Day 4 progress, and my first experiment at making yogurt is in progress

[Guest guest]

All is well so far. I have increased my magnesium supplement dose to

compensate for the lack of fibre in the introductory diet, to reduce C. I

have added beef and zucchini to my diet, with no ill effects. In addition to

chicken soup (lots), I have been eating a lot of cheesecake, but I have lost

2 or 3 pounds since Monday morning, so I guess the honey in the recipe isn't

harming me too much.

I found a brand of grape juice that is both organic and made directly from

grapes, with no preservatives, sugar, or concentrates. It's called Lakewood.

I didn't get a letter from the manufacturer, as all this information was

printed on the label. I bought only a small (250 ml) bottle to try, and I

drank half of it on each of days 1 and 2, diluted with the same amount of

filtered tap water. I realize that Lakewood is not on the official list of

juices, but I don't really like Welch's or Kedem very much, so I will

continue drinking Lakewood grape juice.

I bought a Yogourmet yogurt maker yesterday, after realizing that the lowest

temperature setting on the " Smart Pot " I was planning to use was too high

for fermenting yogurt. I didn't start making yogurt until this evening

though, because I wanted to review messages in the list archives and

elsewhere concerning the temperature at which the starter should be added. I

decided to go with what was written in " Breaking the Vicious Cycle, " about

cooling the simmered milk to room temperature.

Since I keep reading that SCD yogurt should be introduced into the diet

slowly, I am only using 1 litre of 3.5% organic milk this time. My husband

helped me with this, stirring the milk in the double boiler and checking the

temperature on the lovely little Yogourmet thermometer, then timing the

simmer phase. After the 2 minutes were up, he poured out the very hot water

from the bottom part of the double boiler pot and refilled that part with

very cold water, then filled the sink with cold water to cool the entire

assembly. It only took a few minutes for the milk to cool from simmer to

25C.

Then I followed the directions about straining 1 cup of room-temperature

milk into the plastic container, mixing in 1/2 package (1 envelope of 2

attached) of Lyosan starter in the inner container, whisking 40 times, then

straining in the rest of the milk and whisking another 20 times. My husband

added water to the outer Yogourmet container, above the level recommended

for 1 litre, as a precaution in case the machine overheated. It took nearly

3 hours for the water temperature to climb to 104 F. So, perhaps we should

have used only the recommended volume of water after all?

I am puzzled about the design of the thermometer that came with the

Yogourmet machine. It's great for clipping onto the pot of milk as I heat

it, but useless for checking the temperature of the water around the

fermenting yogurt. So, I've been using my instant-read meat thermometer,

which has a long straight probe, to check on the water temperature every

half hour or so. But to use it, I have to remove the outer lid of the

machine. Does that affect the rate at which the water heats?

I have noticed recent messages about using various remote reading digital

thermometers for yogurt making, but I am not sure I understand how I would

use one with the Yogourmet machine. Would I immerse it in the water bath

around the yogurt container? And would I need to make a hole in the outer

lid?

So far, the machine has been maintaining a temperature of 108F, which I

think is in the proper range. I won't be able to monitor the temperature

while I am asleep, but I will hope that it stays at about 108 F.

Do I absolutely have to use the plastic inner beaker that came with the

machine? I try to reduce the amount of plastic in my diet, and I don't even

drink water from plastic bottles anymore. So I was wondering whether I could

use a 1-litre glass mason jar in the machine instead. I plan to transfer the

fermented yogurt from the plastic container into a glass jar.

The good news is that I am not feeling tempted to eat the foods I will have

to avoid for years. The bad news is that I am impatient to introduce more

SCD-legal foods quickly, so as to be able to rotate my food choices more.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Ellen in Toronto

MCS, food allergies, IBS, fibromyalgia, ME/CFIDS

SCD March 17, 2008