diy yogurt people . . . why is my yogurt so mild?

canadianlbs

i'd love input on this. i just made my fourth(ish) gallon of yogurt in the crockpot, using a little of the current supply as 'starter' each time. i heat to 185ish and hold for a while, then add the starter at 105 and incubate after that. been working great, so far.

this last batch thickened okay . . . eventually. but the tartness i like just isn't there this time around. i found myself wondering why i even bothered, since it pretty much tastes like milk anyway.

thoughts? any insight on what factors influence the tartness? i understand that you can't keep the generational handing-down chain going forever because inbreeding or sump'n. but can't recall if this is one of the side-effects when it weakens. as stated, it thickened up fine although it took about 18 hours instead of the usual 12ish.

tia

lemmie177

I'm no expert, but it taking longer to set and tasting milder sounds like less microbial activity. Tartness comes from lactic acid produced by the bacteria. This could be due to a weak starter or poor incubation (ie temperature fluctuating too much, cooling too fast, getting disturbed too often etc).

Unless you know something happened during incubation of this batch, I would try a new starter. I just get plain single serve cup of something I like, Fage usually.

Some other things that I do, which might or might not help:
I save around 1/4 cup starter to use in a half gallon of milk.
For the next batch, I mix the 1/4 c starter with 1/4 cup of ~100F milk, mix well, then add that to the rest.
I get a fresh starter every month or so.

Your current batch should get slightly more tart just left in the fridge.

powered85

My guess would be a weak starter. I usually add to the milk around 115f.

How are you incubating it? Are you sure it's holding near 100f the whole 12hrs?

I also mix the starter with a small amt of the 115f milk before adding to the main portion.

I've never tried reusing a previous batch as a starter before. I always used the 0% Kirkland greek yogurt as the starter.

canadianlbs

lemmie177 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but it taking longer to set and tasting milder sounds like less microbial activity. Tartness comes from lactic acid produced by the bacteria. This could be due to a weak starter or poor incubation (ie temperature fluctuating too much, cooling too fast, getting disturbed too often etc).

interesting that you use so much starter. that may be too much for me, but otoh it's true i'd just read this and the batch before this one did go really well with only about 2 tsp for a whole gallon of milk. but maybe i more-is-more'd a little too much on the less-is-more thing this time. i left it overnight and when i woke up it was still pretty runny. so at that point i cracked a store container and added another tablespoonful, which i guess is why i expected the tartness as well as the thickening that i got about nine hours later.

lemmie177

canadianlbs wrote: »

lemmie177 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but it taking longer to set and tasting milder sounds like less microbial activity. Tartness comes from lactic acid produced by the bacteria. This could be due to a weak starter or poor incubation (ie temperature fluctuating too much, cooling too fast, getting disturbed too often etc).

interesting that you use so much starter. that may be too much for me, but otoh it's true i'd just read this and the batch before this one did go really well with only about 2 tsp for a whole gallon of milk. but maybe i more-is-more'd a little too much on the less-is-more thing this time. i left it overnight and when i woke up it was still pretty runny. so at that point i cracked a store container and added another tablespoonful, which i guess is why i expected the tartness as well as the thickening that i got about nine hours later.

tbh, there's no logic behind my amount of starter beyond that is how much fits in the container I have. As long as the starter is active, 2 tsp is plenty. That being said, 2 tsp of fresh starter can have way more active culture than a cup that's been sitting around in the fridge for weeks.

Is it the most recent batch that got the second inoculation after overnight incubation? Did you mix it in? Yogurt culture usually likes to incubate undisturbed, so that might be the reason.

canadianlbs

lemmie177 wrote: »

Is it the most recent batch that got the second inoculation after overnight incubation? Did you mix it in? Yogurt culture usually likes to incubate undisturbed, so that might be the reason.

yup and yup. i guess i'll just truck on with the next batch and either not worry about it if no kind of pattern happens, or revisit the drawing board if one does. thanks for your input.

robininfl

I use a 6 ounce cup of plan yogurt into a gallon of whole milk - yeah lots of starter, but I don't like the plain de-fatted yogurt so just dump the whole thing in. It doesn't hurt anything.

Ours gets tangier if it's left for too long. We do also strain it to make greek yogurt and whey, at the end of that it's usually about right.

Maybe it's as simple as "winter", just a little bit colder and needs longer to set up.

canadianlbs

thanks . . . didn't see this until now. i seem to be making a new batch every week, so i expect tons of times to experiment and figure things out.

yayamom3

What are the reasons why you make your own yogurt?
What are the benefits, IYO?
Is it worth the time and effort if I don't particularly enjoy cooking?
And how do you calculate the calories, especially if you're straining it to make Greek yogurt?

spinnerdell

yayamom3 wrote: »

What are the reasons why you make your own yogurt?
What are the benefits, IYO?
Is it worth the time and effort if I don't particularly enjoy cooking?
And how do you calculate the calories, especially if you're straining it to make Greek yogurt?

I like thick, creamy, full-fat, unsweetened yogurt, which is hard to find in my rural town, so I make it myself. Besides being just the way I like it, I know my homemade yogurt has active cultures. If you don't enjoy cooking, just approach it as a science experiment. I make it easy on myself by using an inexpensive yogurt maker and packets of dry starter. To calculate calories, enter the ingredients into the recipe builder on this site and weigh the final product. Good luck!

canadianlbs

powered85 wrote: »

My guess would be a weak starter. I usually add to the milk around 115f.

How are you incubating it? Are you sure it's holding near 100f the whole 12hrs?

I also mix the starter with a small amt of the 115f milk before adding to the main portion.

I've never tried reusing a previous batch as a starter before. I always used the 0% Kirkland greek yogurt as the starter.

hmm. i'm paranoid about killing the whole batch by adding too hot, so yeah, i let it drop to around 105. the window seemed narrower than you suggest, from what i've been reading online. as far as holding temp, i'm pretty sure it does hold as it's still warm to the touch when i wake up and check/decant it. so far i've been taking my starter from the same store-bought carton but using a new scoop every time, so that's a thought. next batch i may try some frozen cubes that i found in the freezer instead and see what happens. thanks.

yayamom3 wrote: »

What are the reasons why you make your own yogurt?
What are the benefits, IYO?
Is it worth the time and effort if I don't particularly enjoy cooking?
And how do you calculate the calories, especially if you're straining it to make Greek yogurt?

i'm just perverse i like things there's no good [i.e. pragmatic] reason to do, such as biking to work and making my own yogurt. still in the mad-scientist honeymoon phase, but i can picture getting tired of it at some point and going back to store style, and/or mixing and matching a bit.

right now, a major reason i'm doing it is because it just seems simpler. more time-consuming, in a way. but simpler. i tend to get paranoid about running out of yogurt mid-week, so when i buy it from stores i usually buy unnatural amounts and then stockpile it in the freezer. then that leaves me either decanting it into ice-cube trays for individual freezing, or (i guess) constantly fretting or having to pre-plan about when to bring a whole container out and let it thaw.

so for my personal logistics, right now it does just seem simpler to pick up a gallon of milk on my way home on fridays, set it to get started warming while i'm at my lifting club, and then finish the process and set it to incubate once i get home. if i'm ruthlessly honest it is getting to be kind of an irritation, but at least it's irritating in teh way doing laundry is irritating. you semi-dread it, but once it's done and put away, at least you know where you are until the next time.

maintaining a yogurt supply has been a bit of a pain in the neck ever since i acquired the dependency, no matter which way i do it. this way i'm just confining and routine-ifying the aggravation. guess it makes my supply consistent at least.

and i do resent paying three or four times as much for the same quantities that i could make at home if i just bought the milk, so there's that too.