Anyone make yoghurt?

[BigMonka]

My wife, daughter and I all have a bowl of fruit, yoghurt and kefir for breakfast each day which means we get through a lot of yoghurt, so my wife bought a yoghurt maker for us to try. Turns out you put a load of warm milk in it with a starter amount of bought yoghurt (at least to start with) and then turn it on for 12hours.
I'm finding the result to be incredibly runny though
It came with a strainer for making greek yoghurt but if I use that then I seem to lose loads of the product, as if its more than just the whey getting through.

Anyone make their own? Got any tips on making a better and thicker yoghurt would be much appreciated please!

 

[Mike G]

Yes, I make my own.

There are a couple of tricks to getting it right, Firstly, you've got to "cook" it for the right time. 12 hours isn't enough for me, and 24 hours is too much. And yes, it's always an odd texture straight from the yoghurt maker. Secondly, when you strain it, put say a third of it aside, to mix back in with the strained yoghurt. And when you blend them back together, really whip it all up with a fork. I'm convinced that Yeo Valley (or whoever) use a blender, and I might try a stick blender next batch I make. Just change the proportions of strained and unstrained until you get it right for you.

Finally, keep the whey. You can mix a bit of this back into the yoghurt to soften it if you make it too thick, but you can also use it to make bread. If you do the latter, mix it with water (say 2:1 whey: water).

I would guess that I get about 2/3rds the amount of yoghurt as I used in milk. There's inevitable losees.

 

[BigMonka]

Thanks Mike!
The instruction book that came with the maker said 8hours for full fat milk, 10hrs for semi, and 12hr for skimmed. I was just going off those, but I'll definitely try it for a good few hours longer next time then.

What do you do with respect to the starter? I was thinking of taking a portion of freshly made and freezing it so that it can be defrosted and used in the next batch if that might work?

I make a loaf of sourdough each week so I'll defo keep the whey and try some of it in that

 

[Mike G]

I don't put starter aside. I just wait until I've eaten most of it, and use what is left for the next batch. It's a living thing, so I'm not sure it would appreciate being frozen. (It might.....give it a try).

 

[BigMonka]

I don't put starter aside. I just wait until I've eaten most of it, and use what is left for the next batch. It's a living thing, so I'm not sure it would appreciate being frozen. (It might.....give it a try).

Ah ok that's easier, I just thought it needed to be as fresh as possible which is why I was considering freezing it, but it would only be 3 or 4 days old anyway.
The recipe in the booklet is 1350ml of milk and 150ml of starter - does that sound about right with what actually works? (now I know the booklet's timings were uphelpfully short!)

 

[Mike G]

I've never measured. I go on dollops! Having said that, that's about 1:9, which sounds about right, I guess. Kefir making is sooooooo much easier.

 

[BigMonka]

I've never measured. I go on dollops! Having said that, that's about 1:9, which sounds about right, I guess. Kefir making is sooooooo much easier.

Ooooh consider my interest piqued! I feel that may have opened a new rabbit hole for me to go down as we go through a lot of kefir too!

 

[Spectric]

Just buy an Easiyo, one of these

Hardware & Accessories

Browse the range of yogurt makers jars & containers available across the UK from EasiYo. Shop online today

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and then your choice of ingredients

Yogurt Varieties

Check out the range of EasiYo Yogurt varieties available online to make delicious homemade yogurt easily. Order online today.

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and then this is how to

Our Yogurt

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[AJB Temple]

I agree with Mike. However, a lot depends on the quality of the milk and the fat content. For our restaurant business we now only buy unpasteurised milk from a local Jersey herd at Park Farm near Sevenoaks. Also their cream (which is very thick). This is completely different to any supermarket milk or cream.

We make yoghurt, cheese, butter and enriched butters. Like Mike I use the whey for bread making (we have about 10 different breads that I rotate through the menu by whim) but we don't dilute it unless making very light textured breads. The whey can also be used as a marinade for things like chicken.

 

[Mike G]

....... Like Mike I use the whey for bread making......but we don't dilute it.......

Interesting. I've never used it neat. I'll give that a go next time, although my bread is hard to make rise (it's a maslin), and anything can upset the fine balance.