Faffa's best yoghurt recipe

[obbie]

I made yoghurt yesterday, all good.

[KarenH]

I experimented with this recipe making vanilla bean yoghurt last night.  I only did 1/2 the recipe, because I didnt want to waste the milk if it didnt work.  I sliced open a vanilla bean and put the seeds into the milk, then dropped in the bean as well for the first 20 minutes of heating, and for the cooling time.  I took the bean out just before adding the cultures, and left overnight as usual in the thermoserver wrapped in a blanket.

This morning - beautiful, thick, creamy vanilla yoghurt that was not overpowering in flavour (but definitely noticeable!) and not overly sweet like the commercial varieties of vanilla yoghurt.

Am thinking of trying with lemon myrtle leaves next time .......

[jakodai]

You have inspired me Karen! I just went online and bought the cheese starter. :-D

[KarenH]

How did your yoghurt making go jackodai??

I tried making lemon myrtle yoghurt by infusing lemon myrtle leaves while the milk was heating, but the yoghurt didnt set.  Maybe there is something in lemon myrtle oil that inhibits the yoghurt cultures. 

Anyway, I turned the milk into lemon myrtle custard using the EDC custard recipe - very delicious!!

[jakodai]

Not so great... I added some vanilla extract to the milk when I cooked it to add some flavour, and it set perfectly, however it was incredibly bitter. I really didn't want to have to add sugar to it, but I think I'm going to have to.

Did I read somewhere that the longer you let it set for, the more bitter it becomes? Or am I imagining things? I let it sit in the yoghurt maker for nearly 8 hours.

[faffa_70]

Karen I leave my vanilla bean in for setting and still even when it has set .... the flavour then gets stronger as it sits in the fridge (still sets perfectly!)

[KarenH]

Karen I leave my vanilla bean in for setting and still even when it has set .... the flavour then gets stronger as it sits in the fridge (still sets perfectly!)

Thats really interesting - will have to try that next time!

Sorry to hear your yoghurt didnt work out as you wanted jakodai -  maybe it was something in the extract that made it bitter??  I used a whole bean, and it wasnt bitter at all - even the kids ate it quite happily.  Dont give up though - maybe try making plain yoghurt and flavour it after it has been set?

[jakodai]

Thanks Karen, I'll give it another shot with things settle down a bit - I have a lot on at the moment. How long do you normally let yours sit for?

[andiesenji]

The thing that should be emphasized in making yogurt is that ANYTHING that is not milk or the yogurt cultures, can have an EFFECT on the development of the culture, usually bad. 

NEVER add anything except the culture to the milk.  Sugar will inhibit some of the important enzymes from fully developing and can cause growth of unwanted bacteria in the culture that stops the BREAKDOWN OF LACTOSE.

This is important because it is the lowering of the lactose that makes yogurt more digestible than whole milk.

Alcohol, even small amounts, can inhibit the growth of the most important components of the culture and vanilla extract contains alcohol.

Make the yogurt WITHOUT any additives and when it has fully cultured, then add the flavorings to it. 

Fruits, both fresh, frozen and canned can FERMENT in the process of incubating the yogurt and that fermentation produces alcohol, which will inhibit the development of the desirable enzymes. 

[Denzelmum]

Made the basic recipe yesterday and turn out beautiful.  Used some for making Indian curry and DD's fav - mixing it eith homemade swberry jam. Beautiful strawberry yoghurt fir breakfast. 

[jakodai]

Thank you, Andiesenji. I wasn't sure how flavouring it after it had been made would go - whenever I mix set yoghurt (commercial) it turns to liquid, so I searched online and found some posts where people flavoured their yoghurt before they made it, so to speak.

[goldfish]

Andi - thank you so much for that explanation!  Makes things a lot easier when you know exactly what to do and why!!  Very much appreciated!

[Bugsie]

Have made this yoghurt many times, with great success each time, we all love it,will never buy yoghurt again, just have one query, as I only make one litre at a time is it necessary to heat for the full 10 minutes the first time, because it reaches the 50o well before the 10 minutes is up,  thanks for the recipe,   Bugsie

[Bugsie]

I made yoghurt yesterday, all good.

I usually make with 1 litre ( as per recipe in Indian Cookbook) and place in warmed Easiyo container, with great success, using 3 tablespoons of previous batch as the starter, and its gone in no time -  I know wish to make 2 litres using the warmth of fan in my oven , so do I double the amount of starter?? Pls advise, Bugsie

[andiesenji]

I made yoghurt yesterday, all good.

I usually make with 1 litre ( as per recipe in Indian Cookbook) and place in warmed Easiyo container, with great success, using 3 tablespoons of previous batch as the starter, and its gone in no time -  I know wish to make 2 litres using the warmth of fan in my oven , so do I double the amount of starter?? Pls advise, Bugsie

After making the first batch with a purchased starter, I do 5 or 6 subsequent batches using 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the yogurt for 2-quart or 2 liter batches.   I get one Bulgarian starter that will produce a good result with 10 batches but after that I have to start all over again to make sure I get CONSISTENT results.