IMHO, people tend to use too much starter, regardless of type. For a quart of milk, you need no more than 1 TEASPOON of an active yogurt.
How long do you ferment for? What kind of results do you get when you try 1 teaspoon vs. 1 tablespoon per quart?
I use the blanket method.
My proven method:
Have ready around 5 6oz heatproof jars.plus a blanket or bunch of towels or parka.
Fill a heavy lidded pot with water and bring to a boil.
Bring a quart of whole or 2% milk to a simmer; let cool until you can hold your finger in it for 10 seconds.
Mix a teaspoon of good yogurt into the milk. (Commercial or your own.)
Empty water from pot and place jars in it.
Fill jars with hot milk, put on pot’s lid. Place pot on blanket and wrap it snugly around it.
Let set until cold, preferably over night. Will be creamy but will set more in fridge.
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The proportion of starter to milk from that recipe is the same as what I gave above…?
Correct. While i’ve lost the source, I read that the amount of yogurt required as starter is not necessarily proportionate to milk, after you have that initial amount.
Oh! Do you mean that, when you’re making your VERY first batch, you use 2 tablespoons but then, after that, you can use 2 teaspoons?
I’m trying to think of an analogy for bread (since I’m more familiar w/ that). When I use my homemade starter, I still dump in a ton (relatively speaking). But for the NYT Jim Lahey recipe, you only use a tiny amt. However, the Lahey recipe is an instant yeast. So I assume that’s why there’s such a huge diff. Do you recall if the source you read mentioned the science behind its rec for less starter?
I do know that, when we once used more starter than recommended, we got a result that separated and was really grainy (although still totally edible). Wonder if less starter has more consistent results (even if you have to ferment longer). Hmmm…
How long do you ferment for? And do you still get a decently tangy result?
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I could but don’t use my own yogurt as starter. I use a teaspoon from a fresh carton of organic yogurt for starter on every batch. The resulting flavor is gently tart and fresh tasting.
As I wrote above, you add the starter to the hot milk, then allow the mixture to cool. If done in one day, perhaps t6 hours. I start it in late afternoon and leave it overnight.
I have misplaced my locators for my source and also for various posts about it. Will look for them.
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Sorry to interject with probably a superfluous comment but you can also use a sous vide set up for incubating yogurt. It’s obviously not necessary but if you have one it can help dial in consistent thickness and timing if that’s something you’re concerned about. I certainly wouldn’t advocate getting an immersion circulator for this process unless you really plan on eating quarts of the stuff per week.
I tried creating different viscosities of yogurt using the non-paywalled ChefSteps sous vide yogurt instructions and it worked out very well in my inexpert opinion. It also allowed me to test using a probiotic pill to make yogurt instead of starters which worked for reasons no one seems to quite understand since it wouldn’t seem to have the correct cultures even when you buy broad spectrum probiotics.
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Absolutely!
My reason for pursuing the blanket method was two-fold. To show the grand-ids that what you buy in a grocery you can often make at home, and that often you can do so without special gadgets or tools.
Plus it makes good yogurt!
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We accidentally used 1 quart of milk (vs. the usual 2 quarts) for a batch last night. I thought this would be a good time to use less starter. I used ~1 teaspoon. After 6.5 hrs incubation, the batch had not set up at all.
Perhaps using 1 teaspoon works w/ other methods, but we’ve only had batches fail to set up a handful of times over the past 2 yrs, and I think each of those times was when we didn’t use enough starter.
I’ll con’t to stick w/ the ~2 Tbsp per 1/2 gallon since that has worked well for us.
Just as a data point.
I have now tried to make yogurt 3 times and failed. Doing Armenian Matsoni style which is thick… I’ve tried different cultured yogurts and labne for starters, I’ve finally figured out how to keep it around 95-100 for 8 hours but it’s failing. So I guess it’s the milk??? Best I could do up here is pasteurized. Not ultra, everything is homogenized too. So do I go get raw milk then?
You don’t need raw milk to make yogurt.
When you say “fails,” you mean no culture, or too thin, or what?
It didn’t turn into yogurt. It just wouldn’t ferment into a thick mass. One effort was better than others but last one didn’t work at all. I’ve seen so many guides but I’ll check yours too.
What do you do with a failed yogurt? Crepes of course
Confirmed after reading that I followed the same starter so it’s either the cultures I’ve used or the milk which the writer is dismissing
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Your temperature 95-100 degrees seems too low to make yogurt in eight hours.
you can hold the cultured milk at 110°F (43°C) and have the milk gel within a few hours. According to McGee, though, you can go lower—as low as 86°F (30°C)—and still get yogurt. It’ll just take a lot longer, upwards of 18 hours.
You are scalding the milk? And you’re sure your starter is live-culture?
Yes I follow all of those procedures. Yes the 3 yogurts I used all said live culture and weren’t loaded with artificial crap. I didn’t measure the temp but it’s white hot in the cooler I’m keeping it in. I’d bet it’s 100 but I’ll measure next time and happy to increase to 110 . But your link says you should be able to make yogurt even at 90 just takes longer
You might try commercial starter.
Hmm. Thanks! Our aunties swear by Byblos but it didn’t work for me. Maybe I’ll try your link instead. Just need the first purchase right? Should be able to just reuse from my own yogurt once I figure it out ?
Whatever you start with you should be able to get your own culture going.
We couldn’t get a strong for our greek yogurt using store-bought yogurt and have been very happy w/ the results from Cultures for Health.
We use our Instant Pot, which apparently incubates at 110.
The Serious Eats article says you can go as low as 86 deg but also notes that incubating at that temp could take 18+ hrs for the milk to gel.
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Well I did it to, I forgot my yourgut out over night in the dehydrater.
It looks fine , normal texture and bitter ( normal for me).
Soo I’m going hoping the fermentation allows it to be out with no issues…it’s now in frig. 99 percent of me says it fine. Any input? Thank you