on December 28, 2011, 07:58:17 PM
Quote
one species might outcompete another over time leading to changes in the product quality
You are spot on when dealing with 1-2 species and 1-2 strains. I'm talking about having 5-6 species, and a half dozen or more strains of each. Like a classic whey starter. Something like that will be remarkably stable because the mix will experience synergistic multi-dominance, meaning no 1-2 strains will dominate, but they will all keep each other balanced.