I've tried -- and failed -- to make yogurt twice. The first time I used a raw, active yogurt, heated milk to 110 degrees, and incubated in a warm oven. That time the flavor was pretty normal, a little bland, but the texture was weird. Being a texture person, I couldn't eat it.
So, take two. I bought a nice fancy yogurt maker with all the bells and whistles. I brought the milk to 180 degrees after reading on here that raw milk doesn't make consistent yogurt. Cooled to 110. I used a purchased, freeze dried Bulgarian starter culture. I set it over night to culture 12 hours. It separated a little, and after reading up on that I think I probably shouldn't have gone the full 12 hours. Other than that it did great!
However, what is really concerning is the taste. It tastes bad. Like get-this-out-of-my-mouth-now bad. :( It's not a goaty flavor, or spoiled or sour. I'm not sure how to describe it really. But it's definitely not something I can eat. Even after adding some strawberry jam, thinking maybe I was just too used to sweet yogurts, I just wanted to spit it out.
Any ideas what could be causing the funky taste? I've been careful to keep everything clean and follow good hygiene. Is it possible that I just don't like the Bulgarian yogurt? Or could letting it go too long mess up the flavor?
I guess when I try again I will have to use the second culture packet and not the yogurt, or risk another flavor failure. I'm hoping the third time is the charm. If I can't even master yogurt making, I don't have much hope for moving on to cheese making!
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For others, I would suggest taking a jar out at different times (presuming you are using a multi-jar system) and marking them as to how long they cultured. Recently, I made a batch and forgot how late in the day it was and needed to go to bed early. I usually culture 10-12 hours overnight with it being a bit "tangier" than I really like so always added fruit. This time it cultured only 8.5 hours and was much more to my taste. This next time I make it, I will take in out at various time to try to get my "ideal." However, we must remember we are working with bacteria, milk in different stages (of lactation), varying temps, etc., so it will never be a science, always an art.
I did find out, thank you to Deborah, that I should always pasteurize my milk. I made some from raw to get more good bacteria in the finished product and it just didn't thicken for me. with pasteurized milk, it has always been fine.
Congratulations on success!!!
It sure looks good!
Rachel Payne said:
Yay! Don't you just love when things go right and you learn something new that you can use forever? I always feel SO free when that happens.
Congratulations!
Thank you all! The second batch cultured only 5 hours and was a success! Not too strong, still a pretty good texture, and yummy with some strawberries and a drizzle of honey.
Good point, Deborah. I usually only make a quart of milk kefir at a time myself. Great stuff!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Great picture, by the way! Don't expect it to be that thick after four hours on the first reculture. It took a few recultures before mine got that thick with that culture.
I'd suggest only making a quart. That way, if you're not crazy about it, you won't be giving the chickens quite as much. If you like it, it's easy enough to make more. :) That's the beauty of reculturable cultures.
I haven't used any Cultures for Health yogurt culture starter but I would definitely try it for less time for a less sour flavor--it sounds like that might be the problem.
In the mean time, you can give the already made yogurt to the chickens. The weeks that I give mine milk kefir, they lay about 1/3 more eggs. It's really crazy and worth a try!
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