# Yogurt failure - my turn!



## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

Ok, I finally got around to making yogurt and see why everyone complains about it not getting thick. Mine is the _exact_ consistency of the milk I poured in.  

Is it possible that it got too warm and killed the culture? I used a direct set culture, rather than yogurt as starter and incubated in our table-top pasteurizer. We thought we had calibrated it to 110, but when I checked after 6 hours it was at 120 or so.

I think i made pig breakfast.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Yep, you very likely got it too warm. LOL ...the very first time I tried making it from a bought powdered culture I did that, it failed miserably.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Was the direct set culture for yogurt or cheese?


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## Corky (May 11, 2002)

Well. I killed my yogurt also. I forgot to take it out and put it in the fridge before going to bed. DARN IT!
Got up to curds and whey that has flavoring in it so I just have to throw it away.
Otherwise I could have turned it to cheese.

Don't feel bad. It happens to all of us sometimes.


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

steff bugielski said:


> Was the direct set culture for yogurt or cheese?


It was the "sweet" yogurt culture from cheesemaking.com


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## Shirley (May 27, 2007)

Never heard of a table top pastuerizer!  I'm excited!
Other than making yogurt, what other recipes is it used for? How often do you use it and would it be an advantage for me to have one?


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

We have one of these. http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3321&cat=49&page=1

Bought it used, at a nice discount.
I prefer to make my cheese from pasteurized milk, plus we use it to heat treat colostrum and pasteurize kid milk for CAE prevention.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I use one like this...

http://www.caprinesupply.com/shop/?...4&ps_session=f9329f30180638832f51c34c7bdaf6a8

I think a bit larger than the Hoegger model...mine has the spigot on the front now shown in the picture, I use it in making cheese and yogurt...it's great for maintaining that "special temperature" in cheese making.

Oops..also forgot to add that it does water bath canning as well


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

suzyhomemaker09 said:


> ...it's great for maintaining that "special temperature" in cheese making.


But, boy-o, you better stay right there stirring or it will overheat on the bottom in an instant. Don't go wandering off because you have a thermostat. You'll come back to curd that's 50 degrees too hot at the bottom, next to the heating element, and still too cool at the top.

A Weck does work very well to cheddar curd, though. Just put a couple inches of water in the bottom, suspend the curd over it in a colander, put on the lid, and you're gold. You have to tweak the temperature a bit, but it will hold until the acidity gets right.


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## Shirley (May 27, 2007)

I will need one. Thanks guys for the info.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Julia said:


> But, boy-o, you better stay right there stirring or it will overheat on the bottom in an instant. Don't go wandering off because you have a thermostat. You'll come back to curd that's 50 degrees too hot at the bottom, next to the heating element, and still too cool at the top.
> 
> A Weck does work very well to cheddar curd, though. Just put a couple inches of water in the bottom, suspend the curd over it in a colander, put on the lid, and you're gold. You have to tweak the temperature a bit, but it will hold until the acidity gets right.



I use mine like a giant double boiler, my largest pot that holds 5 gallons fits inside perfectly.  Less worry about scorching that way. The thought of trying to clean the spigot facilitated that decision. 
Can ya tell I'm a big Alton brown fan? it's all about multi tasking


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Ah, yes, I see your point. I always liked to fill the Weck itself with milk, partly because the larger the cheese, the better it ages, and partly so I could use the faucet to drain the whey. Whey is heavy! The less lifting I do, the happier I am!

But I never had a problem cleaning the faucet---just was careful to scrub it out well every time, and I was quite liberal in the use of milkstone remover, so it came clean. Stainless steel is a wonderful thing.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Kinda late chiming in here but here's how I make yogurt and I've never had it mess up unless my starter was getting pretty old and then I always knew beforehand that I was taking a chance:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I managed to mess up the frankhauser recipe the other day. Put my jars in the oven with the pilot on to incubate (usually the perfect temp) The pilot went out, turned the oven on low to warm it up and promptly forgot it. :flame: 
so, my yogurt sat at almost 200 degrees for 5 or 6 hours. 
It was more like sour cream with whey on top. I used it for various stuff. I hate to throw things out.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

I always use my cooler to incubate and it always stays pretty constant. I use my thermometer to get that water to about 120 after I've finished with the milk temperatures.


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