Do you really HAVE to boil/scald the milk? Has anyone had success making yogurt with out scalding the milk?
1101113
You only need to boil the milk if you are using raw milk. If you use pasteurized milk you only need to pre-heat it (+/- 82c). (If you use UHT you don't even need to pre-heat, as that has already been done for you.) Pre-heating it to just below the boiling point will make the yogurt thicker, more like a commercial yogurt. Then you cool it to body temp. before adding your active yogurt culture. I have made it w/o pre-heating and it tends to come out about half way between commercial yogurt and the drinking yogurt. Another way to thicken the yogurt is to add powdered milk (+/- 10T powdered milk to 1.5L of milk) The important thing is that the milk be at about, or just above body temp when you add the yogurt you are using as a culture.
160306
No, but you can't heat the bottle in the microwave either. I have to heat milk in a measuring cup and then pour it in the bottle. It's a pain to do, but that's how much my kids love this cup!
856787
I solved my grainy yogurt problems by holding the milk just below boiling (between 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 minutes. That seems to boil off most of the water that makes the yogurt grainy (and also results in a thick and rich yogurt). I envy you your cow! :)
767769
No, it does not heat the milk. You have to do that manually, and then let it cool before you put it into the machine. After the yogurt is done, the machine automatically goes into a cooling cycle. You leave it in the machine for at least twelve hours in the cooling cycle.
1820460
You heat the milk to > 180 (which is less than boiling) to kill bacteria and prepare it to culture better. Then you cool it to 110 before you add the starter (>115 will kill the starter). I do a cheater recipe with powdered milk (which you can get cheap in bulk from an LDS cannery). Whisk 3 cups non-instant powdered milk in a gallon pitcher with 4 cups of boiling water until all lumps are gone. Then add 4 cups luke warm water to the pitcher. Double check the liquid is < 115. Mix a little of the liquid into 1/2 cup plain yogurt and then mix into pitcher. Pour into yogurt maker from pitcher. (Makes two quarts) Boom done in < 10 minutes with no sitting over a pot of milk to make sure it doesn't burn. You heat the milk to > 180 (which is less than boiling) to kill bacteria and prepare it to culture better. Then you cool it to 110 before you add the starter (>115 will kill the starter). I do a cheater recipe with powdered milk (which you can get cheap in bulk from an LDS cannery). Whisk 3 cups non-instant powdered milk in a gallon pitcher with 4 cups of boiling water until all lumps are gone. Then add 4 cups luke warm water to the pitcher. Double check the liquid is < 115. Mix a little of the liquid into 1/2 cup plain yogurt and then mix into pitcher. Pour into yogurt maker from... » Read More You heat the milk to > 180 (which is less than boiling) to kill bacteria and prepare it to culture better. Then you cool it to 110 before you add the starter (>115 will kill the starter). I do a cheater recipe with powdered milk (which you can get cheap in bulk from an LDS cannery). Whisk 3 cups non-instant powdered milk in a gallon pitcher with 4 cups of boiling water until all lumps are gone. Then add 4 cups luke warm water to the pitcher. Double check the liquid is < 115. Mix a little of the liquid into 1/2 cup plain yogurt and then mix into pitcher. Pour into yogurt maker from pitcher. (Makes two quarts) Boom done in < 10 minutes with no sitting over a pot of milk to make sure it doesn't burn. « Show Less
941808
My experience has been - I have a small whip that fits in my cup and I eke th whip moving quickly as I pour th milk in! I heaT th milk in th Microwave for 2 min- 10 sec - (i use Soy milk)
2202880
I use a Yogourmet. To become yogurt, the milk+culture requires hours of sitting time at about 105 degrees. We let the culture grow for a full 24 hours. I've read online that you can put the milk+culture in glass jars, wrap them in a towel and leave them in an oven with the light on, but no heat. That's the process for making yogurt without a yogurt maker. I don't think stove top will work. If you try this, do look online for the exact oven procedure. I've never done it myself.
2029424
The Yogurtmet maker is too hot for the SCD diet. I'd love to find one that keeps the temperature between 100-110 degrees. Any suggestions?
945154
We use raw milk as well. I would not destroy the milk by boiling it! Have been doing it for more than a year without any problems. Yogurt is not as thick but we got use to the texture and taste. Good luck.
1820459
No, I usualy warm the milk in the microwave but cooking to a specific temp (not realy boiling) before putting it in the yogurt maker is not required.
767768
It does not preheat the milk, but it will make perfect yogurt without going to that trouble! Just add the starter to the liquid, stir, and hit start. I like the 12 hour time for heating and cooling because it is so easy to keep track of!
1661857
I put in yogurt that is thick. It doesn't seep through or anything. The liquid comes out and I remove the liquids every few hrs. depending and it's just not a mess. Don't know why, but it isn't. If I THINK it will be messy with ultra thin yogurt, either I don't attempt OR I put in a cheese cloth. But NEVER had a mess.
161263
This is great. I use Elaine G's recipe too so this info helps. I wanted to know if I could use 2% lactose-free milk since I'm short on regular. I'm also going to add 5% cream- which I didn't realize had other ingredients in it- like "modified milk ingredients. " If you can make yogurt with soy milk- [which I would never use], I don't see why this wouldn't work. I'll try and see. I have also found keeping the temp. at the simmer point for a minute before cooling and the culturing temp. a little cooler than suggested makes a thicker, firmer result.
407607
First, boiling your milk is neither good nor necessary. Boiling is 100C/212F. Some say scalding temperature is 82C/180F, others say 85C/185F; I prefer the latter. The temperature should be held for five (5) minutes to kill organisms which might be present (they do not die immediately). Some argue that scalding is unnecessary because commercial milk is already pasteurized. However, if that were so commercial milk would never go sour. We all know it does, sometimes. Microwaving is not a good idea, in my opinion. Experience microwaving plain black coffee has taught me that internal micro hot spots -- boiling and above (superheated) -- can be created within the substance being microwaved. I have had plain black coffee boil over its container wall while the average temperature was not near boiling, i.e. the "boiled over" coffee could be drunk immediately afterward without fear of burning one's self. Here is the human danger of food which has been microwaved to the point that internal micro hot spots have exceeded 120C/248F: substances known as Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) are created. Current research indicates AGEs (created by high temperature cooking, 120C/248F or above) are linked to Type-II diabetes, hardening of the arteries and a list of other dreaded human conditions which appear later in life (presumably) as a result of consuming AGEs and the resulting internal accumulation of such. (Inside the body the AGEs eventually form cross-linked protein substances which are difficult for the body to eliminate; thus the cross-linked proteins accumulate over one's lifetime as does the damage they cause to our tissues.) Stove-top scalding of milk is a more gentle, indeed perhaps "safer" from the prospective of avoiding AGE creation, albeit a more time consuming method. I, personally, choose stove-top over microwave. I make a gallon of yogurt at a time. HTH, Joan
767764
This appliance does not heat the milk initially. You must do that separately first. It is meant to hold the yogurt cultures at the ideal warm temperature for proper fermentation and then cool them.
2236886
I use milk. I find whole milk works best as per making a thick creamy consistency. Sometimes I add a little half and half in too, to create that rich texture. If you leave it in the yogurt maker for 24 hours the lactose is, for the most part, removed. I don't think coconut water would provide the right texture to make yogurt, but I would experiment with adding some into the heated milk.
713014
No, it gets too hot and would scald the milk at the bottom. You'd have to scrape off the burned part every time. Plus, not recommended by the mfg.