Homemade Yogurt

Made my first batch of homemade yogurt using whole milk and half&half in equal parts (2 qts.) in the Yogourmet. Turned out beautifully.  I'm trying to figure out how to get this stuff to be thick.  It is thick right out of the container, but once I drop in some fruit, honey, vanilla powder, it turns to a liquid. My daughter won't eat it this way. She is looking for a spoon thick yogurt in a bowl, like the commercial stuff. Is there any way to get it thick? 

Last night, I dripped alot of it. Poured out the whey this morning. Blended and again - liquid immediately once blended. I know if I used gelatin powder this will not be SCD approved, but we're not on SCD right now so does this matter?

Also, is there any way to get it sweet?  Honey did not do the trick.  Neither did vanilla, bananas, or strawberries.  It's so tart, my Crohn's daughter won't touch it.

If you figure this out, let me know! I made a couple of batches of yogurt but these were my issues too. It was too thin and I could not get it sweet enough. I'm a grown adult and I couldn't eat it even knowing it was really good for me, I can't imagine a young girl. Lots of people on here LOVE the home made yogurt, so there must be some trick we are missing.

We need spookyhurst! She would have some thoughts on this! (thinking of you, spooky!)

When you say gelatin powder, is that like Knox gelatin?

I guess the only time I've ever attempted to blend my yogurt is when we make smoothies with it and it's supposed to turn to liquid! Sometimes I don't bother using the blender and simply stir in vanilla and honey, and now that I think about it, it is a little less firm after that. This may just be the nature of the beast.

If you want to make it exclusively with half and half it will be even thicker yet and a tiny bit less tart. It might be worth a try! Can't guarantee it will be any less runny after mixing, though....

Trigirl said...
I blend dry cottage cheese curds into the yogurt and it thickens it up nicely. Lots of protien in this mixture. Got the idea from the SCD diet book.

AWESOME idea! Thanks, Trigirl!

Here ya go:

http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/strainyogurt.htm

Donnaeil

Keep a close watch on the temperature of the batch. If it's too high or too low it may be liquid. If you want to mix some sweet in it, don't use the blender, the yogurt will get so thin. I always blend blueberries, bananas, vanilla (fresh) or other fruits into it. It's so delicious, and it always improves my health. the temperature is important to keep stable during the fermenting process, otherwise the amount of benefit probiotics wil not develope.

ozonhole, could 110 degrees Farenheit be equal to 38-40 degree Celsius, or? I have tried powdered milk, it was ok, and I succeeded in getting it thick enough. But I prefere to use 1 liter fat milk, bring it to almost a boil, and lower the temperature to 38-40 degrees C, (110 F?), and add half a cup sugarfree yogurt mixed with warm milk to get app the same temperature as the fat milk (here we call it whole milk)and then mix them- many of us use a yogurmet machine to keep the temperature at 38-40 C for 24 hours, it's ok, but you can also use other home made tools to or the oven, the important thing is to keep the temperature at the same stage all the time. If the temperature is getting too low or high, (he batch could also be thick enough) the billions of probiotics that should develope during the fermentating prosess will be destroyed.

ozonwhole, how are you doing, are you still on the diet, and do you find it restricting?
The best, Bee