Questions on Bulgarian Yogurt Starter

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• From Martha at 3/8/11 9:42 AM
  • Hi, I cultured the starter and it came out very thick. I did my first batch of yogurt and I really liked it. Then I did my second batch and it was pretty thin - kind of like a yogurt drink. So, I threw out that starter and cultured a new starter and it is still thin. What could I be doing wrong? Also, I am not using the raw milk method.
    
    Thanks
    Martha
    
  • There are a couple of reasons your yogurt could be coming out too thin, and a few ways that you can get it to thicken up.
    
    1. When you heat up the milk, bring it to 160 and hold it there for about 20 minutes before letting it cool down.
    2. Add some cream or half-and-half to the milk to increase the fat content, which will make a thicker yogurt.
    3. Use a little LESS starter yogurt. If you use too much culture, it can run out of food before it finished culturing.
    4. Check the culturing temperature. Too warm or too cool can affect the thickness of the finished project.
    5. Whisk some milk powder into the heated milk to provide more milk solids.
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• From Marisa at 5/17/11 5:03 AM
  • In the description it says that goat's milk can be used but the product will be very thin because of the lower fat content. Will the results be similar if I use fat free milk?
  • Hello Marisa,
    
    Yes, a higher fat content will produce a thicker yogurt, and a lower fat content tends to produce a thinner yogurt.
    Hope that helps,
    
    Erin
    
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• From BIll at 5/25/11 8:45 AM
  • I want to make bulgarian yogurt from raw milk, but I have a question about the instructions. When it says that you must use a starter from the mother batch does that mean the first batch of yogurt that you make with your starter? I need to know the answer before I order. Thank You
  • Yes, to activate the culture, you must make a small mother batch from the starter that we send you. Once you have done that, you will use the mother batch to inoculate the milk for a full batch of yogurt. After that you can reculture - that is, use yogurt from a previous batch to start a new batch.
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• From Andrew at 6/22/11 10:46 PM
  • How many batches do you find it's OK to make - taking some from one batch and using it to culture the next?
    
    As you do this, doesn't the bacteria content drift? That is..won't it contain more and more of the bacteria native to the milk? (I'm using raw milk, so there are live bacteria in it, naturally).
  • If you are heating the raw milk to 160 then cooling it, you are effectively pasteurizing it, so the yogurt culture is the dominant (if not only) bacteria, and you can re-culture indefinitely.
    
    If you are only heating the raw milk to 110 (culturing temperature), you don't re-culture from the previous batch. Instead, you keep a mother culture going, which you make by sterilizing milk so that the ambient bacteria in the raw milk does not interfere with the yogurt culture.
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• From Gerd A Zimmermann at 8/8/11 6:03 PM
  • The starter you sell is good for how manny batches to start? Normally I use the Culture bacteria each time fresh.
  • To make the Bulgarian yogurt, you will start by using the culture we send you to make a small amount as a "starter" (about a cupful) then use some of that starter to make up to two quarts of yogurt. You can then use some of that yogurt to make a new batch of yogurt, and so on, for as many batches as you want.
    
    If you want to start fresh each time with a new culture, you might want to consider the direct-set style of starter: Traditional Flavor or Mild Flavor. Those are meant to be used fresh each time.
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• From Kathy at 10/27/11 11:49 AM
  • Not a question but mostly a comment.
    For those that are ending up with a thin yogurt, My first batch I used cheesecloth and drained half of the whey. Put it back in a bowl and use a hand mixer to make it smooth. The second batch I made I heated to 160, but set over night at 100 more than 8 hours. It was very good.
    The other day about 3 pm I heated a gallon and half of lightly pasturized whole milk to 170 degrees. I let it cool to 110. I used about 1 cup of tempered yogurt from the previous batch mixed it in very well and let it sit in a covered stainless steel pan overnight in the set at 100 degrees. The next morning about 8 am I turned off the heat. about noon,when it was cooled. I drained probably a quart of whey from the yogurt. Since it was lumpy I used the hand blender to make it smooth and pourable but thick. Put up 5 quarts in sterilized jars. Set them in the fridge. It is not sour, not runny, not like thick pudding the way my yogurt maker does, just the way I like.
  • Kathy, thanks so much for sharing your experience with making bulgarian yogurt. I'm glad you found a method that works for you.
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• From Catherine at 11/9/11 2:25 PM
  • All the cream I find has "carrageenan" in it. Can I still use this to make my yogurt?
  • Carageenan should be just fine as it is just a seaweed thickener. However, you will not want to use ultra-pastuerized cream or milk. Also, if you are trying to perpetuate the culture, then you will want to use more milk because the culture needs the lactose in milk in order to continue growth. Perhaps half and half?
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• From marcia at 12/5/11 6:45 AM
  • When ready to add the started yogurt to the heated and somewhat cooled down milk...what is ideal temperature of the yogurt started to be added? is it room temp. or directly from the refrigerator into the cooled down milk ? Thank you so much Marcia
  • Let the yogurt set at room temperature while you are preparing the milk. This will allow your starter yogurt to warm up and be more easily and thoroughly incorporated into the milk.
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