[quote=“taiboxes”]Lots of places (supermarkets, convenience stores) have non-sweetened live drinking yoghurt in plastic bottles
true…but as you know, that’s not real yoghurt anymore than a Patpong ladyman is a real woman or a McD’s chicken nugget is real chicken…the so called “yoghurt” you are talking about is a drink that resembles liqiud yoghurt but has none of the benefits of real active culture yoghurt.[/quote]Do you know what the term “live yoghurt” means? It means yoghurt which contains active cultures.
I’m looking at a bottle of that unsweetened drinking yoghurt now and it says it contains:
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Bifidobacterium longem
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
and
Streptoccus thermophilus
I’m wondering why it would say that (and why it would taste like live yoghurt) if it didn’t contain those active cultures. Is there something you know that I don’t?
By the way, I’ve had various kinds of live yoghurt, and this stuff in bottles tastes better to me than some homemade stuff but not nearly as nice as the rich, creamy organic yoghurt I used to get in the UK. I agree that the stuff you can buy from health food shops here is quite good.
let’s face it…it’s an over processed, mass produced product with essences of real yoghurt that were once alive…if you are happy with 7-11 drinking “yoghurt”, then please go right ahead and keep drinking it …the only advantage is the convenience, I can assure you that the yoghurt you can make yourself turn you off that watery white drink you now call “drinking yoghurt”…and there’s the satisfaction of doing it yourself
you can make 2 litres of real yoghurt for $100 ~ $125 while you sleep, but it does require about 5 minutes prep work…while the 7-11 stuff costs about $25 upwards for each mouthfull
anyway …you keep drinking your 7-11 drinking yoghurt Joesax and I’ll keep eating my homemade yoghurt…lol
what’s next? …are you going to argue that 7-11 bian-dungs (emphasis on dung) are fresh and nutritous too?..sorry if that sounds a bit aggressive…it’s not meant to be! …but please do yourself a favour and put real fresh food into your body and you’ll feel more vital!
[quote=“taiboxes”]let’s face it…it’s an over processed, mass produced product with essences of real yoghurt that were once alive…[/quote]So are you saying that the cultures aren’t live any more? Got proof? Or is that just your opinion?
[quote=“taiboxes”]…if you are happy with 7-11 drinking “yoghurt”, then please go right ahead and keep drinking it …the only advantage is the convenience, I can assure you that the yoghurt you can make yourself turn you off that watery white drink you now call “drinking yoghurt”…and there’s the satisfaction of doing it yourself[/quote]As I said, I ate homemade yoghurt for years but I prefer the stuff I’m getting now in the bottles. Not sure why you’re calling it “7-11 yoghurt” though. Are you sure we’re talking about the same brand? The one I’m talking about is stocked by 7-11 I think but is also in various supermarkets and other convenience stores.
[quote=“taiboxes”]you can make 2 litres of real yoghurt for $100 ~ $125 while you sleep, but it does require about 5 minutes prep work…while the 7-11 stuff costs about $25 upwards for each mouthfull[/quote]Well, one-litre bottles of live drinking yoghurt are about 70NT I think. So not quite 25NT a mouthful but yes, yours is a bit cheaper.
Still, where are you getting the “real milk” for your “real yoghurt”? I assume it’s unpasteurized and straight from an organic farm?
[quote=“taiboxes”]what’s next? …are you going to argue that 7-11 bian-dungs (emphasis on dung) are fresh and nutritous too?..sorry if that sounds a bit aggressive…it’s not meant to be! …but please do yourself a favour and put real fresh food into your body and you’ll feel more vital![/quote]This is offtopic, but for your information, I feel more “vital” now than I did when I was getting weekly organic vegeboxes and making cups of herb tea from loose herbs! I do eat reasonably healthily still, but there’s more to life than diet.
Still, where are you getting the “real milk” for your “real yoghurt”? I assume it’s unpasteurized and straight from an organic farm?
no, but it’s the next best thing…as briefly mentioned above…Wellcome has just started selling a brand of milk processed with higher temps for a much shorter period…sorry, I forget the brand name but it states in English on the container “High temperature, short…” something or other.
I found this brand makes the best yoghurt (buy the one with the red coloured writing)…after trying most if not all of the different brands of milk for sale out there for making my own yoghurt, this one gives, by far, the best results.
and sorry to come across a tad confrontational before…
anyway, have big fun…cheers & cheerio !
edit : actually the milk carton or larger container has " H.T.S.T" written in caps on the front label…(high temperature, short term Pasteurization)
You don’t ever strain your yoghurt through a bit of muslin or cheesecloth? I used to do that sometimes and you get really thick, gooey yoghurt like the Greek stuff.
[quote=“taiboxes”]Still, where are you getting the “real milk” for your “real yoghurt”? I assume it’s unpasteurized and straight from an organic farm?
no, but it’s the next best thing…as briefly mentioned above…Wellcome has just started selling a brand of milk processed with higher temps for a much shorter period…sorry, I forget the brand name but it states in English on the container “High temperature, short…” something or other.
I found this brand makes the best yoghurt (buy the one with the red coloured writing)…after trying most if not all of the different brands of milk for sale out there for making my own yoghurt, this one gives, by far, the best results.
and sorry to come across a tad confrontational before…
anyway, have big fun…cheers & cheerio ![/quote]No worries! That milk sounds good. I’ll get some next time I’m in Wellcome.
Cheers,
Joe
(Sorry to disappoint Sandman who was looking forward to the spectacle of hippies swinging their handwoven shoulderbags at each other!)
You can get some real stuff in Carrefour, at least I saw it last time I was there, but it’s not cheap, but it’s their own brand, at least in the big one in Taoyuan, not sure what it’s called, but the one with all the outlet stores and some kind of crap mini-mall upstairs. We’re not talking the drinking kind and they have quark, but again, insanely expensive for what it is. It’s sort in a different chiller cabinet than the cheese and milk. They actually had a really good selection of french cheese last time I was there and it was ok priced as well, at least compared to Jason’s et al.
I wish I could get Filmjölk, but I think that might just be impossible, but some advice on where I can find the Kefir mix would be cool.
I made a batch last week, after a couple of years of not getting round to it. It was soooo easy - I don’t know how I lapsed.
Here’s the method I used:
Stuff you need: I carton of ordinary yougurt
Milk (how much? you ask - Well how productive is your cow? I reply)
1 saucepan + lid
1 teaspoon
1 tupperware container + lid
Insulation system*
30 minutes (or probably less since I am the world’s biggest faffer)
What to do with the stuff: 1) Sterilize the saucepan and lid by boiling some water in it; then use the same water to rinse a teaspoon and a tupperware container. Then place the lid on the container to stop any bugs getting in while you do stage (2).
2) Put a carton of milk into the saucepan on LOW heat. Be careful here, since you don’t want to overheat it. The test I used is this: if the milk feels hot and you can stick your (sterilised!) pinkie in it for ten seconds without saying “Ow!” then it’s ready for stage (3).
3) Splat a couple of teaspoons of the yogourt into the tupperware container.
4) Eat the rest of the carton of yoguort, knowing that yours is going to be better.
5) Pour the warm milk into the tupperware container and put on the lid.
It’s easier to make than it is to spell
*Insulation system
You need to give your yoogurt bacillus time to do its thing. It does this fastest at around body temperature; heat it up more and it becomes lethargic (like you in the sauna); and crank it up too much and you’ll kill it (again, like you in the sauna). In Taiwan’s steamy summer, just leaving the container overnight should be enough (I’m assuming no air con). The rest of the year, you’ll need to insulate your tupperware container. I use a styrofoam cake box (the purple cake long ago disposed of, but not enjoyed) with a couple of small towels draped over it. You can also put some warm water in the cake box.
Alternative to tupperware
You can use jam jars. These have the advantage of storage in smaller volumes, but the disadvantage of a more hassle in stage (1).
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]You can get some real stuff in Carrefour, at least I saw it last time I was there, but it’s not cheap, but it’s their own brand, at least in the big one in Taoyuan, not sure what it’s called, but the one with all the outlet stores and some kind of crap mini-mall upstairs. We’re not talking the drinking kind and they have quark, but again, insanely expensive for what it is. It’s sort in a different chiller cabinet than the cheese and milk. They actually had a really good selection of french cheese last time I was there and it was ok priced as well, at least compared to Jason’s et al.
I wish I could get Filmjölk, but I think that might just be impossible, but some advice on where I can find the Kefir mix would be cool.[/quote]Most health food shops should have it. It’s little sachets in a box. I imagine there are places in Taoyuan that stock it, but I don’t have details.
If you happen to be in the Taipei City Hall area, there’s a health food shop on the north side of Zhongxiao Rd, between the two MRT exits. I’m not absolutely sure they stock kefir culture though, so I’d say only go if you’re in the area. There are quite a few other health food shops around. A search on Forumosa should turn up some addresses/directions.
thanks for suggesting to make yogurt in rice maker. I have made lots of yogurt in past, but have not done so since here in Taiwan, so will definitely try the rice maker method.
Anyone have experience with making yogurt from goats milk?
just one more thing…I now add a wire stand so the metal container of milk (soon to be yoghurt) is raised off the heat source and is at a slightly lower temp …this stand is stainless steel and is about an inch, 26mm in height
[quote=“taiboxes”]just one more thing…I now add a wire stand so the metal container of milk (soon to be yoghurt) is raised off the heat source and is at a slightly lower temp …this stand is stainless steel and is about an inch, 26mm in height.[/quote]Sounds like a good idea. I think the temperature directly on the base of most rice cookers is maybe a little too high for optimal yoghurt making. The temperature of my Mum’s yoghurt maker was about lukewarm – a little warm to the touch and no more.
Well, this is the stuff they sell in Carrefour here, there was more stuff last time, but they seem to be moving things around in the shop so it was a bit confusing.
Now I know some of this stuff isn’t plain yougurt, but as I said they had more stuff last week, it’s not really cheap though, but it’s fancy french stuff, aparently
and there’s not one container in the photo that is natural set yoghurt…just processed imitations of the real stuff…but it does taste good!, it’s just not as beneficial for you
I guess in a few year’s time regular supermarkets will start selling real 100% yoghurt just like they do in Australia and other places
The little jars at NT$55 a pop should be the real deal, at least that’s what it said…
What bugged me was the fact they’d taken apart the multi packs and sold them one by one at 3x the going price…
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]The little jars at NT$55 a pop should be the real deal, at least that’s what it said…
What bugged me was the fact they’d taken apart the multi packs and sold them one by one at 3x the going price…[/quote]
Call the manufacturer and complain or the distributor. I would.
Jason’s has a new (AFAIK) unsweetened, unflavored yogurt line suitable for Greek and Indian cooking: “Total” brand, with “authenthic Greek strained yogurt” (milk, cream & culture), “2% fat” (skim milk, cream, culture), and “0% fat” versions. $335 for 500g, or $145 for 170g, but the lady giving samples said the prices might go up next month.
It seems to me if you want to test whether a given batch of store bought yoghurt is alive or not (re: the Joesox/Tailboxes debate in this thread), one simple way to do so would be to buy some good organic milk (you can get this at the Santa Cruz or Cotton Fields organic chains found across Taipei), pour a bit of the milk out of the container to make some extra room, and and pour a bit of of the yoghurt in, and then let it sit for 24 hours at a cool room temperature (like now) with the lid on only loosely (so it doesn’t explode) and see whether or not it becomes yoghurt.
If it turns out well, you might have the best of both worlds (i.e. you get the delicious yoghurt, plus you know the quality of the milk it’s made from).
By the way, I make keffir like this on a regular basis, except just using fresh keffir powder that I keep refrigerated, and making each batch from scratch with organic milk plus keffir powder sitting at room temperature overnight, then refrigerate the next evening. No boiling or other fuss required.
…but please do yourself a favour and put real fresh food into your body and you’ll feel more vital!
