For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom

Re:For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom by alexhutcheson on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @10:46AM (#19263918)

If you have an Instant Pot (or maybe another electric pressure cooker), it has a "yogurt" setting that automates steps 1, 2, and 5. It will heat your milk, alert you to when to add the starter, and hold the temperature in the desired range for as long as you want. If you're lazy like me, you can skip the jars and just make the yogurt directly in the stainless steel inner pot.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom by em-bee on Thursday February 28, 2019 @02:49AM (#19269725)

i use a yoghurt machine, which is really no different from a babybottle heater. iaw. something that heats the milk to a consistent temperature and keeps it there.

step 1: put the cold milk in together with the starter. turn on the machine and get yoghurt 12 hours later.

step 2: let it cool down to room temperature.

step 3: put in fridge to cool down further. (i prefer yoghurt cold)

as a starter i use any yoghurt from the store.

different yoghurt starters yield different results.

once it's done i freeze a few spoons full of it for the next batches. an icecube tray or a home popsicle maker works well for that.

i keep several generations frozen so when one generation doesn't work out (i don't like the resulting texture) then i can go back to a previous generation.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom by refurb on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @02:24PM (#19266129)

This has been the main use of our instant pot. We got a big enough version you can put a whole gallon of milk in, then as you said, it's pretty automated after that.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom by shostack on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @11:16PM (#19268912)

Any issues you've encountered or considerations? I've been looking for an excuse to test this in mine but haven't yet.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:For South Asian Cooks, Yogurt Starter Is an Heirloom by alexhutcheson on Thursday February 28, 2019 @04:56PM (#19275643)

If you regularly cook savory foods in your Instant Pot, then the O-ring might have picked up the scent/flavor of that food. The first batch of yogurt I made had a faint "taco meat" taste for that reason.

Vinegar, lemon juice, etc. didn't work to get the smell out of the O-ring, so I ended up just buying another, which I use exclusively when making yogurt. Alternatively, you might be able to just take the O-ring off when making yogurt, since you don't actually need it to be sealed, but I haven't tried this.

[ Parent | on HN ]