Homemade Yogurt Question
 

I very recently started making my own homemade yogurt. I've done 3 batches, 1st was plain (yuck), 2nd was vanilla (very good) and the 3rd I tried flavored (strawberry and peach) The 3rd batch is edible and tastes ok, but the texture was not so good.

My question is how do I make flavored yogurt with a creamy texture? Does anybody know? I've searched the web and haven't been able to find anything........

I've never made yogurt myself, so my advice is probably worth what you're paying for it... but I've read about other people having that problem. Most seemed to give up and make the yogurt plain, then add their flavor of choice just before eating (jam/jelly, syrup, whatever it is you use to flavor it).

I've been wanting to make my own yogurt though... I eat plain yogurt with a little maple syrup every morning for breakfast and I could definitely save some money making it myself. What method do you use, or do you have a yogurt maker machine?

I bought a machine as I bring it to work and it was easier to me to already have it in the little jars and much less hassle than the heating pad and all that stuff.

That's kinda what I was afraid of. That I will have to make the vanilla then add fruit when I'm ready to eat it. I did not like the plain as it was much too tart and seemed to take too much to sweeten it. I really liked the vanilla batch though, just added a little splenda and vanilla flavoring immediately after I removed the milk from heat.......YUM!

It is much cheaper. I figured out that I get 7 6oz containers for approx 2.50 whereas store-bought is about 2.00 for 4 - 4oz containers if you catch it on sale.

Thanks for the reply.

I tried once years ago to make yogurt, but I think my yogurt maker was old. I'm going to try again now that I have a gas stove. My mom has always made it successfully with just the pilot light on the stove as the heat source, so I'm going to try that.

If it's runny, you can strain it with cheesecloth or a coffee filter.

I'd not even attempt to make flavored yogurt from the start. You don't know what they put in the yogurt (HFCS, splenda, etc) and some of that junk might get funky when it's sitting in a culture for a long time. I'd start plain and add flavoring.

Personally, I found it worth it to change my tastes to eat plain with a small amount of my own sweetener/flavor in it. I am consuming less sugar and additives that way.

That way is so tasty :) It's also good with a little pumpkin butter. I actually prefer with not too much of the pumpkin butter because a bit of the sour goes really well with that flavor.

Definitely make it plain and then add to it after it is done fermenting.

I like to add stevia to mine, and then mix it with whatever. My current favorite - Fiber One, and blueberries :)

I will give plain another shot. I will have to try with the fiber one and blueberries..That sounds yummy!

I have made homemade yogurt TONS, honestly the best way is to add the fruits/jams right before you eat it, that said you can add them to the jars being sure they are the same temperature as the milk. That will make sure they mess with the consistency the least, try to use new jars because the incubation time can allow "other" things to grow and mess with your texture. You can see why I chose to just add it after.

That said any liquid add in you want is way easier. Vanilla I just add room temp because its such a small amount. Agave or honey are awesome add ins and I use agave at room temp then pour it into the (I use individual containers to incubate) individual containers and let the containers and agave sit in the heat I will be incubating in. For the honey I just warm it up a little in the microwave or hot water bath first to make it more liquid for pouring and to get it closer to the right temp.

Hope you understand what I mean, let me know if not and I will try to clarify.

Thanks Edzard and yes, I understand exactly what you mean. The vanilla batch was fine, no weird consistency or whatever, it was when I tried to add the fruit preserves before incubating that the consistency got a little icky. So I think I will make basic vanilla and add fruit right before eating. I am also going to give plain another try as well.

I've been considering making homemade yogurt. Thanks for the information. I really like greek yogurt so I guess I would have to strain it to make it that thick????

If you can find fresh raw milk from a farmer, it makes awesome yogurt. I just bought a cow share, so that I can get it fresh every week.

I was wondering if anyone had ever used raw goats milk to make yogurt. The raw cows milk give me hope that it will work. We are starting to raise milk goats and it would be a great use for some of the milk.

I would think that you could use Goat's milk, but I don't really know for sure.

So, can you use soy milk to make your own yogurt? Do you have to do anything different?

Think both those require some tweaking when making but not too much. Do some research online for the best answer.