Why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch?
When making yogurt with Yogourmet yogurt starters it is recommended to boil the milk, bring it down to 110 degrees F, then take out a cup of milk and mix the starter, then add that mixture back into the main batch of milk and let it culture.
What is the reason for not just adding the starter directly to the batch of milk?
Best Answer
Dry powders are easier to mix if you make a slurry first with a small amount of liquid and then mix the slurry in.
If you skip this step you will have clumps of dry powder floating on top of the milk and it will take a lot more effort to mix in.
When you are using yoghurt as a starter for a new batch this step is not necessary and the starter can just be mixed in directly.
Pictures about "Why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch?"
Quick Answer about "Why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch?"
Only a small amount of fresh yogurt culture is needed to start the fermentation process—about 2 to 3 teaspoons per cup of milk. If too much starter culture is used, the bacteria will be crowded and run out of food (lactose) before the yogurt is set.Why is there a need for the milk to cool down first before adding the active yogurt culture?
The pasteurization process kills any pathogens that can spoil milk as well as to eliminate potential competitors of the active cultures. After milk pasteurization, the milk is cooled down to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature for optimal growth of yogurt starter cultures.What happens if you use too little yogurt starter?
Too little starter makes runny yogurt, but too much (more than 2 Tbs./quart for pasteurized or 2 1/2-3 Tbs. for raw yogurt) makes things separate into whey and thick cheese.How do you use a yogurt starter?
Add 4 Tbsp. (1/4 cup) of yogurt from the previous batch and mix well. The ratio here is one tablespoon of culture per cup of milk. Pour the milk into the container(s), cover the mixture, and culture for 5-8 hours at 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit.Why is milk heated to make yogurt?
Heating milk before culturing denatures one of the main whey proteins, lactoglobulin, which allows it to join in the mesh (instead of remaining inactive) and effectively increases the amount of protein in the milk that will be available to thicken the yogurt.Homemade Yogurt Starter(2 Simple Methods) || Chilli And Lemon || How to make Yogurt Culture.
More answers regarding why is it recommended to mix yogurt starter with a small amount of milk before adding to the entire batch?
Answer 2
To avoid clumping. It is much easier to disperse a solid into a small volume of liquid first by whisking or stirring to reach an even consistency and then pouring it into a larger volume of liquid where it will disperse readily, than it is to manage the solids being dumped directly into a larger volume of liquid.
Answer 3
in addition to avoiding clumping, thoroughness of mixing with less effort
whether this is well understood or not, you're much more likely to uniformly mix a cup of something into a quart of something than you are to uniformly mix a teaspoon of something into a quart of something
this technique scales well. need a teaspoon of something thoroughly mixed into to 30 gallons of something else? start with a cup, then a gallon, then 5 gallons, then the 30 gallons otherwise the original teaspoon would just be a thin spiral streak through the big batch
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Charlotte May, Jill Wellington, Maria Bortolotto, Karolina Grabowska