2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[bluekarin]

I made, or tried to make some yoghurt on Saturday evening but it hasn't set yet. I am thinking the milk was too hot when I put the yoghurt in. Can I reheat the milk yog combo and add more yog and try again or do I need to s"Ooops, word censored!" it and start again? Thank you

[Saronne]

That's a good question. I think I would be inclined to s"Ooops, word censored!" it and start again. I tend to use organic long life milk (semi-skimmed) and skip the heating - as the heating just kills off other wild organisms that would compete with the yoghurt culture (long life milk has gone through that process already). Add a good dollop of fresh live plain yoghurt (I use a full one of those small pots to every litre) and a couple of tablespoons powdered milk (it helps make a thick set without adding extra fat calories). Stir gently. What sort of maker have you got?

 

Saronne x

[bluekarin]

I just use a saucepan and a bowl in warm water covered in a towel. No proper maker but am thinking of getting our flasks cleaned of their coffee smells and use that. I will s"Ooops, word censored!" this one then I bought a pint of full cream milk and Yeo Valley yog as I hoped it would pass on its delicious flavour I hope I have enough of the yog left as I only bought a small pot. Thanks for your help

[Saronne]

You're welcom and don't worry - the warm water, wrapped in towel method is fine, it's how my mum and her mum used to make it! (they laughed when I bought an electric maker). You'll probably have enough yoghurt for that pint of milk - just don't add the yoghurt until the milk has cooled down to 'blood warm' (in other words, it doesn't scald your finger!) The powdered milk is only added if you want a firmer set. Have fun and let us know how you got on.

[Lavenders_Blue]

You've probably already chucked it by now, but I think I would be tempted to re-heat the milk and start again. But then I am a bit stingy and tight like that!

[bluekarin]

I did chuck it sadly. And this second batch hasn't set at all! Made sure it was the correct temp and everything! Can you put too much yoghurt into the milk as I think this may be the problem? I did 3/4 pint milk and half a small pot natural yoghurt.

[Lavenders_Blue]

My yoghurt maker conked out the other week (after I recommended Lakeland youghurt makers on here... ) so I had a go using the saucepan method. This is how I did it - I heated 2pts milk to boiling point, then I let it simmer for about 30mins to drive off some of the water. You don't need to do this, but I like to make a thicker yoghurt. Then I let it cool to blood temp (you should be able to hold your little finger in for about 10secs), added 1tbsp milk powder, a couple of tsps Yeo Valley, stirred it all in well and then bunged it in the airing cupboard for 8 hours. It was super thick and set when it came out. So I guess either your yoghurt starter is too old and not 'live' enough, or else the place you are leaving it to 'yog' is not warm enough. This was the problem I've had with the Lakeland machine, it's no longer keeping the milk at the correct temperature to make yoghurt. Now I know the airing cupboard works, I shan't bother with a replacement machine. Hope you get it sorted.

 

 

ETA - Has it not thickened at all? Unless you add extra milk powder or reduce the milk down (or both) then homemade yoghurt is actually fairly thin - more like a pouring yoghurt. Just wondered if that was the case?

[bluekarin]

The yoghurt was only a couple of days old, but had been opened on Saturday to make my first failed batch. It was Yeo Valley natural yog. The milk was blood temp. I put about 2 tbsps milk powder after heating the milk up - maybe I am not heating it enough? Should it boil? I then put it into a Pyrex bowl set over my slow cooker inner filled with boiled water, covered in a towel and put on the back of the hob. The first time I made yog it was fully set and this is more like double cream. Sadly my airing cupboard isn't warm enough to use and try as I might I couldn't get the coffee smell out of my flask so am going to get a new yoghurt only flask to try and regulate the temp. Thank you for your help though

[Lavenders_Blue]

If you are using non UHT milk then you should scald the milk to kill off any nasties in it, but then cool it back down to blood temp before adding starter. If you're using UHT then you only need to warm it to blood temp. It still could be that your starter yoghurt is a bit old (I rummage around the shelves and buy the one with the longest use-by date) or it could be that your milk didn't stay warm enough while it was yogging. Or I suppose that if your bowl was over boiling water, the bottom of the bowl got too hot and killed the bacteria. Not sure really.

[Saronne]

Sorry to hear it didn't set the second time. Can't add more to what LB said; I agree, either the temperature was wrong or the yoghurt starter was old or a combination of both? I think I read on another thread that you had really good success with other batches?