# need source for yogurt culture



## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

I think my yogurt culture from last year is dead and I do not remember where it came from. It came in little tiny plastic bottles with screw off lids that look like mini pill bottles, but clear. 
Anyways, does anyone have a good company to get yogurt cultures from?


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

I like the cultures from Dairy Connection...I use the "milder sweeter" one, IRRC. www.dairyconnection.com


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Just for flavor comparison we started several types and Squidge liked the Bavarian from Ricki at cheesemaking.com
Lee


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

thnx---it finally did thicken up, but I am ready to try something new


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

why not try that stuff Tim uses from just the grocery store?? there is a thread here with the name of it.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Lee,
which different ones did you try and what were the differences?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Well.... I have slept since then so....
all I really know is that the Bavarian was mellow and easily re-cultured from a mother culture.
Maybe Pav can tell us why at about 2 weeks from culture it raised a liquid on top that smelled just like beer and when I poured that off the yogurt under was so thick and mild and delicious and made another batch just the same.
Lee


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## linuxboy (Oct 26, 2009)

It smelled like fresh beer? Or like sourish oxidized beer? I doubt you had a yeast contamination, so your culture likely produces the smell. Liquid whey separates from the curd naturally in yogurt, so that's nothing out of the ordinary.

Cultures vary significantly not only in how they produce acid but their shape and the way they attach to each other and the structure of their outer shells. Depending on how a bacteria metabolizes sugar, that outer polysaccharide shell may be thick, thin, slimy, easily attached to other bacteria to form ropes/strands, etc. I doubt the extra time had anything to do with the flavor, but it did give the whey a chance to pool, which gave you a thicker yogurt.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Yes! delicious clean fresh drinkable beer smell! YUM- we did however pour it off.
And yes- we let our yogurt sit longer- pour off whey and have a lovely thick milk product.
I have been taken to task (in the past) for this as unsafe unsanitary but know otherwise after years of feeding my family the stuff and rave reviews from guests! The culture is Bavarian- not sure how that translates differently in reality but I think my results are the longer culture time. 
Lee

oh- ps- in the cheese fridge- not the regular 40something- set to 50.
L


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## linuxboy (Oct 26, 2009)

This seems to be a case of a complex mix of bacteria that have multiple fermentation pathways that produce more than just lactic acid, and where their physical cells are used to strengthen the integrity of the curd. And unlike a high-bifidus culture that continues to acidify, yours likely stops above a pH of 4. Only conjecture on my part, but based on what you described, that's what's happening. 

It not unsanitary per se. Is the complaint that the yogurt sits too long? I've eaten yogurt that's over a year old -- it turned into cheese .


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