Based on what I’ve read, if you properly sanitize your equipment, heat the milk the right way and so on, I don’t think there will be any real risk of making yourself sick. I don’t think it’s dangerous the way, say, improper canning is. If you screw up, it’s likely your milk will just sour instead of setting, or you might curdle it and get cottage cheese and whey instead of yogurt. That’s my armchair understanding, anyway. It would probably just taste off, have the wrong consistency, or get mold atop it. I don’t think you’d get sick.
chetday.com/howtomakeyogurt.htm
Ok I am making my very first attempt here. Six hours ago, i warmed up my oven to 200F and I brought a quart of milk up to near boil and then let it cool down to what I think is bout 100F and then i mixed some Trader Joes yogurt into the mix and blended it together and put it in the oven. Went out and came home just now and the oven was still at 100F. I am about to see how my yogurt came out 
wish me luck. It would be great if this thing works. Then it will be cheaper as a quart of milk cost me bout a buck. Half a serving of the Trader Joes yogurt with honey costs bout 70 cents. So it will translate to bout 55nt for a quart of yogurt. If it works out well, could be cool !!
Ok so i took it out of the oven and the bottom part has turned into yogurt looking while the top part is still just milk. Its been six hours and the website said only 4 is needed. Whats up? I tasted it and it tastes pretty good. Should i leave it for another hour or two or should i just refridgerate it? Is it yogurt yet? Or is it just kefir? And if its yogurt what is it supposed to look like? Taste like? Before you put in the fridge?
I’ve not made it but have been reading about it (and have made a soft cheese through a similar process), and based on what I’ve read:
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you want to be using a thermometer so you’re not guessing about the temperature (you want 110°F ± 5°F),
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you don’t want to jar (shake) it by moving it unnecessarily before it sets.
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Also, it often takes six or eight hours, even ten, depending on the temperature and the vitality of the culture, so be patient.
There are lots of good instructions on this on the internet. I’ll be making my first batch within two weeks, for sure. :discodance:
I’m led to believe that it will look and taste like yogurt when done, but it will likely be thinner and sourer than what you’ve purchased. You can thicken the next batch with powdered milk before the culturing begins, or with a bit of pectin or unflavored gelatin if you want to replicate the thicker style, and you can of course add sweetener after it’s done, if you like.
If any of my info is wrong, hopefully someone who makes the stuff can step in to correct it.
Ya i probably messed up already as I didnt use any milk powder (whY i have to use that? Isnt a quart of regular milk enough?). And I also stirred up the yogurt that had already set on the bottom. But i think its gonna work, probably will have to keep it in the oven till tomorrow morning tho?? I cant frickin stay up all nite waiting for it to set? Since its like near midnite already.
Adn If i dont let it set? Then i will just get part yogurt and part (possibly yucky) milk if i put it in the fridge now?
And yes, it does kinda taste like the yogurt i put in but a bit more sour. So possibly some adjusting will be necessary. Possibly with a few trials and errors, I could end up doing it perfectly? maybe?
I’ve read that commercial brands add thickeners so that the yogurt is stable during shipment, and people develop a taste for that thicker stuff, but if you just eat the thinner yogurt a few times you might find you prefer the new texture. 
So I wouldn’t say you’ve messed up.
Just leave it, turn the oven off, don’t worry about it, and check it in the morning. It’ll probably be fine.
Well, it should be a bit more sour since you haven’t added your sweetener yet. I’m sure you’ll be making perfect yogurt soon. Jiayou! 
Well the first batch i threw out , not that it was bad but that i had boiled the milk and it had formed a skin which i had scraped up with a spoon and it looks not soo nice. So i started another small batch at midnite and at 8am it looked kinda like very thin yogurt. Have put it in fridge and when i get home tonite i will sample it.
I wonder if i used carnation evaporated milk at a higher concentration (not too much water added) if it would make a better yogurt?
More experimentation needed. However, not having something to incubate it properly is not as good.
I would get one of those yogurt makers if i can find one. I think its a good idea
Some instructions say bring to a boil, remove the skin, then cool. Others say bring almost to a boil but don’t let it boil. Although I’ll start with the latter, I doubt you ruined it, and I think you should have gone ahead with the culturing to see what results you could get.
Did you add any milk powder to the milk before culturing it to thicken it?
[quote]I wonder if i used carnation evaporated milk at a higher concentration (not too much water added) if it would make a better yogurt?
[/quote]
No idea, but most online instructions specified powdered milk, which I think is more economical anyway.
[quote]More experimentation needed. However, not having something to incubate it properly is not as good.
I would get one of those yogurt makers if i can find one. I think its a good idea[/quote]
People have been making yogurt for thousands of years without them. I think they’re convenient but not necessary. A thermos would be good. Or put the mixture, heated to the right temp, in a container, cover it, wrap it in towels, and put it atop a slightly warm object like some kind of electrical appliance.
If you really get into it and want the convenience, and/or if money is no object, then yeah, go for it.
I’ve been reading up on the yogurt makers. Apparently they vary greatly in quality. Some just have a tiny heating element inside, and no actual thermostat. Green & White brand is made in Taiwan and is inexpensive on the local auction sites, like $350 NT or so. Not sure about the quality. What I’d like is a 2-quart job with a variable thermostat so I can adjust it based on what I’m making, buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt or cheese, but I’ve not seen one yet. I know I can do it manually with a double boiler, thermometer and towels, but I’ve got so much going on, what with making everything from scratch all the time, that a little convenience in this area would be worth it.
Yeah i think some sort of machine will be good.
Ok verdict is out on my very first batch of yogurt!! Hip hip hooray. It does in fact resemble a weak yogurt, sort of a cross between kefir and yogurt. It definitely tastes almost identical to the starter yogurt i got from trader joes. Even down to the honey taste. It is over-all much much skimmier (will have to use the milk powder next time) and it is a bit more sour. However, its very uneven in texture, its basically tiny globs within the liquid so the culturing is not even. I am sure with a machine to get the right temperature, things will be better and easier.
is it good what i made? Not really. The commercial stuff is better
Did it taste ok? Yes, it tastes ok, although the uneven-ness is kinda weird. Its like little globs of yogurt in whey. Plenty of liquid. Taste ok, brilliant? no. but with a machine and more practice an acceptable yogurt can be made. The commercial stuff is still going to be better because of its consistency and they probably added emulsifiers and what not to it.
Did you actually measure the temperature it fermented at (start and finish)? Just curious.
If you try again with milk powder added and regulate the temp better and still get the same results, try switching to another yogurt as starter, since the amount of live culture in them is said to vary. See advice from others earlier in this thread, e.g. Flying Cow Ranch or somesuch brand.
NO i am afraid my temperature measuring was very “fly by the seat of your pants”
I simply warmed up the milk, then put in the yogurt starter, and then stuck it in the over after warming it up to 200f, turned off oven and let it sit there for 8 hours then stuck the thingy in the fridge.
No science at all. And surprisingly what came of it was rather “like” yogurt and tasted fine.
I would like to have equipment where i can set the temperature and let it be though. That would be ideal.
I guess having that and measuring equipment (like an one of those temperature thingys they use to stick in meat) would be entirely helpful.
[quote=“tommy525”]NO I am afraid my temperature measuring was very “fly by the seat of your pants” 
I simply warmed up the milk, then put in the yogurt starter, and then stuck it in the over after warming it up to 200f, turned off oven and let it sit there for 8 hours then stuck the thingy in the fridge.
[/quote]
One site says “These thermophilic bacteria (Lactobacilli and Streptococcus thermophilus) are killed if exposed to temperatures over 55oC (130o F), and do not grow well below 37C (98F)”. Thermometers are cheap.
The DIY baking stores have those temperature thingys. I used a temperature thingy when making buttermilk and queso blanco. The temperature thingy was around NT$500. Or you can get a somewhat cheaper traditional temperature thingy. The instant read temperature thingys for meat (and bread, incidentally) cost a little more.
Yes I agree careful monitoring of the temp will be important for any “serious” attempt at making yogurt. A yogurt machine of some sort will be helpful here. Plus experimenting with the right blend of milk and milk powder plus the right starter I would imagine.
[quote=“joesax”][color=#008040]Mod note: split from hummus – buying, making thread. [/color] – DB
Is the cucumber dip tzatziki?
I love all that stuff. It is a bit hippy-ish though. It was funny; on my recent Thailand trip, my brother and I had just come down from the mountains near the Burmese border, and stopped in a small town, Pai, for the night. Pai is what they call a “backpackers’ Mecca” i.e. a bit of a hippy hangout. In the morning we found that all the restaurants offered falafels, hummus, tabouli and other such traditional Thai fare!
[/quote]
Pai is a wicked place. Such food was available because a lot of Israelis go there.
If you ventured one block you’d find all your Thai needs, Pai literally has two streets, one is ‘Farang Street’ where all the backpacker haunts reside and the other is a typical small town Thai street.
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”][quote=“joesax”][color=#008040]Mod note: split from hummus – buying, making thread. [/color] – DB
Is the cucumber dip tzatziki?
I love all that stuff. It is a bit hippy-ish though. It was funny; on my recent Thailand trip, my brother and I had just come down from the mountains near the Burmese border, and stopped in a small town, Pai, for the night. Pai is what they call a “backpackers’ Mecca” i.e. a bit of a hippy hangout. In the morning we found that all the restaurants offered falafels, hummus, tabouli and other such traditional Thai fare!
[/quote]
Pai is a wicked place. Such food was available because a lot of Israelis go there.
If you ventured one block you’d find all your Thai needs, Pai literally has two streets, one is ‘Farang Street’ where all the backpacker haunts reside and the other is a typical small town Thai street.[/quote]Well, we did see that bit too.
I love the title of this thread. Yoghurt, yogurt. So good they spelled it twice.
I did that so that either word would show up in a search. 
Been making my own yogurt to and from for over a year now.
Got one of the NT$600-700 yogurt makers that can be found here and I use some plastic containers I got in RT mart for NT$60-70, but the square milk cartons work as well (due the odd shape of the yogurt makers).
What I found recently though is that the milk used really matters. By chance I ended up using some fancy hokkaido milk and it turned into the greatest yogurt I’ve made so far. As starter I get the flying cow ranch yogurt which is very creamy and tasty, but at NT$35 for a tiny container, it ain’t enough for breakfast with cereal, or you’ll end up spending a small fortune on yogurt, but it’s an excellent starter for making your own from. Each little container is good for about 2-3l of milk, but I can only make about 1l of yogurt at a time in the yogurt maker I have.
I microwave the containers first, to kill any bacteria, put in 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt (might be a bit much, but so what) then fill it up with milk, shake it up, leave it in the yogurt maker over night, put it in the fridge for a few hours and then shake it up good and its done. The only problem I have sometimes is that I get a few small chunks of yogurt, not sure what these are, but they’re sort of hard. Although I did see the same at the hotel in Borocay where we stayed, as they made their own yogurt too.
Most health food stores in Taiwan seem to stock either a kind of fermented milk starter (see my blog about it) or yogurt starters. The fermented milk starter shouldn’t cost more than NT$250 and you get 10 sachets, while the yogurt ones seem to cost anything from NT$350-1200 depending on the type and what the shop wants to charge you for it for anything from 3 to 20 sachets. The fermented milk stuff isn’t as thick as yogurt, but the upside is that it doesn’t require the use of a yogurt maker, you just leave it out for 12-24h.
CitySuper also sells the EasiYo yogurt maker and it doesn’t require power, just hot water, but it’s NT$990. The advantage with that is that you can use the EasiYo power which just mixes with water, but at NT$200+ for a bag, it makes for quite expensive yogurt. However, it seems to be the only way to get greek yogurt here, as they have that in their range of products.
OK…found the perfect yogurt. Believe me, it fits Indian standards LOL. It costs 30 NTd, found it in RT Mart near the butter/cheese section and it is called Nature yogurt from AUCHUAN. Yipee!! Made myself a batch.
Will edit nd attach fotos later.
Funny you should mention that. A friend gave us that setup this past weekend and we enjoyed the yogurt the past couple of mornings. It’s extremely simple (mix water and powder in canister, put in external cannister with hot water, let sit for 12 hours – that’s it) and tastes great. She gave us powder for strawberry, vanilla, boysenberry and peach flavors and told us the banana flavor’s great too. I look forward to chopping up fruit in it in the future.
[quote=“divea”]OK…found the perfect yogurt. Believe me, it fits Indian standards LOL. It costs 30 NTd, found it in RT Mart near the butter/cheese section and it is called Nature yogurt from AUCHUAN. Yipee!! Made myself a batch.
Will edit nd attach fotos later.[/quote]
Hmm… that’s a French import brand, not seen that in the RT Mart in Xindian, but it seems like Taiwan is starting to get a lot more real yogurt rather than those artificial crap things that they call yogurt drinks here.