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Awesome post Dame Sweasy!

You need to put a like-o-meter on your own work!

(now, is that pronounced Like-oh-meter? or Like-omm-iter?)

fascinating yogurt experiments! I read somewhere that adding too much starter can cause a grainy texture. I didn’t see that manifesting in the experiment. Oh one thing I recently learned is that it’s possible to nearly eliminate the possibility of scalded milk in the bottom of the pan during the initial heating by putting a thin layer of icewater in the pan before pouring in the milk. That seems crazy but it really works.
Thank you youtube for that tip!

Now I’m all inquiring minds!!! Do dish on Graham.

Woohoo! Braggin’ rights!

Huhn. I’ve always used skim milk–whole would indeed yield a rich product. Sounds like you’re off and running!

We have one good commercial yogurt which is made with whole milk and its cream. It is amazingly different than most of what passes for yogurt – the difference between Wonderbread and a baguette.

The chances of homemade yogurt in our household are essentially nil, as someone is obsessed with sanitation and the idea that you could leave out some warm milk for several days and only the bacteria you want would grow in it is beyond my ability to explain. Butter, Peanut Butter, and bread all get put into the refrigerator unless I put them high enough to be out of the reach of little (very clean) hands.

yogurt – I heat the milk in the microwave; thirty seconds, stir and measure temperature – thirty seconds – stir and measure – thirty seconds – and so on and so forth until 108 degrees. A couple of tablespoons of milk powder to thicken it, and when it is yogurt, stir in some fruit or jam.

Billy Grahm – I immediately thought of Johnny Carson, wonderful on-air personality, real life not so wonderful.

There is something about meeting people in real life; pheromones, sixth sense, instinct, telepathy, something.

It’s nothing juicy, Mrs C. He was just really stuck up and full of himself. Bragging about the places he’d been and the people he’d met, when he was sitting a table full of people who had been places and met people.

Another famous man at the table (who I shall not name, in case this was a unique meeting) was taking the piss out of him and leading him on without Graham catching on, which my dad thought was hilarious.

Sweasy – according to the six degrees of separation concept, you were only 2 people away from God.

@Skandia Recluse:

Billy Grahm – I immediately thought of Johnny Carson, wonderful on-air personality, real life not so wonderful.

There is something about meeting people in real life; pheromones, sixth sense, instinct, telepathy, something.

The only generally well-known people I’ve ever met whose public and private personalities were exactly the same were both l/Libertarians: Harry Browne and Dr. Ron Paul. I suppose not many remember Harry these days, though.

The handful of others I’ve had the “pleasure” of knowing are in private mighty darned full of themselves.

Interesting thing about the starter in your yogurt. The exact same thing happens with sourdough bread. A little starter makes for a better loaf, but it does take a bit longer. Apparently the yeast is more eager when it’s breeding like mad, and the bacteria have produced less byproducts that give that sour tang (alcohol, lactic acid, acetic acid).

I wonder if a similar situation exists for beer brewing, because these are all similar kinds of fermentation.

With sourdough, you want to feed your starter the day before to get it happy and eager. Is that a specific step with yogurt? ( although making a batch today, and taking a bit and making another batch from it the next day, etc, would amount to the same thing I think. )

Make a batch of yogurt with light cream instead of milk.

It’s ridiculously good and the only way I make it now. Always thick and rich, no need for straining or adding dry milk powder to thicken it. More spendy of course, but you just can’t eat as much in a sitting, so.

To incubate, I float the containers in an insulated beverage cooler full of 115- 120 degree water, and shut the lid until the morning.

…but of course, I have no idea where to get Jersey milk here in CT. I hear it is much better for us than Holstein, which seems to be the standard here. Some protein difference in the milk.

Stoatie…You just wait until the early strawberries…nothing better than homemade yogurt and strawberries. Then afore you know it; apricots followed by peaches and then blackberries.

Anonymous…I think all three processes, whiskey fermentation too, are more similar than not…cuz yeast, like politics, is local. No matter what you begin with the wild yeast in your environment takes over.

I have a sourdough starter I’ve kept going for over twenty years and it changed when we’ve moved and with the seasons. I figured out that if I use starter after it has been fed and is all happy, I can make 3 hour no-knead bread. The crumb isn’t as open, but turns out crusty, tangy and danged good.

I love making bread…when a loaf sings on the cooling rack it makes me very happy and brings this to mind as I fetch the butter crock from the pantry.