Author Topic: Yoghurt troubleshooting  (Read 898 times)

shelivesthedream

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Yoghurt troubleshooting
« on: May 03, 2019, 03:33:31 AM »
We've made two batches of homemade yoghurt from a starter we got from a neighbour and it's kinda weird. It's sort of tingly and fizzy, and this second batch has a veeeeeery faintly cheesy smell.

We usually bring the milk up to 85 degrees, heat it there for a bit, cool to 43-46, then wrap a jar in towels and leave it. The first time we checked a lot and the second time we guessed and left it for six hours and it did turn into yoghurt. Then we put the jar in the fridge. But it's just a bit weird.

So...

1. Am I going to die? #jokingnotjoking
2. Why is it tingly/fizzy?
3. How can we make it stop?

Dictionary Time

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Re: Yoghurt troubleshooting
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2019, 05:12:19 AM »
Did you put in a starter? It could be your starter had some other things going on. (Other, less desirable bacteria)

Was your temperature stable during the incubation?  Maybe it fell out of the target temp and something else decided to grow.

Just some ideas from my adventures in lactobacillus.

FIPurpose

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Re: Yoghurt troubleshooting
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2019, 06:21:54 AM »
I always thought, if it's not moldy, it's not going to kill you.

But I have had some funkyness come out before. Your temps are pretty much what I use. Though I tend to push the envelope a bit and add my starter around 48-49. I've been making mine in the Instant Pot lately, so incubating is a bit more consistent, but when I did it in a crockpot it would occasionally get off. I think it was because it got to cold and didn't culture properly. Instead of leaving it on the counter, maybe wrap in a towel and leave it in the oven with the light on to slightly warm it.

misshathaway

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Re: Yoghurt troubleshooting
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2019, 06:29:49 AM »
I have contaminated it with my own mouth bacteria a time or two. That makes it smell yeasty but otherwise it's OK to eat. I guess, since it's my own germs. Maybe that's what happened to you - from tasting.

I make it in the InstaPot and I LOVE the skin that forms when the milk is cooling after the boil. But dipping the spoon in after it's been in my mouth is what's done it for me.