Yogurt Making Instructions
Heat 1-4 quarts of milk to 185ºF, then cool to 112ºF. Pour milk into a yogurt maker or large container. Add yogurt culture and mix well. Let the milk incubate for 5-12 hours or until the yogurt has thickened to desired consistency.
For a thicker yogurt, before heating add 3 tablespoons milk powder for each quart of milk.
Note: If you don't have a yogurt maker, simply wrap your covered container in a blanket or towel to keep the milk warm while incubating.
Re-culturing:
Instead of adding yogurt culture, add approximately 1 tablespoon of prepared yogurt, per quart of milk. Re-culture every 7-10 days to keep the yogurt bacteria healthy and active.
After multiple rounds of re-culturing, your yogurt may not fully set the milk. At this point, start the process over with a fresh yogurt culture.
Yogurt Making FAQ's
Milk Source
Q: I am trying to make a traditional thick yogurt, but my goat milk won't thicken to what I'm used to, with cows milk yogurt. Why wont this work?
A: Goats milk simply put, has a different structure than cows milk, which will allow for acidification, but not as thick of a yogurt as cows milk yogurt.
Q: Hello! Do I need to still heat up my raw milk before adding the yogurt culture? I have been making yogurt from pasteurized and ultra pasteurized milk by heating it up then adding the culture. However, I am not sure if the same applies to raw milk. Thank you for your help!
A: You do still need to heat this, even with the raw milk. Without heating to 185-190F and chilling quickly to 110-112F, the yogurt will not develop it's character flavor and structure. The yogurt will be lacking certain proteins that are destabilized to form the thick yogurt.
Q: I purchased sweet yogurt starter. Can I make yogurt with non-dairy milk? Canned coconut milk, etc? Thank you
A: The bacteria in these yogurt starter are predominantly geared towards dairy milk. Customers do have some success with ripening non-dairy milk options, which develops flavor, but the end yogurt is generally very thin.