First try at making yogurt since teenager in 70's with my Mum and Salton 6 cup "machine". This time using the Oven Method as described here (https://cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Yogurt.htm).
RECORDS
- Dec 21, 2008 6:00PM Poured 6 cups /1.5 liters of "fresh" store bought pasteurized homogenized whole cow's milk from fridge into casserole dish (no large glass jar available) then whisked in 3 ounces ml of powdered nonfat cow's milk.
- Dec 21, 2008 6:10PM Warmed in microwave in 1 minute power intervals then stir and measure temperature for 5 minutes total to warm up to 50 C/120 F.
- Dec 21, 2008 6:20PM Whisked in 1.5 ounces/45 ml of fresh live Dannon brand unflavored yogurt.
- Dec 21, 2008 6:25PM Placed towel in preheated and turned off wall oven then covered casserole dish and moved onto towel, wrapped with towel and closed door for night. Noticed cool down exhaust fan on as normal.
- Dec 22, 2008 7:00AM Removed towel, checked set of yogurt, poor, tasted OK, still slightly warm, measured with gauge 33 C/91 F. Re-wrapped and left in oven to set further.
- Dec 22, 2008 1:30AM Removed towel, checked set of yogurt, better but still poor, tasted OK, still amazingly slightly warm 19 hours after turned off oven, measured with gauge 26 C/78 F. Measured oven at 68 F/20 C. Moved yogurt to fridge.
- Dec 29, 2008 9:30AM Ate last of this batch afte 6 days (1 cup per day with cereal), remained somewhat runny to end, taste very nice, slightly tangy.
NOTES
- Next time think ahead and save large glass jar with lid instead of shallow casserole dish.
- Recipe probably works better with conventional ovens, ours is wall oven with automatic exhaust fan that cools down oven after shut off to certain internal temperature and thus probably didn't get as much heat into milk as recipe called for.
- Surprised that even 19 hours after turned off oven, the yogurt when finally removed was 4.5 C/10 F warmer than oven. Is it good insulation or is the creation of yogurt an exothermic reaction?
Second set of pictures . . .
See notes above in OP, I was surprised that even 19 hours after turned off oven, the yogurt when finally removed was 4.5 C/10 F warmer than oven (albeit with door open for few minutes. Is it good insulation or is the creation of yogurt an exothermic reaction?
You didn't say whether you were happy with the final results or not? Looks good by the way.
Not hugely happy, I'd like a thicker and more homogeneous yogurt. Ate some tonight was good, deeper was runnier than at top.
I mentioned my batch to my brother who is stuck at home in Queen Carlotte Islands (Haida Gawaii) in NW Canada as Vancouver is snowed in and he said he'd heard that if you left the oven light on overnight it helps keeps warm.
I think the main problem is that the mix never got that warm due to the fan cooling down the our oven. Any ideas appreciated . . .
mmm somehow I think you are going to have to find someway to disconnect that fan. I would think that it definately would have cooled down the oven faster than usual.
I too find that I would prefer a better set yoghurt, and I don't know whether I am so used to the commercial gelatine set yoghurts, that I have forgotten what real yoghurt sets up like. This is why I have started to drain my yoghurt for 1 hour after setting, for a thicher creamer feel.
I also have another culture on order, and am interested to see whether they give a different thicker set than the culture that I am using now.
Will let you know.