# raw milk yogurt? help!



## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I tried making my first batch of raw milk yogurt today (not heating the milk to paturize it, using it fresh and warm from the goat) and it did not set. Drat. Fias Co Farms said that it should work just fine - and I'd love to have more health in my yogurt.

Anyone have success with raw milk yogurt? What did you use for culture? Any insights into potential cause for failure? Tips for success?


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I make raw yogurt all the time you'll want to check and make sure your starter culture was live, sometimes it needs to incubate a bit longer to get firm.I can answer more thoroughly in the morning if there are more questions you may have.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

here is what works for me, but some background first. I think every drop of goats milk I have is precious. I have been milking so long I never know when I will bring back to the house my last pail of milk. I am not willing to risk any milk any more.

For me, by definition, yogurt means pasteurized milk, because the first step is to heat the milk to 180*F; not 179*F, but 180*F.

I have goats so I can drink raw milk. I drink large quantities of raw milk. I believe in the health benefits of raw milk. But some goats milk products are not conducive to being made with raw milk in my experience. I am able to make consistently beautiful, thick goats milk yogurt. I use a dry yogurt culture, but also can successfully use an appropriate store bought product.

Also, one last thought. In the book "Goat Cheese, Small-Scale Production" it states;

"Freshly drawn goat's milk is strongly bactericidal". For that reason, I only use milk that is at least 24 hours old to make yogurt. If you use warm from the udder milk, you will be at a disadvantage.

I have tried about everything you can imagine with goats milk to make yogurt. I no longer risk failure trying to make it with raw milk. I am sure others will have different experiences.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

suzyhomemaker09 said:


> I make raw yogurt all the time you'll want to check and make sure your starter culture was live, sometimes it needs to incubate a bit longer to get firm.I can answer more thoroughly in the morning if there are more questions you may have.


yes, absolutely it is live culture. I've been making yogurt for maybe 30 years, not a novice. Just my first time using fresh, raw milk straight from the doe.

looking forward to your insights. thank you!


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

goatsareus said:


> here is what works for me, but some background first. I think every drop of goats milk I have is precious. I have been milking so long I never know when I will bring back to the house my last pail of milk. I am not willing to risk any milk any more.
> 
> For me, by definition, yogurt means pasteurized milk, because the first step is to heat the milk to 180*F; not 179*F, but 180*F.
> 
> ...


why not step outside of your boundry and try something new in the goat /yogurt world?

Here's the recipe from Fias Co Farms:
Even Easier "Raw Milk" Yogurt: 

_Yes, you can make yogurt from raw milk. I know this works because this is how I always make my own yogurt. 

I wouldn't use store bought milk for this method; you must use fresh, clean milk that you have just milked out of your own healthy goat or cow following very good sanitary procedure. When making raw milk yogurt you must be absolutely sure the milk was handled in a extremely sanitary manner and is from healthy animals because you are not going to be pasteurizing the milk, which means if any diseases or harmful bacteria gets in the milk, you will be giving it an excellent breeding ground BUT, remember the good bacteria in the raw milk will fight off some of the bad bacteria. You may want to read the article I have written on raw milk.

See the "Traditional" recipe above. 

Start will clean fresh raw milk. 
Add powdered milk if desired (I don't because I use a culture specially formulated to produce a nice thick curd). 
Warm to milk 115 degrees by whichever method you choose to heat your milk. (I don't even bother warming the milk because my incubator, my Excalibur Food Dehydrator, will bring the milk up to temperature). 
Pour the warm milk into your incubating jars, add a couple of heaping Tbs. of plain "live culture" yogurt or DVI culture (I always use "ABY-2C" yogurt culture DVI from the Dairy Connection. I use 1/16 tsp. per 2 quarts of milk) screw the lid on tight and shake well. 
Incubate as described above. I used to always use the cooler/heating pad method until I got my Excalibur Dehydrator. _


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

cathleenc said:


> why not step outside of your boundry and try something *new* in the goat /yogurt world?


Because I have a reasonably good understanding of bacteriology and wish to have the odds on my side when I go to the trouble of making yogurt with my hard won fresh goats milk.

And what is so *new* about this?


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I've not pasteurized the milk I make yogurt with in quite some time. I do tend to warm it from cold as when I make it it's usually a rather large batch ( 9 quarts ) as this is how many jars fit inside my canner. I use an electric canner and let it culture overnight . I make cheese without pasteurizing as well...pretty much straight from the goat .
And on a different note...I don't understand how keeping milk for over 24 hours would decrease any bacteria it may have...the above poster seems to be a bit contradictory.


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## smwon (Aug 16, 2006)

cathleenc said:


> why not step outside of your boundry and try something new in the goat /yogurt world?
> 
> Here's the recipe from Fias Co Farms:
> Even Easier "Raw Milk" Yogurt:
> ...


I've been making yogurt for years as well and I like this suggestion. I also would like to know where to get this starter you speak of. I don't have goats milk yet and won't for more than a year because I won't be getting my ND kids till June or July. But I will try this with the store bought milk I get now. I use a heating pad to make mine (without the cooler). I usually just wrap the heating pad around my jar and if it is a large jar I put a large bath towel over the top and wrap it around the whole thing. But with just a quart the heating pad wraps nicely. I start on high for a few minutes to get the pad heated up nicely, and then I turn it to low. My yogurt is usually done in a about four hours.

A friend who lived in Arkansas would put hers on a warm/hot window sill in the summer. She made great yogurt.


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## smwon (Aug 16, 2006)

Oh... I think I found it!

http://www.dairyconnection.com/yogurt.htm


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

suzyhomemaker09 said:


> And on a different note...I don't understand how keeping milk for over 24 hours would decrease any bacteria it may have...the above poster seems to be a bit contradictory.


the rather scientific cheesemakers who wrote that book claim freshly drawn milk is strongly bactericidal. The strongly bactericidal tendencies will diminish in time. Where is the contradiction in that claim?


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Goatsareus-
Can you post your recipe please. I usually need to add dry milk to my goat milk yogurt to get it thick. I hate to do this but have yet to find a method that gives me thick yogurt


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

steff bugielski said:


> Goatsareus-
> Can you post your recipe please. I usually need to add dry milk to my goat milk yogurt to get it thick. I hate to do this but have yet to find a method that gives me thick yogurt


This week I made my first batch of yogurt of the season and it turned out very thick. For the first batch I use the dry culture offered by Caprine Supply and also Lehmans Hardware, the one that comes in the blue and white pouch. It is made by Yogotherm.

Heat 1/2 gallon of milk gently to 180*F, on med low heat, gently stirring at times so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. You could also use a double boiler set up.

After the milk reaches 180*F, set pan in a sink of cold water. I leave the thermometer in the milk the whole time. I add about a T. of honey or maple syrup and a small dollop of real vanilla while the milk is cooling. Stir and monitor the temp. When it reaches 115*F sprinkle on the dry culture and mix well. You may need to bump the temp up if it falls below 105*F. Pour into jars and incubate. I use a non electric cylindrical unit that incases the tub of milk/yogurt. The secret for me is to leave it for at least 9 hours to incubate. Remove from incubation, and refrigerate. Do not disturbe for several hours.

If I am using a store bought fresh culture, I set the culture out at room temperature for an hour to warm up, about 2 generous tablespoons in a one cup measuring cup. Then when the milk has cooled to 115*F I spoon in some of the milk to mix with the culture. When the milk/culture is thoroughly mixed up, add to the rest of the tempered milk and mix in thoroughly. Check temp of milk and make sure it is between 105*F and 115*F and incubate for at least 9 hours.

I start this in the morning, remove from incubator just before bed and refrigerate and use the next morning.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

goatsareus said:


> Because I have a reasonably good understanding of bacteriology and wish to have the odds on my side when I go to the trouble of making yogurt with my hard won fresh goats milk.
> 
> And what is so *new* about this?


I wanted to apologize - I did not mean to be snotty and realized as I was going to bed the night I posted this that it most likely would sound not as I intended..... but forgot till today. You have WAY more goat experience than I do! More that once I find something I like - I try new stuff to see if the new might be even better - not that the things I like might not be good enough.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

your apologies are most humbly accepted, thank you.

trust me, I am known for pushing the boundaries when it comes to goat raising and milk handling. If I had been successful with making yogurt with raw milk, I would have encouraged your efforts. But I have not. I will pasteurize my milk when culturing yogurt and buttermilk because I want only those bacterias to be present. Now, I do make soft cheeses with raw milk, and have had success with that. But the cultures I use with the raw milk soft cheeses were made with pasteurized milk cultured with buttermilk.

I too love to try new things and commend you for that.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Well, one thing that I did, (after I warmed the milk and added the culture) was to fill a cooler with warm (to almost hot) water, and put the milk I am culturing in there in a ball jar. Put the lid on, and every so often put in more water to warm it up. The warmth and the dark seem to do the trick. 
ETA, that sits out for about 24 hours. I just add more warm water before I go to bed, and when I get up in the a.m. 
Cindyc.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Just my personal experience:

I use raw milk. Heat to 120. Add about 1/4 cup Dannon yogurt per quart of goat milk.

Pour into quart jars. Place in foam ice chest with electric heating pad set on low. I keep a candy thermometer in there to monitor the temp, too. I've had best success at 120 degrees.

It's ready in five to eight hours.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

goatsareus said:


> the rather scientific cheesemakers who wrote that book claim freshly drawn milk is strongly bactericidal. The strongly bactericidal tendencies will diminish in time. Where is the contradiction in that claim?



Not trying to say there is contradiction to the statement...just seems to me that if you are a proponent of raw milk that you'd want to use raw milk for yogurt as well. In the description of my methods I never really said I use only milk straight from the goat to make yogurt...however I do use it straight from the goat when making chevre which works out wonderfully. I only have a few does in milk at a time so I can't get enough to make my 9 quart batches and have any left over. So I do tend to combine fresh and a previous milkings product. I warm to just above room temp say 85 or 90 and incubate in the canner overnight. I've never really had a problem with my yogurt not being thick enough either.
It's all a matter of "to each his or her own".


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

goatsareus said:


> This week I made my first batch of yogurt of the season and it turned out very thick. For the first batch I use the dry culture offered by Caprine Supply and also Lehmans Hardware, the one that comes in the blue and white pouch. It is made by Yogotherm.
> 
> Do you think the culture has anything to do with the thickness? I usually use plain from the store, I am cheap. I seem to follow the same basic recipe. I also use a cooler with hot water in it. I use mason jars as I make about two gallons at a time.


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## SHELBY (Mar 9, 2003)

You might be onto something with the culture, I use a culture and not yogurt from a previous batch or from the store, and it always turn out thick, We also don't bring the milk past the 110 degrees.

This is raw cow milk not goat,


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

steff bugielski said:


> goatsareus said:
> 
> 
> > This week I made my first batch of yogurt of the season and it turned out very thick. For the first batch I use the dry culture offered by Caprine Supply and also Lehmans Hardware, the one that comes in the blue and white pouch. It is made by Yogotherm.
> ...


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

suzyhomemaker09 said:


> ...just seems to me that if you are a proponent of raw milk that you'd want to use raw milk for yogurt as well.


For me, there is no logic to this statement. Yes, I am a proponent of consuming raw milk, but no, I do not make yogurt from raw milk, nor do I want to make yogurt from raw milk.

I am a hugh proponent of drinking raw milk, and a hugh proponent of eating yogurt.

But raw milk is contaminated. We are not harmed by this contamination because we keep the raw milk in conditions not suitable for its growth (refrigeration). For me, the purpose of consuming yogurt is to be able to eat the beneficial strains of bacteria found in various kinds of yogurt. Different yogurts have different bacterial strains. Raw milk has its own strains of bacterias, both good and bad. I am not interested in incubating these unknown strains of bacteria with my known good strains of yogurt bacteria. I want to level the playing field, so to speak. I want to culture my good, friendly, yogurt bacteria in a sterile medium (milk freshly heated to 180*F.) I guess I am a science kinda person. I want as much control over the incubation of my yogurt as possible. I do not want to be incubating unknown strains of bacteria which I would be doing if I was using raw milk to make yogurt.

I also combine fresh warm milk with my cold milk. I am only milking three does this season and also must wait a few days to accumulate enough milk to be able to make a cheese.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

I have also tried to make yogurt from fresh raw only heated to 120. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not. Not worth having to feed it to the pigs.

Thanks goatsareus, I will get some of that


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## smwon (Aug 16, 2006)

Here is something to consider:

http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/2007/03/cooking_03-07.html


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## smwon (Aug 16, 2006)

And here is something else to ponder:

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/yogurt.html


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

We got a Caspian Sea Yogurt culture from a friend and use it to make yogurt from raw milk at room tempurature. I found a link about it:
http://www.happyherbalist.com/caspian_sea_yogurt.htm
It works fine, the yogurt is great, but one of my sons ate it all so I need to get a new starter from the friend.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

I got some yogurt culture, thinking it would give me a better, thicker yogurt than the store bought yogurt. WRONG. I do not wish to add powdered milk, well guess what's in the yogurt culture. Yep powdered milk. This is the culture from hoeggers.
I am now ordering the one from dairyconnection.
What a waste of time and money.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

steff bugielski said:


> I got some yogurt culture, thinking it would give me a better, thicker yogurt than the store bought yogurt. WRONG. I do not wish to add powdered milk, well guess what's in the yogurt culture. Yep powdered milk. This is the culture from hoeggers.
> I am now ordering the one from dairyconnection.
> What a waste of time and money.



what a bummer. The yogurt culture I buy that I like so well comes from Caprine Supply and Lehmans Hardware. They both carry this same culture. It's made by Yogotherm in Canada.


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## smwon (Aug 16, 2006)

I bought some from dairy connection and although it is mild as it says it is, it did not make my store bought cows milk yogurt thick. Perhaps it will work better with goats milk.


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

Here is a link to a wonderful information on raw milk yorurt.
http://http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/yogurt.html

Christy


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