VSL # Yogurt

I use a microwave to heat the milk and an oven (unheated) with the light on to keep it at low warm for 24 hours.
I use 1 packet of VSL#3 and a quart of milk. Put the VSL#3 in AFTER the milk has gone down to 90-100 degrees of course. You want the probiotics alive and well and multiplying.
After 24 hours and it is solid (just a little wiggle when I shake the glass container) I move it to the fridge where it sets up in a couple hours. Don't spoon it out until it's cool or the yogurt will get too watery.

What is is going wrong for you right now?

Isn't all milk in US stores pasteureized? That means it's been heated to 72 degrees to kill microbes before selling it.
I just use regular store milk but I usually buy organic.
You can also use Parmalat, the kind that is sold on the shelf at room temperature.
The important part is to heat all milk to 190 degrees or so, just under the boiling point, to kill anything. Then when you add the VSL#3 (after cooling to 90-100) it will be the only living organism in your yogurt.

P.S. I can't fix my sig. below to say that I no longer eat SCD yogurt at all. Colon dislikes dairy. I miss it :-( but the colon speaks and I listen. Someday I hope I can have it again. In the meantime I continue with VSL#3, without yogurt.

I have been making VSL#3 yogurt using organic milk. I used to heat it up to boiling and then allow it to cool before adding a packet of VSL#3 and it worked fine. However, I decided to try and delete the re-pasteurizing (boiling) step and I haven't seen any difference in the resulting yogurt. It just takes a lot less effort to make. I usually go with a half gallon of organic milk from Costco and add one packet of VSL#3, then allow it to ferment in the Yogourmet yogurt maker for 24 - 48 hours. I stir it up once after about 24 hours. This makes a good tangy yogurt, but it isn't real thick so I drink it. Sometimes I use the leftover yogurt from the previous batch as a starter and this works well, but I have had some variation in taste, which I assume means different amounts of the various bacteria.
I am not sure how important the heating/boiling step is. I am generally healthy and my daughter doesn't drink the yogurt I make - she takes VSL#3DS daily in powder form. I have had great luck with NOT boiling the milk first, just pouring it into the yogurt maker and adding the VSL#3. The organic milk I use has a very long expiration time, so I am assuming the pasteurization process must be very thorough and I think that is why I have not needed to boil it to make good yogurt. As far as how long to let it ferment, I think you will find that you will know when the process is complete, because the yogurt stops changing (fermenting). I have assumed that this means all of the lactose and other nutrients have been digested by the bacteria and they have become dormant again. 36 hours in a good yogurt maker should work depending on how much VSL#3 you start with or how potent your starter yogurt is.
Hope this helps and I hope everyone has good success making their own yogurt. This is a very inexpensive way to gets lots of good bacteria colonizing your colon.
I am not a yogurt or probiotic expert, just trying to pass along my experiences.

Best of luck to everyone and please be careful.

UCPop

I'm not worried about germs. I grew up eating home made yogurt (my mom still makes it -swears it's sooo easy to do but I have never been able to get it to set with her instructions). With pasturized milk it's not an issue and I assume with raw milk heating it to make the yogurt would be pasturizing it anyway. I just can't get it to set without my yogourmet. How long do you guys heat it for?`