Low Temperature Yogurts

The Raw Milk Adventure Continues....

Low Temperature Yogurt

After spending time researching raw milk I have become convinced that our family wants to switch completely away from pasteurized milk.   This includes yogurt, which we have been eating a lot of.   There are some great web sites and youtube clips showing how to make raw milk yogurt.  The basic process seems to depend on what type of culture you have.

You can purchase cultures on line.  I intend to do this, but did not get around to it yet.  Instead, when we went to buy milk yesterday my sister and I decided to get three types of yogurt and we shared them.  These were then mixed to make our culture.   What we found was a sheep milk yogurt, a coconut milk yogurt and a greek yogurt.

The milk with the yogurt culture (all three combined) was put into a glass canning jar and lidded up tightly.  My sister has a yogurt maker that she used.  She also is going to try a dehydrator (as soon as she can find it.... probably it is somewhere in the shop).  I tried several different spots around my fireplace... using my candy thermometer to test it out.... too hot.  The milk cannot go above 118 or the enzymes are destroyed.

Finally.... I put hot water into my crock pot, left it off til it got to 110, then put the jars of yogurt into the hot water, put the lid on and put a thick bath towel over the whole thing.  I did need to turn it on low every couple of hours for about 10 minutes at a time.   The candy thermometer helped me keep track of the temperature.  It has now been in there for 8 hours.  It is at 110 degrees right now, and it is just going to stay in there overnight.  In the morning the water should be cold and it should be finished.  

So, this is a work in progress.  Hopefully it turns out!  Here is a paragraph from the web site where you can get the cultures and the web site.  As soon as I pull it together I plan to switch to countertop yogurt!

Two Types of Yogurt Cultures

There are two types of yogurt cultures: Mesophilic and Thermophilic.  Mesophilic cultures are also known as room temperature or counter top yogurt varieties as they culture best at room temperature (70-78 degrees).  You do not need a yogurt maker to use a mesophilic culture.  Thermophilic cultures require heat to culture properly so using a thermophilic culture requires a way to keep the yogurt at 110 degrees for 4-8 hours (depending on the variety).  Yogurt making appliances are a popular choice when working with a thermophilic culture but other methods can work quite well including a crock pot, oven with a low temperature setting, etc.

Cultures for Health