Homemade Vegan Yoghurt

WilleCoyote

Hi All,

Interested to have a discussion about homemade non-dairy yoghurt!

I have made some really good bircher muesli with coconut yoghurt recently and I really love yoghurt with breakfast and Indian food!

Im going to get a yoghurt maker and source some plant based yoghurt starter so I thought I'd kick off a discussion and see what suggestions people have or ideas.

One thing I'd like to try and work out is how to get the macros correct for the yoghurt I make - should it be as simple as combining the ingredients into a recipe? Or does some automagical stuff happen to the makeup when the culture gets going?

Best,
Will

Heligan

Ive made it with the cheapest soy milk I could find and it works pretty well. I bought one of those thermos type yoghurt makers (that you fill with hot water and put the jar with the milk inside); I got the 'dried microbes' on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0014GU46E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yogurt-Starter-Cultures-Freeze-Dried-Culture/dp/B00EXAUIFU/ref=pd_sbs_79_24?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00EXAUIFU&pd_rd_r=52a2e9f0-de6d-11e8-860b-1566fac5c2d3&pd_rd_w=qacXu&pd_rd_wg=bIEjz&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=18edf98b-139a-41ee-bb40-d725dd59d1d3&pf_rd_r=NX2PQGFQ2X6TZ3HGN1DR&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=NX2PQGFQ2X6TZ3HGN1DR

The first lot I made took double the length of time I expected and I had to empty out the water and add fresh hot water around the container several times. Eventually it thickened quite well. I kept some in a jar to use as an innoculant and subsequent batches were the standard time to make.

As for entering it in cronometer Ive just been using the entry for "Silk, Dairy-free Yogurt Alternative, made with Soy, Plain", as a guesstimate. I agree its is not ideal as solutions go.
I imagine magic stuff does happen when the microbes get going, so Im not sure how you would estimate the nutritional content for more adventurous non-dairy milks that dont have a readily available on shelf alternative to find already in database.

Its possible to use the youghurt maker I got with a funnel and teatowel to make soft cheese from the yoghurt too.

WilleCoyote

Thank you! I’ve ordered some culture and a sevrin maker
I expect the chemistry involves converting sugars - lactate to lactic acid or something (in milk anyway) I’ll do some more research as I get started.
Thanks for the insight. Sure is going to beat buying small tubs for $8 a pop!

Susan_RD_101

@WilleCoyote

I would just enter the ingredients you plan to use to make your yogurt as a recipe. There is some "magic" that happens that will slightly alter the nutrition, but I don't think it would be too significant.

And I think there's nothing wrong with using a food proxy to represent a modified version. It can make tracking a lot easier and more sustainable.

Kind regards,

WilleCoyote

Thank you Susan, that's very good idea. Looking forward to this!