Vegan Yogurt Starter

Questions on Vegan Yogurt Starter

Sort by Date Helpfulness

• From cantabela at 12/10/10 9:58 PM
  • My son has allergies to milk,soy,flax,coconut,wheat,oats,barley,sunflower...I am wondering if your yogurt starter has any of those in it?Tkx.
  • I apologize for the delay responding to your message. We appear to have had a system glitch that delayed this message reaching us.
    
    The Vegetal starter is initially cultured with soy so although it isn't an official ingredient in the final product, it could technically exist in trace amounts.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From li at 1/5/11 11:52 PM
  • Can this be used with coconut or almond milk ?
    Also can you confirm the soy is non GMO?
    thanks
  • Yes, the starter should work with coconut and almond milk although it's ideally suited for rice and soy milk which has a higher sugar content (the yogurt bacteria feeds off sugar). Yogurt made with coconut or almond milk may be a bit thinner.
    
    None of the ingredients in the culture or used to produce the culture are GMO.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From MRT at 1/31/11 9:44 PM
  • Could this starter be used with Goat milk? Thanks in advance!
  • You could probably use the Vegetal starter to culture goat milk, but wouldn't it make more sense to use one of our dairy-based yogurt starters?
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From MRT at 1/31/11 10:43 AM
  • We have issues with "cow" milk...allergies, and have found that Goat milk is tolerable for my family, therefore we needed the dairy free culture to use and thought we see if it was possible to do so with the Goat Milk. Wanted to use it with coconut milk too if possible.
    
    Thanks! So... to answer your question in your reply...it WOULD NOT make more sense for those who have allergies to COW/Dairy-based starters in our scenario.
    :)
  • OK, that makes sense!
    
    With any dairy-based yogurt starter, you would be using an extremely small amount of cow milk (1/8 tsp. per 2 quarts of milk) to make it so unless your sensitivities are pretty severe, it might be acceptable.
    
    However, I understand wanting to be careful so here is another option:
    
    You could use one of the heirloom/reusable starters with goat milk, and re-culture it a few times. The yogurt will be pretty runny, but it could be strained to thicken it. Because you are using a small amount of each batch to make the next batch, very quickly the amount of cow would be trace. For example, the first batch would be about 1/16 cow but the next batch would be 1/256 cow and so on.
    
    This is a possible alternative for you to the Vegetal. (Vegetal will also work with the coconut milk.)
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From karen at 2/7/11 5:48 PM
  • I am excited to find your website as I am looking to make my own yogurt. I do have Celiac disease as well as being highly allergic to yeast, casein and all dairy. Is this starter free of casein as well? Also does it contain the healthy probiotics found in regular yogurt? If not what is the nutritional value? I am able to drink rice, almond, soy, and coconut milk.
    Thanks for your help.
  • Our Vegetal starter is completely vegan, so there is no casein in it. It contains the same probiotics as in dairy starters: Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus.
    
    (The “lacto” refers to the type of bacteria, and does not involve lactose or any dairy.)
    
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From Shelby at 3/6/11 8:49 AM
  • How does this product compare/contrast to Gi ProHealth's DF yogurt starter? I see that it contains more than 3 strains of bacteria.
    
    Will this starter work with Whole Foods brand 365 unsweetened rice milk? Will it also work with homemade nut milk?
  • The strains in the Gi ProHealth starter are: Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Lactobacillus casei.
    
    The Vegetal yogurt starter contains Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Streptococcus thermophilus. It also contains rice maltodextrin.
    
    The Vegatal starter is especially formulated to work well with rice milk, and should also work well with homemade nut milk.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From Sarah L. at 3/8/11 8:13 PM
  • Will you be getting the larger size back in stock?
  • We may carry the larger size at some point, but we have not had a lot of demand for it in the past, and we don't have a date for when it will be available, if at all.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From Rebecca W at 3/24/11 8:07 AM
  • when you write the The Vegetal yogurt starter is completely vegan do you mean that the culture it grew on is non dairy? so there are'nt even any traces of dairy.
    
    I'm asking because some startes claim to be vegan but when I asked I was told that the traces of dairy are almost negligible and therfore considered non dairy.
    My daughter is very sensitive so the answer is very important.
    
    Thankes Rebecca
  • The Vegetal starter is initially cultured in non-GMO soy milk.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From Rebecca w at 3/28/11 3:15 PM
  • Hi again ,
    thanks for your prompt answer.
    just to make sure you wrote- The Vegetal starter is INITIALLY cultured in non-GMO soy milk , and then it is cultured in something else ? (initially- means in the beginning)
    
    Just have to make sure that there is absolutely no trace of dairy (or anything else not specified)
    
    Thanks Rebecca
  • The Vegetal starter is entirely vegan, suitable for use in vegan diets, so there is no milk in it at all.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No
• From Misha at 4/5/11 2:46 PM
  • Hi, I was wondering if I could use the SO Delicious coconut milk that is sold in the dairy section at Whole Foods. It's made to be drunk like soy milk is. It's thickened with guar gum. Also, since coconut milk has less sugar in it, could I add a type of sugar to make it thicker? Thanks!
  • We generally recommend to just choose a coconut milk with the least amount of additives. Guar gum doesn't generally present an issue though. No extra sugar is needed but often coconut milk does better with a longer culturing period so it's worth keeping an eye on the yogurt as you may need to let it culture longer than normal.
  • Do you find this question helpful?  Yes   No

Ask Your Own Question