What happened to my yogurt?

[2DogsFarm]

I tried the crockpot yogurt recipe from this link:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

I used 2% milk and Dannon Natural yogurt and the result came out thin.
It IS yogurt, just not as thick as I like.
Right now I have a pint draining through a coffee filter in the fridge to see if that helps. But if it does it will reduce even farther the amount of yogurt from the recipe.
As it was, I only got 4 pints from the 1/2 gallon of milk.

Anyone have a suggestion for getting a thicker yogurt?

 

[JennsPeeps]

Did you use milk that was ultra-pasteurized? If so, it won't thicken b/c it doesn't have the proper enzymes.

 

[WriterofWords]

Well I'm trying that this weekend! As much yogurt as my son and I eat that would be much cheaper for that amount of yogurt. I wonder if you can use straight from the cow though?

 

[2DogsFarm]

Quote:
Hmmmm...don't know, it was supermarket milk.
Next time I'll check the carton.

It would be nice if I could get it to work the way I want as the cost is about 1/2 the cost of store-bought yogurt.
And I imagine I could use some of my homemade as starter for the next batch - then it would be FREE!

 

[luvarabhorses]

Try this:
Add 1/2 cup dry milk from the box
Add 1/2 teaspoon of pectin (expensive)
Add 1 teaspoon Knox gelatin (cheaper)

I can't say if you can just use one or the other. I had both in my cabinet
so I just added a little of both. Try dumping it back in the crock pot and adding these things, occasionally stirring (2 or 3 times in 12 hours).

hope that helps

 

[debakadeb]

Just the gelatin will work. It won't be noticable until after it is refrigerated but it works great!

 

[keljonma]

If you let if drain long enough, you will have yogurt cheese.

 

[zippy11455]

Two ways to make a thicker yogurt that have worked for me. Use whole milk and mix in some powdered milk. My yogurt is really thick. A spoon will stand up in it.

 

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks all
I have neither gelatin or pectin in my cupboard

Draining all day in the fridge produced a thicker yogurt, but it lost about half its volume.
At that rate I'm breaking even on the first batch but if I can use the homemade for starter, I'll save on the second.

I'm going to try again with non-ultrpasteurized milk (if I can find it at the market).
Antother thought is my hayguy who has some dairy cattle - maybe I could get a 12/ gallon from him.

And I can try the powdered milk tip too - the pantry I volunteer at has that so I won't have to buy any to try it out.