Guest guest Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well, since discovering gelatin in my yogurt, I've decided to buy a yogurt maker. I know a lot of you here make your own yogurt and can undoubtedly answer some questions for me. First - what brand of yogurt maker? Using the oven is out of the question because the cats are very good at turning the temperature up when the oven is on. I eat 1 to 2 cups of yogurt daily, especially when my stomach is bleeding. Second - I'm not wild for plain yogurt, so how to flavor it? I thought about lime jello to make it nice and lime-y, but there's the old bugaboo gelatin. I tried a vegetarian friendly gelled dessert made with agar but it was plain nasty. Lime juice would make it curdle, wouldn't it? Vanilla is OK, but I really love the added fruit yogurts. Third - can I use non fat dry milk? Skim or 2% milk? Fourth - What sweetener? I can't use sugar, do use a little honey but I budget it out and would rather save it for my tea rather than my yogurt. Thanks! Jeanne in GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Hi, Jeanne! I'm only replying to the part of your post about " flavorings " for your yogurt. (I made my own yogurt years ago when my now-grown daughters were infants, but not anymore!) I've used some of those non-sugar-sweetened, all-fruit " spreads " and jams for flavoring of plain yogurt, and they aren't bad. You would have to read the labels, in case the ingredients list any gelatin that you would want to avoid. I think pectin is mainly what's used to " gel " the products. I don't remember all the brand names, but there are several, and can be found in regular grocery stores, most of the time. If you live anywhere near where there is an " Amish " type of bakery-produce store you might find some locally-produced sugar/gelatin-free fruit spreads, as well. Fruit " butters " --similar to apple butter, but can be made of pumpkin, berries, peaches, apricots, etc., and usually made of all fruit, no gelatin... can be found, often, in these little " country market " shops. I wish you success in your yogurt-making; I hope you find tasty " flavorings " for your healthy home-made yogurt! Peace! --Laura B., in Illinois Posted by: " Jeanne B " treazured treazured Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:07 pm ((PST)) Well, since discovering gelatin in my yogurt, I've decided to buy a yogurt maker. I know a lot of you here make your own yogurt and can undoubtedly answer some questions for me. First - what brand of yogurt maker? Using the oven is out of the question because the cats are very good at turning the temperature up when the oven is on. I eat 1 to 2 cups of yogurt daily, especially when my stomach is bleeding. Second - I'm not wild for plain yogurt, so how to flavor it? I thought about lime jello to make it nice and lime-y, but there's the old bugaboo gelatin. I tried a vegetarian friendly gelled dessert made with agar but it was plain nasty. Lime juice would make it curdle, wouldn't it? Vanilla is OK, but I really love the added fruit yogurts. Third - can I use non fat dry milk? Skim or 2% milk? Fourth - What sweetener? I can't use sugar, do use a little honey but I budget it out and would rather save it for my tea rather than my yogurt. Thanks! Jeanne in GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 I haven't made my own yogurt , but I wanted to add my 2 cents to the fruit flavoring stuff because I way prefer to buy plain yogurt and flavor it myself. Just cook down whatever fruit you like to a consistency that makes you happy, adding in anything that strikes your fancy (vanilla, lemon rind, ginger, cinnamon...), and mix it into the yogurt. So easy & yummy! For whatever reason, I haven't figured out how to do blueberries in a way that tastes as good the next day, but cooked down other berries, peaches, & apples all keep very nicely for at least several days in an airtight refrigerated container. (It'll set a little once it cools, more if you add sugar.) Hope this helps! Peace, Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Jeanne, I make my own yogurt. I use a Yogourmet yogurt maker. It can be found for anywhere from $50 US to $70, so it pays to look. It is very easy to use. It makes up to 2 quarts/liters of yogurt. They sell the cultures, but you can use any yogurt with active cultures as a starter. I just save a cup of yogurt from my previous batch, to use as a starter for the new batch. I put a dash of vanilla and some agave nectar ( I don't really measure) before incubating my yogurt. When the yogurt is ready, I add fresh fruit and granola to make a yogurt parfait. I also add fruit spreads or homemade " freezer jam " for flavorings. You should use nonfat dry milk in addition to skim milk. The less fat in the milk, the more dry milk you would need to add. Also, if you want a thicker yogurt, you can also add dry milk. You (not really you, non-veggies) can add gelatin to thicken it also, as you well know If you have any more questions, feel free to ask, ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:- Terri -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ Genesis 2:15 The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. On Feb 26, 2009, at 9:40 AM, wrote: > > Well, since discovering gelatin in my yogurt, I've decided to buy a > yogurt maker. I know a lot of you here make your own yogurt and can > undoubtedly answer some questions for me. > > First - what brand of yogurt maker? Using the oven is out of the > question because the cats are very good at turning the temperature > up when the oven is on. I eat 1 to 2 cups of yogurt daily, > especially when my stomach is bleeding. > > Second - I'm not wild for plain yogurt, so how to flavor it? I > thought about lime jello to make it nice and lime-y, but there's the > old bugaboo gelatin. I tried a vegetarian friendly gelled dessert > made with agar but it was plain nasty. Lime juice would make it > curdle, wouldn't it? Vanilla is OK, but I really love the added > fruit yogurts. > > Third - can I use non fat dry milk? Skim or 2% milk? > > Fourth - What sweetener? I can't use sugar, do use a little honey > but I budget it out and would rather save it for my tea rather than > my yogurt. > > Thanks! Jeanne in GA > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Thanks Terri! I'll keep on the lookout for the Yogourmet maker. What a clever name. I'm glad that it makes more than one I found at Wal Mart which didn't even make enough for me to get through a day, lol. Carl is a fiend for frozen yogurt - what every good diabetic should be shoveling in, right? I'll play around with this and see what I can do with my ice cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid. We tried a sugar free fat free sludge by Edy once and ended up throwing it out. The dogs wouldn't even eat it. (That's got to be bad when they won't touch it!) Is it just me or are the food manufacturers hiding more and more garbage in our food? I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the reason people are developing severe food allergies is the garbage we're eating along with the steroids and chemicals. I never heard of anyone with such food allergies that getting a whiff of a peanut would kill them before now. Carl and I were organic gardeners before it became trendy. Crazy world. Thanks again! Jeanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 My sympathy for your stomach. My complements to your clever cats! I make tons of veggie yogurt every week and with the experience it has become very easy and downright cheap to make, at about 7 cents per 300 gram serving of non-fat LOM (lentil-oat-milk) fil mjolk (ongoing, room-temperature culture) yogurt. The best yogurt maker I've had or heard of is the bread-dough proofing box I made for helping make sourdough bread. It is just a closed styrofoam cooler with a low wattage lightbulb in the top. The lightbulb is wired through a dimmer switch, and there is an inexpensive probe-style dial thermometer poked in through the side of the cooler to where there is room actually for a couple gallons(!) of closed containers. I lay a re-usable piece of aluminum foil over the containers so they heat less directly from the light bulb, which is normally set down very low using the dimmer switch. I can dial in any temp from ambient to the recommended 110-115 F for thermophilic cultures. It also does an admirable job with proofing sourdough starter and starting finicky pepper seeds. (A roll of duct tape could also be handy, to use a piece temporarily to better set the low temp dial on your oven, if you truly have one that can be used for yogurt making. Though this might frustrate your cats.(!)) The reason not to mix blended fruit directly with the live culture yogurt is that the differing types of sugar in the fruit can ferment to make weird, off-tasting intermediates in the yogurt, like fruit-liqueur that hasn't finished, in the time allowed for normal yogurt-making. Even bananas don't taste good if mixed in directly. A good way is to make a jelly or smoothie with blended fruit and milk (no culture), pour that into the bottom of the cups and let it harden or freeze before pouring in the liquid yogurt, keeping the layers separate, like fruit-in-the-bottom yogurt. You can use any kind of milk to make the yogurt. So long as there are some sugars present you can ferment it to make a probiotic food. But a lot of them (like homemade soymilk) do not set satisfactorily to a spoonable texture without added thickeners. A lot too will separate. The reason to use a little sugar, particularly in veggie yogurts, is that the culture needs it to feed on. But it can be usually any type of alpha sugar, white, brown, honey, maple-syrup, etc. And if you're using dairy milk, there is sure to be enough lactose already, so you can usually just sweeten to please your own tastes. More questions, ask. Slim , Jeanne B <treazured wrote: > > Well, since discovering gelatin in my yogurt, I've decided to buy a yogurt maker. I know a lot of you here make your own yogurt and can undoubtedly answer some questions for me. > > First - what brand of yogurt maker? Using the oven is out of the question because the cats are very good at turning the temperature up when the oven is on. I eat 1 to 2 cups of yogurt daily, especially when my stomach is bleeding. > > Second - I'm not wild for plain yogurt, so how to flavor it? I thought about lime jello to make it nice and lime-y, but there's the old bugaboo gelatin. I tried a vegetarian friendly gelled dessert made with agar but it was plain nasty. Lime juice would make it curdle, wouldn't it? Vanilla is OK, but I really love the added fruit yogurts. > > Third - can I use non fat dry milk? Skim or 2% milk? > > Fourth - What sweetener? I can't use sugar, do use a little honey but I budget it out and would rather save it for my tea rather than my yogurt. > > Thanks! Jeanne in GA > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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