HM Yoghurt - What went wrong?

marmiterulesok

You must have heated the milk beforehand and added the culture too soon (when the milk was too hot).

For the next batch,make sure that all the ingredients are at ambient temperature before adding the ferment.

My Tefal booklet advises always to make yoghurt overnight,for some unexplained reason.

HTH.

sharloid

I made yoghurt for the first time yesterday!
I put a small carton of UHT milk, a few tablespoons of milk powder and a few tablespoons of yoghurt into one of those travel cup flask things. I don't have an airing cupboard so I put it in a hot bowl of water with a tea towel! I left it overnight and changed the hot water in the morning. At this point it looked a little thin and snotty so I gave it a good stir and popped it in the fridge. A few hours later it was thick and yummy!

I hope this helps someone who doesn't have a yoghurt maker/a warm place to put it.

Good luck!

Ladyhawk

I also made yoghurt for the first time yesterday. I heated the milk (YS) in the microwave until it was boiling. Then left it to cool to 50C. I added a shake of dried milk powder and a dessert spoon of cheap As*da greek yoghurt. I then popped it al in a thermos flask for about 14 hours.

I then strained it through a tea towel for a couple of hours and now have yummy, very thick yoghurt.

anguk

Softstuff wrote: »

Of the many things I've tried in the kitchen, yoghurt is the only one I keep failing at too! I've tried a number of times with different starters, I've tried in a flask and a yoghurt maker. I've even been watched by people who make it and have failed.

So if there's any advice comes that's new to me here, I'll try again alongside you!

I'm another one who just can't get it right, home-made yoghurt and hand-made bread have always ended in a disaster no matter how many different methods or recipes I've tried.

I now just cheat and use Easiyo sachets, more expensive but I've never had a failure yet! I stock up on the sachets when they're on offer and it's cheaper than my Rachels Organic addiction.

Kevie192

I'd take it back to Lakeland and get an easiyo maker instead. I use a carton of uht milk, two tablespoons of dried milk and two tablespoons of the easiyo sachets although you could use other yogurt instead.

Makes really lovely yogurt overnight and I've never had a failure yet!

u751904

it is quite frustrating. I agree with the poster who said relax just buy it from the shop - except in theory it is supposed to taste better home made. I used my wine thermometer as well so I know it was 50c when I added my starter... all a bit odd. Need a yoghurt expert.

Finefoot

I only had good yogurt when I made it in a thermos flask, instead of those store made things.

anguk

Kevie192 wrote: »

I'd take it back to Lakeland and get an easiyo maker instead. I use a carton of uht milk, two tablespoons of dried milk and two tablespoons of the easiyo sachets although you could use other yogurt instead.

Makes really lovely yogurt overnight and I've never had a failure yet!

I've been thinking of trying this to save on the Easiyo sachets, I've got a bit of a glut of normal skimmed milk would I be able to use that instead of the UHT and would I have to boil it first?

PollyFlinders_3

u751904 wrote: »

it is quite frustrating. I agree with the poster who said relax just buy it from the shop - except in theory it is supposed to taste better home made. I used my wine thermometer as well so I know it was 50c when I added my starter... all a bit odd. Need a yoghurt expert.

I've had lots of trouble with yoghurt too. My problems started with an inaccurate thermometer (I used a jam one but it wasn't sensitive enough at lower temperatures - I wonder if that might be the same with your wine thermometer?)

Have also found the ambient temperature of the kitchen makes a big difference - I have no joy in the winter when the kitchen is too cold.

Finally - I have an old book that says the milk has to be between 43 and 47C when you add the yoghurt - maybe your is slightly too warm and its killing off some of the yoghurt culture as you add it? I've also found the temp can drop too low when I add the starter, so have found warming it for a few seconds in the microwave back to 47 does seem to give more consistent results.

Hope that helps

maryb

my yogurt was a bit hit and miss and it didn't seem to matter what I used. I had one of the lakeland yogurt makers which should have kept the temperature pretty constant but even that was inconsistent.

What made the difference was digging out an old wide neck Thermos I've had for years. It's got a dark blue plastic body and a black plastic cup. After putting the milk and yogurt in, I stand it on the windowsill where it catches the sum and the black plastic cup gets really quite warm and the dark blue body also gets warm to the touch. I get fantastic yogurt doing it that way but it doesn't work when I do it overnight. So I agree with whoever said ambient temperature makes a big difference. In the winter I'll stand it close to the woodburner to keep it warm