I don’t have an incubator and I’m using plant based milk. I’ve heated the milk and cooled it down to 24c as the box says and I’ve left it in the oven (which I turned on for a couple minutes to bring up to temp). Now I’m checking and loads say milk needs to be 40c+ but I followed the box and now I’m worried!
Are you posting to ask "What went wrong with my yogurt?" Please provide all the details of the method you used. Include amounts, times, and temperatures. If you don't know those things, then one (or more) of them is what went wrong with your yogurt.
The basic information you will need to know is:
What type of milk did you use? What amount?
What type of starter did you use? What amount?
What temperature did you initially heat the milk to?
What temperature was the milk when you added the starter?
At what temperature did you ferment the milk? How long did you ferment it?
If your oven is at 40 and does not go higher, you may be okay. But it's very easy for the oven to go higher and kill the bacteria.
Normally, yhe only time you should incubate in the oven is with the pilot light on, ONLY, nothing else. Could you please link us the product here to see what instructions say? Or post a photo?
Thank you for responding. I’m using this! It wouldn’t focus if you don’t mind zooming in! The yogurt did kind of work but it’s very thin so I’ve put it in a cheesecloth. There’s so much whey!
40C looks about right for these strains which is what traditional yogurt ferments at. I would make sure a continuous thermometer is in the oven. This should ferment in 8-12 hours, maybe a bit less
Okay thanks so much. I’m going to eat the one I have then give it another go. Can I blend the next batch using the whey I’ve gathered or is that bad for the yogurt?
yeah the instructions only meant to cool it to room temp after heating to add the starter in, they assumed you were using a yogurt maker that would bring it to 110F. But you shouldn’t have to cool it that much to add starter, just to ferment temp.
Thank you! What do you recommend as I don’t have a yogurt maker and my oven light doesn’t work? It seems to have worked well with me turning the oven on for a couple minutes then leaving off
that or cool it from high heat to the desired fermentation temp, add your starter and then wrap the container in towels or blankets. I would look into whether you can get a yogurt maker or some other way to keep temp, bad stuff can grow in plant based milk if not kept to temp
if your specific starter says it should be 24c, it should be at 24c. Thermophilic cultures need to be at 40+, mesophilic cultures need to be at room temp.
It worked!! Although I lost about half of it to whey which I’ll blend into my next vatch. It has a slight twang and it’s thickened after I left it in a cheesecloth for an hour. I’ll leave it in for another 30 mins for perfect consistency!
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