# yogurt cultures



## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Anyone tried any of the packaged forms of yogurt cultures? Can you share your reviews? 

I thought about using some of Ricki Carrolls from New England Cheese Co. but it seems a bit pricey. 

I normally use Yoplait vanilla yogurt and spoon some into my milk for culture. I have tried Dannon but it is usually not as sweet. 

Any other suggestions?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

The Bulgarian from Ricki is stupendous. I used the packet to make a mother culture and it got better with every batch.
Perfect with fruit. Try it if you like yogurt!
Lee


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Thanks for the recommendation!


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Dairy Connection also has cultures...whichever one is the thicker, milder one is the one I'm using now. Very nice. I have recultured it with no problems (using yogurt from an unopened jar of the previous batch to start a new batch), so it's not like you have to use more of the culture from the packet every time you make yogurt. Saves on cost quite a lot that way.


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## texgran (Mar 29, 2009)

Ricki's Y5(sweet yougurt) is GREAT. Works everytime and makes wonderful mother culture. When I want greek yogurt after the yogurt is made I put it in cheesecloth and hang it for a couple of hours or so. Thick and creamy.


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## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

Well, how timely is this?! I tried making yogurt for the first time today, and came home from church expecting set up coffee yogurt.... It's not set up. I used generic walmart plain cultured yogurt for my culture. Did it not work? Do I need to wait longer? I will be buying a yogurt culture if it will help in the future...


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Could be a number of things...old yogurt for starter, starter didn't have "Live Active Cultures," temps too high and you killed the cultures, needs more time, etc. How long did you incubate it for? At what temps? How "not set up" is it? It will thicken more when it cools, and if you didn't use gelatin in it, it will be thinner than normal store-bought yogurt. 

When I make yogurt, I heat the milk to 180, cool back down to 115, (but a little higher would be ok), take out a cup of the milk and add it to a cup of the yogurt I am using for starter, whisk well, put that back into the milk and whisk some more, then incubate at 110 for 8 hours. I used to use a different recipe that called for slightly higher temps (122) and shorter times (4 hours, I think). According to my yogurt info, it will not grow well at temps below 98F and will die at temps above 130.


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## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

Well, after asking around and reading a few other recipes, I think it's a result of 1. not enough store bought yogurt to make a good culture (recipe issue) 2. not a quality store bought yogurt (cheap mother trying to be helpful issue) 3. Not heating to 180 first (another recipe issue) and 4. Not maintaining a high enough temp during incubation (another recipe issue)

It actually *tasted* like coffee yogurt, but it was just syruppy, not yogurty. I dumped it out and will try again...


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Your chickens would love it, so you don't have to let it go totally to waste when you have a flop!


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