# Yogurt with frozen milk? and more...



## Wild4goats (Apr 7, 2015)

I asked this question within a very old thread, so decided to start new. I am new to dairy goats and right now have only one of my girls in milk. I have been saving her milk by filtering straight into jars and to the freezer. I now have plenty to start making yogurt. But wondering about the frozen milk. My questions are: What is the best method for thawing frozen milk? If I boil for thicker yogurt does it effect nutritional value? What is "hanging" yogurt and how do I do it? Lastly I just read you can keep and use clabbered milk for lots of things you would have used buttermilk for etc. So does the sour milk ever go bad to the point you should not use it? If yes, how do you know?
Thank you! Sorry for the long post.


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## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

Thaw the milk in the fridge, boiling the milk would change the taste, regular pasteurizing temperature is fine, Hang your finished yogurt in thick cheesecloth bag to make yogurt cheese (super yummy), and you should really make fresh cultures from a known source, until you have a really good idea of what you're doing. You wouldn't want to make everyone sick because you didn't realize your culture got away from you.


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## Wild4goats (Apr 7, 2015)

Jdavenport - thank you for the response. I am assuming when you say "you should really make fresh cultures from a known source" you are referring to the starter? I have been reading and getting different input from both internet sources and friends who raise dairy and I went with a commercial plain yogurt called Mountain high for my starter. 
I am now a bit paranoid with your comment of making everyone sick! Yikes! I was under impression that the danger of getting sick would come from bacteria associated with contaminated milk or utensils etc. I have been extremely careful with my milk, so thought I was in good shape. But I'd like more detail to what you are referring to, because NO I do not want to make anyone sick.
What do you mean by the the starter getting away from me?


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## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

Well, if you're buying yogurt from the store each time, or dried culture from Get Culture (where I get mine), then you don't have to worry. If you start your culture from store yogurt or buttermilk, then try to keep it alive in your fridge for weeks or months, the risk of contamination goes up every time you feed and refresh the starter to keep it alive. These cultures need very specific care, and it is hard to achieve in a home fridge. They need clean, filtered air, which they aren't likely to get in your fridge. Has anything gone bad, or spilled in your fridge? Then you have a possible source of contamination in your fridge, and it could be nasty. 99% of the time you would be fine, but there is always a chance that you could get something yucky in your live culture, which when you warm it up and pour it into your fresh milk could make people sick. I make yogurt and cheeses for other people, and I have to be super vigilant. I buy fresh dried cultures every few months, when I run out. If you become a member of cheeseforum.org there are directions on there for making and maintaining your own cultures. It is possible, but tedious. For home use, it's best to stick to commercial cultures/starter. I have the book http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Artisan-Cheesemaking-Home-Scale-Producers/dp/1603583327 which goes into detail about how to keep everything clean and I have this one http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Natur...CwHM4+L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR128,160_ on order. I'll post here once I have a chance to make a few of the cheeses.


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