Making yoghurt

[colsy]

Afternoon girls, just wondering whether any of you make your own yoghurt. I have an Easiyo yoghurt maker, and currently use the Easiyo sachets of yoghurt starter. However, I was wondering whether I could use the maker without a sachet of starter, and simply use milk and a couple of spoons of yoghurt instead. Anybody know if this would work OK? I've read loads of stuff online about having to heat the milk, use sterile containers, etc. Is this all really necessary? We used to eat homemade yoghurt a lot when we travelled in India and I'm sure that was never sterilised!

 

[Kaites]

Yep, you can use a few tbsp of yogurt with active cultures in it as a starter. My dad used to do this. I really can't remember if he went through the whole sterilization process but I remember he would put the bowl in the oven overnight (probably on a super low heat just for warmth but the oven kept the temperature consistent). If you don't sterilize, you might have the occasional batch that doesn't turn out but I'm guessing that if you started with super clean utensils, etc, you'd probably be fine HTH

 

[colsy]

Yep, you can use a few tbsp of yogurt with active cultures in it as a starter. My dad used to do this. I really can't remember if he went through the whole sterilization process but I remember he would put the bowl in the oven overnight (probably on a super low heat just for warmth but the oven kept the temperature consistent). If you don't sterilize, you might have the occasional batch that doesn't turn out but I'm guessing that if you started with super clean utensils, etc, you'd probably be fine HTH

Thanks Kaites. So are you saying that the sterilisation is more to help the making of yoghurt rather than to keep it all safe and edible?

 

[mummy_mi]

Oh I had a Easiyo maker and was just thinking of getting another one as god knows where the old one is, but I was thinking I'd have to remember to get lots of the packets in etc etc.

So if you try it and it works out let us know!!

 

[Kaites]

Yep, you can use a few tbsp of yogurt with active cultures in it as a starter. My dad used to do this. I really can't remember if he went through the whole sterilization process but I remember he would put the bowl in the oven overnight (probably on a super low heat just for warmth but the oven kept the temperature consistent). If you don't sterilize, you might have the occasional batch that doesn't turn out but I'm guessing that if you started with super clean utensils, etc, you'd probably be fine HTH

Thanks Kaites. So are you saying that the sterilisation is more to help the making of yoghurt rather than to keep it all safe and edible?

The sterilisation is to keep it safe and edible but I guess what I was trying to say is that if you use well-cleaned utensils, there shouldn't be "bad" bacteria there to spoil the yogurt I'd probably feel pretty safe using bowls and spoons that had just gone through the dishwasher since the water is really hot and the detergent is strong but I'd probably just give stuff a quick boil to be safe if I had done a regular sink wash, iykwim

 

[thelilbump]

I never even knew there was such a thing

 

[bky]

Works fine. I even use powdered milk and a few spoons of the last yogurt starter. I find it does help to have fresh starter every few batches though (i.e. hasn't been sitting in your fridge for a week or more ) The yogurt bacteria will generally outcompete anything else that is in there, so being very sterile isn't as much of an issue (not as if you were making cheese or something).
I just make it per regular instructions, hot water on the outside, water from the tap for the mix. Only problem I've had is that sometimes it's a bit more runny than storebought, but as most commerical yogurts have gelatin or thickeners in them no surprise there. If you were feeding a little one you could use boiled cooled water for the inside.