Hi All,

So I was making yogurt a couple of days ago.  As usual, I make 6 quarts of yogurt and 2 quarts of sour cream at a time to use up the 2 gallons of milk (I have a quart of whole milk left over for Alanna who is a milk junkie).  Anyway, I usually make my sour cream with the whole milk and some cultured buttermilk.  In the past, it has stayed loose.  This has been okay since it is all going into stroganoff.  This time I made a couple of changes.  Firstly, Instead of incubating the jars in the electric smoker set at 100F, I put them in the oven with the light on.  I had a thermometer in the oven and it stayed pretty constant at about 96F.  Second, instead of buttermilk as a starter, I used Lilly brand sour cream.  This sour cream has only cream/milk as the ingredients.  There are no stabilizers, fillers or even enzymes listed.  They claim to have a "patent pending European" process.  I assumed this was just cream that was held out at room temp until it soured.  I tasted it, and it had the flavor and consistency I have been trying to achieve.  I was excited.

After two days in the oven and one in the fridge, I am somewhere between sour cream and ricotta.

 

It separated in the jars.  Before straining through the sieve/coffee filter I already had nearly a quart of whey.  I'm wondering if I continue straining it if I will end up with Ricotta (or even better would be cream cheese) but the milk was only taken to 180F.  I did not add lemon juice/vinegar/etc.  Is it possible to mix another starter at this stage to continue the process to something more useable?

Also, has anyone ever tried using when in place of buttermilk in a biscuit and/or pancake recipe?

Thanks in advance.

I can't comment on much, but this: Just this week I made corn bread from a recipe that allowed for yogurt as the moistening agent. I used Greek yogurt (or what the store sells as Greek yogurt) and it was the best cornbread I ever tasted.

I have been making yogurt following the direction below. The author is a scientist who
has been doing this for many years
Takes only a couple hours, uses a cooler, and you can vary the temp to makes different kinds of yogurt
I also introduced the author to a Brazilian cheese that he had never heard of but is quite popular in São Paulo


http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/cheese_5_gallons/cheese_5gal_00.htm

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/yogurt_making/YOGURT2000.htm

Thank you, Rich. I have to try this!

Rich,

I have seen his sight before.  I'm not sure how I stumbled upon it, but I remember reading about a deer that got hit by a van in front of their house while he and his wife were getting ready to go to a formal event.  They hung and gutted the deer while in their formals before going to their party.

The recipe I use for yogurt is very similar to his.  I have found the best yogurt starter for me is Fage (the %fat does not seem to make a difference), and avoid anything with other ingredients.  Also, I find less is more.  I used a 7oz cup (minus a spoon or two that went in my mouth) for 6 quarts of milk.  I am pretty sure I could have used less.  For some reason it seems my yogurt is runnier if I have too much starter.  I use incubation time as a factor for changing the flavor of the yogurt.  Most of what I made had a short time in the oven.  I left one jar in there for 2 days for me.  I like my yogurt sour.

As for the sour cream, I think I am going back to buttermilk.  I was curious what I could do with the quart of curds in the fridge.

IMHO an oven does not control the temp as well as a water bath .
We use Stonyfield whole milk yogurt for a starter.

I used only the light bulb in the oven.  The oven temp was within a degree each time I checked.  Which was nice for the extended incubation period.  I normally use the smoker which is usually set at 100F and it runs +/- 5F.  It was acting up so I moved everything to the oven.  The only time I used Stoneybrook, Barbra brought it home.  It was the "smooth and creamy" variety which had pectin in it.  I'm not sure why it threw things off as much as it did.

Shailesh,

The yogurt turned out fine. It is the sour cream in the pic that I had problems with. But your wife might be right. The temp of the milk was back to 112F (about normal) but I made the sour cream first this time. Normally, the milk would cool down more while I make the yogurt first. I would not think it would be too warm, but it is possible sour cream is more sensitive.

Bijan,
You have Russian "Tvarok" in your hands... sprinkle some raw sugar on it and eat with freshly baked stone bread , yummy.

It is funny you mentioned that, Aaron. When I tasted it earlier I was wishing I had some pizza crust to smear it and some honey on.

You make your own yogurt but not your own pizza crust?

Don't judge me. I'm Persian not Italian. Yogurt making is mandatory. Pizza making is not.

my latest hook to making at home is  natural Butter... watched a YouTube , how this teenager just kept beating the full cream into whipped cream then cake frosting then into butter within 3-4 min altogether. Now I stopped buying butter, Tastes like high end restaurant French Cube Butter that they serve with warm fresh bread before the dinner...

I haven't done it, but I have heard butter is easy to make in a food processor.

Someone just gave me some kefir starter the other day, I have been gone so all my milk is nearly sour and I imagine I would  need fresh milk.

Seeing how this thread is about dairy products(sorry Bijan I don't mean to change the subject), has anyone ever tried raw cows milk? I know you have to shake the separated cream into it before you pour since it isn't homogenized. I'm just wondering if the taste any different? I buy my pork from a farm that specializes in raw organic grass-fed milk, I consider buying a cow share but have never gotten to that point yet.

It's easy for me to make when I am trying to make whipped cream.

Calvin,


    Not only does it taste different, it tastes different with the season. After being fed hay all winter, a change of diet to fresh pasture causes a remarkable change in the flavor of the milk. Also, undiscerning cows munching in wild a wild garlic patch will prove the hypothesis. You may not notice in commercially produced fresh mild, because it might be blended, but the answer to your question is "yes."

I say that because

1. bread is easier than yogurt
2. any flatbread recipe works as a pizza crust.
3. you can have dough ready in a few hours