Guest guest Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Hello! My husband found Elaine's book has been on SCD for a few months. We believe he has finally solved the awful digestive riddle that he has been living with for so long! I'm happy to have found this group! I have a question about homemade yogurt...my first batch is fermenting now and I'm concerned if the temp is too high! I bought a Yogourmet maker and followed the directions...no problem. Since the fermenting temp is controlled, I didn't even give it a second thought (that's why I bought a commercial maker!) until I read a note with the maker that was specifically for users on SDC. It says it has been " designed to maintain 108-112 degrees in a room maintained at 68-72 degrees. If used in a warmer room, the incubation temp will be higher. " OK...close the windows, turn on the AC...72 is freezing...set it at 75. I checked periodically and a couple times now the temp of the water bath has gone up to 113, 114, 115 briefly, I removed the lid as instructed and it came down. Here are the specific (no pun intended) questions, if anyone knows: 1-Will a brief temp rise up to 115 or 116 ruin the batch? 2-Is the temp of the water bath the same as the yogurt, or slightly higher? 3- Can you tell if the batch is " good " ?...I used 2% Low fat Milk Any input or experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Hi Suzanne. I have been using a Yogourmet maker since March. When I made the first batch, the water bath temperature went over 120 F. I ate the yogurt anyway, with no noticeable ill effects. By the way, the room temperature at the time was 66 F. So perhaps my machine is defective. But I wanted to optimize the amount of acidophilus being produced in the yogurt, so I needed to lower the water bath temperature. At the first opportunity, my husband bought me a sliding lamp dimmer that I plug into the wall, and then plug the yogourmet plug into, to reduce the current and thus the temperature of the water bath, so that I can keep the water bath temperature between 100 F and 110 F. Lutron and Leviton both make sliding lamp dimmer switches, which are sold at big box hardware stores for about $10. I have marked the position on the dimmer that corresponds to about 105 F, but I end up checking the water bath temperature every few hours and adjusting the slide position if necessary, because of the effect of ambient air temperatures. When I seal the jar with the mixture of milk and culture and place it in the water bath in the machine, I leave the slide at 100% current, to shorten the number of hours it takes for the water bath to get up to 100 F. Once the water bath is over 100 F, I slide the dimmer to the marked position. As for whether the yogurt temperature and water bath temperature are the same, I think they should be. Assuming that the water bath temperature is held constant, then the yogurt inside the jar will gradually come to that same temperature and stay there. I have no scientific data to show whether fermentation of milk into yogurt either produces or consumes energy, which would cause the temperature of the yogurt to differ from that of the water bath. I have not tried measuring the temperature of the yogurt itself, as I would not want to risk contaminating the yogurt while it is fermenting. My husband and I have made many 2-litre yogurt batches since March, and all of them have been delicious and healing, with no undesirable bacteria. Other members of this list do measure the yogurt temperature. That is their choice, but not mine. We always use whole milk, containing 3.8% milk fat (I think). The higher fat content makes the yogurt less tart, so that I can eat it with just a drop of pasteurized honey. Hope this helps. Ellen in Toronto SCD month 7 " Suzanne " wrote: > > I have a question about homemade yogurt...my first batch is fermenting > now and I'm concerned if the temp is too high! > > I bought a Yogourmet maker and followed the directions...no problem. > Since the fermenting temp is controlled, I didn't even give it a > second thought (that's why I bought a commercial maker!) until I read > a note with the maker that was specifically for users on SCD. It says > it has been " designed to maintain 108-112 degrees in a room maintained > at 68-72 degrees. If used in a warmer room, the incubation temp will > be higher. " OK...close the windows, turn on the AC...72 is > freezing...set it at 75. I checked periodically and a couple times > now the temp of the water bath has gone up to 113, 114, 115 briefly, I > removed the lid as instructed and it came down. Here are the specific > (no pun intended) questions, if anyone knows: > > 1-Will a brief temp rise up to 115 or 116 ruin the batch? > > 2-Is the temp of the water bath the same as the yogurt, or slightly > higher? > > 3- Can you tell if the batch is " good " ?...I used 2% Low fat Milk > > Any input or experience would be greatly appreciated! > Thanks > Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Suzanne, I can answer #2 as I did a test on my Yogourmet a few weeks ago. Of course when you start your yoghurt, the difference in temperature between the water jacket and the yoghurt is significant, but declines with time. After 6 hours, just before I turned the dimmer down, the water jacket temperature was 111 degrees F and the yoghurt 104 degrees. For the rest of the processing, the water jacket was always warmer than the yoghurt, but stayed within 1-3 degrees of the yoghurt. See my post at http://eatingscd.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/yoghurt-dimming/ for more. Regarding #3, I've not heard of a test for " good " . If the yoghurt thickened and became tart, you know that it has at least worked somewhat. You just don't know if enough of the lactose has been consumed. I guess what I'm getting at is, " are you feeling lucky? " Cheers, Stocker CD 1983 SCD 1/2005 Remission 8/2007 http://eatingSCD.wordpress.com http://youtube.com/eatingSCD > > Hello! My husband found Elaine's book has been on SCD for a few > months. We believe he has finally solved the awful digestive riddle > that he has been living with for so long! I'm happy to have found this > group! > > I have a question about homemade yogurt...my first batch is fermenting > now and I'm concerned if the temp is too high! > > I bought a Yogourmet maker and followed the directions...no problem. > Since the fermenting temp is controlled, I didn't even give it a > second thought (that's why I bought a commercial maker!) until I read > a note with the maker that was specifically for users on SDC. It says > it has been " designed to maintain 108-112 degrees in a room maintained > at 68-72 degrees. If used in a warmer room, the incubation temp will > be higher. " OK...close the windows, turn on the AC...72 is > freezing...set it at 75. I checked periodically and a couple times > now the temp of the water bath has gone up to 113, 114, 115 briefly, I > removed the lid as instructed and it came down. Here are the specific > (no pun intended) questions, if anyone knows: > > 1-Will a brief temp rise up to 115 or 116 ruin the batch? > > 2-Is the temp of the water bath the same as the yogurt, or slightly > higher? > > 3- Can you tell if the batch is " good " ?...I used 2% Low fat Milk > > Any input or experience would be greatly appreciated! > Thanks > Suzanne > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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