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[Guest]

can anyone tell me how to do it please? I can google but I don't trust the web, I'd rather hear from someone who has done it and it was a success.

 

I know you use boiled (cool) milk and live yoghurt but what quantities and how long does it take and does it taste nice?

 

I can't afford to fork out on a gadget, just want to be able to do it in a thermos or similar.

 

thanks

[Lesley]

Add one tbsp of live yoghurt to the 'brought to the boil - cooled to blood temp.' milk (1 pint) .

 

Pour into a thermos.

 

It takes a few hours - or overnight. Remove and place in a container in the fridge.

[..lay a little egg for me]

Or if you have an Aga or Rayburn, leave it by the cooker overnight in a jug/bowl/jar/old yoghurt pot, or you can put it in the airing cupboard. The thermos method is great but it can be hard to get the yog out of the thermos afterwards!!!

 

You can use a teaspoon of the resulting yoghurt to make the next batch but eventually some yeast or some other bug gets in and it starts to taste weird so then you need to buy another pot of live yoghurt. I usually keep a pot of live yoghurt in the fridge and use that as the starter for each batch so that it is not contaminated by being opened, closed, spoons put in etc all the time but just opened when a new batch of yog is to be made (does this make sense?). I try to scald all utensils and containers before use so as to minimize contamination. However, since I started making kefir instead of yoghurt I've had no problems with contamination and it is sooo much easier. However, kefir is a bit of an acquired taste!

 

I find home made yog can be a bit grainy and tends not to taste so creamy as shop-bought. If you drain off some of the whey it helps thicken it up.

[ChookieCaz]

If you are making yoghurt, you need to make sure the starter is "live" or it won't work. I now have an electric yoghurt-maker and started using a couple of cans of evaporated milk in it which makes it come out thicker and sweeter than boiled milk. It also saves so much time in not boiling and cooling the milk. I've tended to put a desert spoon in, but no precise measuring and keep in a warm place for at least eight hours. It continues to thicken up if you leave it longer, so isn't an exact science.

 

Before I had the yoghurt-maker, I made my yoghurt in different places, depending on the weather, but using things like a pyrex dish with lid, wrapped in towels for insulation. The instructions I got were to use an air-tight container. In the winter, I put the bowl on top of the boiler as there was plenty of space between it and the ceiling, or put it in the airing-cupboard, until one of the doors fell off! In the summer, if it was a warm day and not going anywhere in the car, I put the dish in the front of the car, being in the sun! I know that isn't a normal place but desperate measures ... LOL

 

Recently, I was given some Kefir grains by someone in our local Freecycle group and thats done at room temperature. It turns quicker when the temperature gets warmer. My last lot was made with evaporated milk and although slightly fizzy, it does taste more like my yoghurt than the previous batches. It is also thicker. I'm still learning about making it and generally it has been taking between about one and two days, roughly before its ready. My first batch separated when it was ready and I gave the whey to the hens, but subsequent batches haven't. Hope thats alright, does anyone know?

 

Happy Christmas everyone!

[Guest]

If you use UHT milk then you don't have do do the boiling bit just throw it all in.

 

I use an Easy Yo which is basically a plastic container - the yog goes into a pot which sits in boiling water then the lid goes on for 24 hours - if you can find a way of keeping the water hot you are job done!

 

Easy Yo's are pretty cheap too.

 

Mine doesn't get used now as I only have low fat yog and I can't seem to make that thick enough.

[ChookieCaz]

The mention of UHT milk has reminded me of that my Mum used to use dried milk powder to thicken her yoghurt. She used to put a dish in a biscuit tin and I think there were towels around the dish in the tin. This was then put on top of the ray-burn.

 

I don't heat the evaporated milk, which was suggested by my yoghurt-maker.

 

Of course, if you use Kefir grains instead of a starter yoghurt, its done at room-temperature and looking at one of the websites, it looks to me like its a good thing when the temperature varies, something about the different nutrients that develop at different temperatures.

 

I'm using milk straight from the fridge with the present new batch and I put it back in there with some Kefir grains over Christmas to slow it down because I haven't quite finished the last batch, which is made with evaporated milk.

 

As for the Easy-Yo, I had wondered if it could be used to make yoghurt rather than only being able to use the special Easy-Yo packet.

[..lay a little egg for me]

...It is also thicker. I'm still learning about making it and generally it has been taking between about one and two days, roughly before its ready. My first batch separated when it was ready and I gave the whey to the hens, but subsequent batches haven't. Hope thats alright, does anyone know?

 

I find that it sometimes separates and sometimes doesn't but have not been able to fathom why! I also find that sometimes it is thicker than others but mostly is thinner than yoghurt. Nonetheless, I vastly prefer kefir to yoghurt as it is just so easy to make and never seems to go wrong unlike my yoghurt efforts!

[Guest]

The mention of UHT milk has reminded me of that my Mum used to use dried milk powder to thicken her yoghurt. She used to put a dish in a biscuit tin and I think there were towels around the dish in the tin. This was then put on top of the ray-burn.

 

As for the Easy-Yo, I had wondered if it could be used to make yoghurt rather than only being able to use the special Easy-Yo packet.

 

I never used the Easy Yo packets - didnt' like them, tasted artificial to me! I also always added dried milk powder but to make it thick enough using skimmed milk it took about 1/2 a tub od dried milk and therefore was high fat again! with semi skimmed milk its just a couple of tablespoons of the dried milk powder, 1 litre of semi skimmed UHT milk and 2 tablespoons of starter. shake it all up and bung in the easy yo!

[ChookieCaz]

I don't know whether or not I've found out how to make the Kefir thick, unless it is simply due to the grains multiplying, but I did one batch, and when it was ready, I put the grains into another container, but because I didn't want it the for a few days, I put it in the fridge and brought it out just over 24 hours before I thought I'd finish the previous batch, so it was probably in the fridge for a couple of days. Yesterday, I strained it in a sieve, removed the grains to a fresh container and because the existing batch is thick enough to use like a soft cheese, I've started making the next batch. My guess is that this new lot will be a pouring batch again and should be ready either tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

It appears that every time I put the new batch in the fridge for a day or so before bringing out to work at room-temperature, it appears to go thick.

[..lay a little egg for me]

I always put my fermented kefir in the fridge. Then when I am ready to use it, I strain it and keep what I haven't used in the fridge and meanwhile ferment some more milk. It does thicken up in the fridge and I have recently found that if I put it in an open-topped container (covered with muslin) it becomes not only thicker (probably evaporation helps) but also less fizzy and sour (must be the CO2 coming off) and so is extra yummy! It tastes much more like yoghurt with this process.

 

So I am following a kind of reverse procedure to yours, ChookieCaz.

 

I recently used some kefir grains to make sour cream which was really yummy!

[ChookieCaz]

My last lot was thick even though I used rather a lot of milk (not the whole of the four pint bottle though!) but it was completely room temperature. Perhaps it is the quantity of Kefir Could the shape of the container make any difference?

[..lay a little egg for me]

I was just looking at Dom's kefir page and he mentions that the amount of kefir grains affects how it ferments as the faster fermentation gives a less sour kefir. Perhaps it also affects the thickness. I guess the shape of the vessel might affect the fermentation as the kefir grains float so if the vessel narrows at the top they would be more restricted and so perhaps might ferment more slowly

 

I also read on Dom's page that keeping the strained kefir in the fridge for a day increases the vitamin content.

[Saronne]

I use about a litre of long-life milk (you don't have to heat it) and mix in a small pot of live yogurt plus a couple of tablespoons of powdered milk - which really helps to thicken it. I've got a an easy-yo flask which is filled with just-off- the- boil hot water. The whole thing rests for about 6-8 hours and uses no electricity (except whatever you used to heat the water). Alternatively, you could fill a large, warmed kilner-type jar with the yogurt mix, wrap the jar in towels and keep in the airing cupboard overnite...

 

Saronne