For years I have made very nice , thick- enough, goats milk yogurt. For some reason this year I just keep failing.
So a few questions.
1. When i heat to 180, how important is 180? I mean is 178 good enough or how about 183?
2. When hold it there for 20 mins what if it is 25 mins?
I have a cheese vat that i use to incubate. I do 2 layers of quart jars. I do 3 gallons at a time.
I am getting thick yogurt only on top. not on the top layer but on the top 1 1/2" of all the quart jars. The bottom of each jar is just liquid.
Any thoughts and ideas welcome.
Are you using dvi culture?
Maybe it's time to change it up a bit on the culture department?
Che Hansen yc 180 gives a really nice thickish yogurt with goats milk
Are you sure your temps are staying where you need them? How old is your milk? Some people can make it with raw goat milk, I have never had much luck with that. My yogurt is pretty much hit and miss and I still have not figured out why.
Steff, others have offered helpful ideas to explore. Here are my thoughts on the specific questions you ask:
180° is the target, but does not have to be exact - 178° to 183° should not make any difference.
20 minutes is again only a target; 25 minutes will not hurt. In fact, the procedure I follow calls for 30 minutes.
With both of these, my understanding is that we are allowing the whey proteins to "denature" so that they can be incorporated into the structure of the yogurt. It is essentially like making ricotta cheese, except that not adding acid or starting with acidic whey - thus the proteins don't curdle, but they do become available and help to make the yogurt thicker.
Quote from: lovinglife on July 24, 2017, 01:43:05 PM
Are you sure your temps are staying where you need them? How old is your milk? Some people can make it with raw goat milk, I have never had much luck with that. My yogurt is pretty much hit and miss and I still have not figured out why.
I am using my cheese vat with a chart recorder, so yes I have a record of the temps. They are perfect.
Milk is fresh from my goats.
I wonder if your pH is dropping too fast. I had that happen in a 4 gallon vat, and the top 4 inches were nice and thick, while the bottom was liquid. Have you checked the pH before starting, then after it should be set?
Just curious if you ever figured out your yogurt? I have noticed with my fresh goat milk that early in the goats lactation it is runny, mostly the bottom like yours, but with late lactation the milk turned to a wonderful thick creamy yogurt, same yogurt maker (Instant Pot) and same culture just different stage of lactation.