Yogurt. Making your own. Questions questions.

[BroccoliSpears]

I've been told that I can make my own yogurt by boiling some milk, cooling it to blood heat, popping it in a thermos with some fresh yogurt, closing and leaving for 24 hours.

Then I can carry on making my own by keeping a little from each batch to make the next lot.

Anyone done it?

Any risks?

Safe for a toddler?

Full fat milk?

How much 'starter' yogurt?

Anything else you'd like to tell me? (It doesn't have to be yogurt related, I suppose).

Yes, I have done it loads.

You need a few tablespoons of plain live yoghurt.
Leave it for 24 hours somewhere warm 9airing cupboard?)Fine for everyone.

can you do it with goats yoghurt?

I started doing it

didn't like the yogurt

I added skimmed milk like mners told me to but it always tasted odd, not the same as shop-bought, which apparently is normal

but I just didn't like it

Not done this myself but, in one of the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall books it says to pour boiling water over equipment before starting. Also to add dried skimmed milk powder to make yoghurt thicker. And the temp should be 46 centigrade (no more apparently!). Oh and 2-3 tbsp live yoghurt to start (500ml whole milk, 30g dried skimmed milk (optional)). Sorry, could have written that more logically!!

yog doesn't really go off (well until it goes mouldy) it just gets more yoghurty. so if it isn't nice it is probably middle aged, young yog is mild and soft. my mum used to make it in cupboard under stairs.

you can do similar with bread, keep a live starter in fridge. i've got one. nicer than yoghurt.

So I'd need to keep it somewhere warm then? Am not very good with temperatures. Warmer than average room temp?

And then refrigerate once it's yogged?

yes, imagine a breeding ground. that is what you're doing.

i've got a yogurt maker ( how prosaic)

i only like the version made with full fat UHT milk but that version is fantastic - wonderful taste. don't like the version made with ordinary milk.

the only reason i don't do it more is that it takes 8 hours, it's full fat, and i did a llitre at a time which was hard to get through unless we had yogurt at every meal.

I make yoghurt and use UHT milk to save the boiling faff. I don't bother with milk powder either (too much faff, again ) It has a slighly tarter flavour than shop-bought but it also tastes fresher, imo.

Btw, I have a marvellous vision of Fishie's mum beavering away under the stairs with a yoghurt production line.

If it's in a thermos, you shouldn't need to leave it anywhere particularly warm, I just leave the flask on the kitchen worktop. I would never leave it for 24 hours either, 8-10 hours is the recommended time, but I find making it last thing at night is best, then just decant it into a lidded container first thing in the morning and chill.

You can use any milk you like. Obviously, UHT stuff doesn't have to be heated and then cooled to the right temperature, but I don't like the taste of UHT milk or the yoghurt it makes. I use either semi-skimmed or full-fat milk. Popping a bit of powdered milk in can make it seem thicker and creamier, but it's not necessary. I sometimes strain the yoghurt after I've made it, and depending on how long you leave it you get either a thick Greek-style yoghurt or even a soft cheese!

Well after a false start* I've got my first batch yogging in a thermos in the kitchen. Fingers crossed.

• False start: I mixed some yogurt into some milk and then remembered I'm supposed to boil the milk first. I tried boiling the mixture and made a curdled yacky mess . Second time lucky.

how is it?

Hmmm. Slimey.

oh dear, has it curdled properly or just gone nasty?

I think it maybe needs a bit longer. It's smooth and tastes of yogurt, albeit very mild yogurt. It's very thin and runny and... well, when you drip it off a spoon it sort of oozes rather than gloops.

Perhaps I didn't put enough starter yogurt in?

I'll give it a bit longer.