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Apr 4, 2012

Yogurt and kefir flops....again

Can I just say that the oh so "easy" world of yogurt and kefir making is driving me insane!!??  I have tried unsuccessfully for years to get any sort of turn on either of these two tasty items.  I can't begin to tell you how much milk I have wasted over the years.  I did get lucky for a short period of time with kefir.  It was divine.  However those results were short-lived and I quickly found myself in failure territory once more.

yogurt


I don't get it.  I have tried every single method I can find.  Ever recipe with the words "fail proof", "worlds easiest", "works every time" have managed to be a dismal failure.

kefir

This week I went to my new best friend (aka Cami the goat queen) and purchased extra milk just so I could try.  She gave me her run down.  Simple easy and delicious.  What did I get?  Nothing except milk that I can't really use now.  Sigh.  I think I may be a whole foods failure.

So two questions:

1. Can someone have a genetic defect that keeps them from producing awesome probiotic filled loveliness?

2. What is your "fail proof" method?  I'm  getting desperate here.

7 comments:

Lissa B. said...

I've had flops with yogurt mostly and it is truly frustrating. I do notice that if it is cooler in my house (this goes for kefir too), there is not enough warmth for the bacteria to multiply. This being the case, the yogurt and kefir remain more like mildly sour milk instead of becoming thick for yogurt and slightly thickened for kefir.

What specifically are you experiencing when you make yogurt or kefir? Does the milk remain thin? Does the whey separate from the yogurt? If the latter is your issue, that is usually because the yogurt has sat too long in that warm temperature.

Another reason for no turnover is if the culture is not active. All this said, there is no reason to get rid of your yogurt or kefir flop. I wrote a post about what to do with yogurt gone wrong here: http://naturalmelange.com/2012/03/19/what-to-do-when-your-homemade-yogurt-goes-wrong/.

Hopefully your answer to my question will help myself or others find an answer for you.

Meghan @ Whole Natural Life said...

Hmm...can I ask how you're making your yogurt and kefir? What problems are you running into? If you're looking for help I'm happy to see if I can think of anything.

I don't think you can have a genetic defect that makes you unable to make dairy products, but I'm sure there are a host of other problems that can conspire against you.

Mrs. Z said...

Here's how I make mine with raw goat's milk.
http://mrszadventure.blogspot.com/2012/03/making-yogurt-with-raw-goats-milk.html

Not sure how you are making it and what hasn't worked. Hopefully this method DOES work for you! That being said, my batch flopped this week. That's only the third time it's happened. I think it was because I rushed too much and didn't time my 3 hour intervals. Now I have some lovely ricotta though! :)

Good luck!

Wonderwoman said...

If your talking about kefir, it's probably not you but the grains. It took me a LONG time to get kefir right and it was only until a friend gave me a big healthy clump to get started with.

Holly G said...

The yogurt method at the Salad in a Jar site has really improved my yogurt - it's nice and thick. The link is

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/healthy-homemade-greek-yogurt.

I win the yogurt battle….sort of | I'm Naturally Simple said...

[...] my post about flopping yogurt I received lots of great suggestions on how to fix my probiotic issues.  Mrs. Z commented on my [...]

Kim said...

Thanks for all the help! I met a lady at the health food store the other night who is going to help me with the kefir issue. I was using a powdered starter (I killed my grains) and she said that was a big part of it. The powdered starter has only ever worked for her one way. I will let you all know how it goes. :)