# My first y0gurt attempt was a danger t0 us all.......seri0usly.



## Jen1204ca

0k, I had 2 ch0ices, a culture fr0m a Wal-Mart y0gurt 0r these packages 0f Y0g0urmet fr0m Glengarry Cheese. I went with the packages. It says t0 heat till the p0int 0f b0iling, the stir the culture int0 s0me c00l milk, stir it in, then put in y0ur machine. Well, I d0n't have a machine...and bef0re I g0 farther, I was trying t0 study, watch the b0ys, c00k dinner and make y0gurt all at 0nce. :nooo :really :/ :crazy So, I f0rg0t t0 still it int0 c00ler milk and put it int0 the h0t, it immediately went int0 tiny chunks, s0 I g0t out my whisk and tried t0 "remedy it." Then I put in in a c00ler with water that was 110 degrees. Afew h0urs later, n0thing different, still milk, afew after that, n0thing, still milk, afew after that, n0thing, still milk. S0, I went t0 bed and f0rg0t all ab0ut it. This m0rning 0ne l00ked slightly thicker, but n0t even buttermilk thick, the 0ther had t0tally seperated, it was a clear liquid 0n the b0ttem and thick, think 0n the t0p. Well, I had t0 g0 milk, s0 I just gave them a little shake, m0re like turned the jars upside d0wn afew times, then put them back and f0rg0t ab0ut them. 

N0w at ab0ut 1 pm, I hear a l0ud n0ise, didn't think much of it because pe0ple let me kn0w they w0uld be 0ut sh00ting c0y0tes. Ab0ut 2, the lid 0f the c00ler came flying 0ff, the lids 0f the sealers are b0th 0ff and there is s0mething dry, thick and 0nly slightly lumpy all 0ver my walls, ceiling and fl00r. 00ps!


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## Rose

Just a friendly warning..... reading and following instructions is CRITICAL when you are working with milk, making yogurt, making cheese, etc.

I won't go into the ...um... problems you created for yourself.


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## Jen1204ca

I know. I did this one all myself!

I also need to find VERY straight forward, clear directions for making it with just the basics and using a cooler.


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## Rose

Here's what I do:

Heat milk to 180 degrees. 
Cool to below 120 degrees.
Stir in culture.
Put in quart jars with lids on LOOSELY!
Place quart jars in styrofoam ice chest with heating pad set on LOW. Put lid on ice chest.
Check after eight hours.


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## Jen1204ca

Have you ever tried it without the heating pad? I don;t have one. Just wondering if, with using a cooler I could get away without using the heating pad? Do you put the jars into water too? Or just have them in a dry cooler? Thanks!


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## Rose

No, I haven't, but I think if you put a couple of jars filled with boiling hot water in the 'cooler', along with your jars of cultured milk, that might work. Check after a few hours and see if they have cooled and you need to replace them.


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## lazydaisy67

I just did mine in a cooler without a heating pad. This stuff is AWESOME!!!!!! 

3 cups fresh, raw goat milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 packet plain Knox gelatin
1/2 cup sweetener (I used Splenda)
3 rounded TBS of starter yogurt (I used Stonyfield greek-style plain yogurt from Walmart)
Flavoring (I used 2 TBS of vanilla)


Heat milk and cream to 180 and sustain for 5 min, wisking constantly so milk doesn't scorch
Add packet of gelatin and sweetener, wisk
Remove from heat and put pot into sink of cold water to cool milk down to 110
When milk is at 110, separate about 3/4 cup of milk into measuring cup and add your starter culture.
Wisk until completely mixed and you don't see any lumps
Add to remaining milk and wisk
Pour into containers and put into your cooler
Pour hot tap water into the cooler and fill to rims of containers. Weigh down the containers so they don't float.
Incubate for 10-12 hours frequently changing the hot water to keep the temp sustained as close to 110 as much as possible. (I removed the cooled water with the spigot on the side of the cooler and then poured in new hot water about every 1 - 1 1/2 hours.)
After 10-12 hours, put in the fridge


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## kuwaha

I like all my products raw so I miss out the heating step,(and I'm lazy  )- just bring in my evening milk, put a couple tablespoons yogurt (I use Dannon plain yogurt from the store as a starter) in a quart jar, fill with warm milk, shake/stir, and then leave in the oven over night, oven turned OFF with the oven light on. Yogurt for breakfast.


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## buckrun

We do raw milk yogurt too and culture more slowly at whatever the temp happens to be.
I have found the Bulgarian starter from cheesemaking.com to be the most tolerant of my methods which require it to compete with native bacteria as well as culture at a lower temp.
Letting this happen more slowly makes a thicker product and perhaps Pav can explain why!

Laurel-you do know the side affects even to behavior in children of Splenda right?
I think your lovely wholesome milk deserves better! 
This is an excellent link on artificial sweeteners.
Perhaps rather than sweeten the entire batch you could add a drizzle of honey when you serve.

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx


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## Jen1204ca

I plan to use Stevia. How just out of curiosity, for those already using Stevia, how much do you use? I like very little sweetness. Ideally, if I could put everything, milk, culture, vanilla, gelatin and stevia all in at the beginning, that would be great. Can anyone tell me how much of each?


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## buckrun

Jen- read up on gelatin before using it.
Industrial waste. 
If you have to have a stiffer product maybe try Agar?

http://www.edenfoods.com/store/product_details.php?products_id=108940


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## Rose

Just putting my two cents in on Gelatin, too. I think it's nasty.

I strain my goat yogurt to become Greek Goat Yogurt if I need it thicker.

Heavenly. :biggrin


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## Jen1204ca

Ok, I will certainly be reading up on gelatin. One of my goals in moving from the city to a farm was not to put industrial waste into my kids' food, nor the children either. ha ha I just want thicker yogurt not runny.


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## lazydaisy67

ok, this seems odd to me. Not saying this to start anything, but how would it be safe to spray your goats with fly spray, fill them with chemical wormers and misc. other medicines and supplements if it's not safe to put artificial sweetener in your milk?


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## buckrun

Laverne-we are talking BABY goats here.
Milkers are fed cleanly but cocci in the south does far more damage than prevention.
Once weaned at 6 or so months ours go on the dairy ration which is whole grains only.
Perhaps you don't have cocci but every herd I have worked with in our area would have slab sided stunted animals if they did not medicate as kids. 

It's rather melodramatic to say fill your goats full of...
I worm by fecal analysis maybe 2 times a year. My animals get all day exercise moving over our acreage selecting food and I would venture to say that the by-products of the wormers we use are out of their systems faster than the pesticides on the grain and alfalfa that we are forced to feed them due to lack of any other source. I hope you will realize that we have explored all the pathways to least toxic goat rearing possible in the south and those who do not have to deal with the challenges of this climate have no idea how hard it is to find alternative methods that insure health and longevity and productivity.

Under this regime I currently have 10 year old and have in the past had 12 year old milking does that act just like the young ones so with that longevity and productivity as evidence I would also guess that I have met the needs for parasite control with out doing excessive damage. It is easier for me with a large parcel of land and animals totally adapted to the life I provide having been born here for many generations. I have attended the deaths of many animals on farms locally that tried to do alternative rearing of dairy goats. It just isn't possible here. Fecaling is the only way to know if your care is working. We come as close to clean as possible but it does take chemical intervention to allow our stock to live to the greatest of their potential. 

My goal in doing cocci prevention is to raise the healthy fast growing kids that have an immune system that has been challenged but not overwhelmed so that they can develop resistance to what they encounter and allow even less intervention in later life. A kid in the south that has not been raised on prevention will never be what it could be simply from gut scarring and inability to use all the nutrients provided. Our April wethers are at 80 pounds. I am absolutely certain they would be half that without cocci prevention because I have seen it in other herds using the same lines we are breeding. 

Lee


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