Yoghurt FAQ

• Why not just take some commercial yoghurt and give a further 24hrs fermentation to use up the lactose that is in it?
  According to Dept. of Agriculture dogma, additional milk solids including lactose and protein are added to commercial yoghurt and then subjected to the short fermentation. Because of so much lactose in it from the very beginning, what happens is that the little good guys (bulgaricus and thermophilus start doing their work and when they have converted half of the lactose in the original vat, there is lactic acid produced and the acidity (acid=acidity)(the pH) reaches a critical point of about 3.5. At this point, our little guys' enzymes cannot work because of the acidity and there is still 50% more lactose remaining (remember they added milk solids at the start). You end up with as much, if not more, lactose as in a glass of milk. Subjecting the yoghurt to more time would not change anything. The cultures' machinery (enzymes) cannot work in such an acid environment. - Elaine
• What happens if I leave it fermenting for too long?
  Up to 29 hours is fine, but after 30 hours, it starts to kill the good bacteria. After 36 hours, it will not last as long in the refrigerator.
• I forgot to switch on my yoghurt maker will it be ok if I switch it on 8 hrs later?
  At room temperature it will have started to ferment but at a much lower rate. Switch it on and ferment it for a full 24hrs and it should still be ok.
• What happens if I use the yoghurt in cooking?
  You will lose the probiotic benefit of the bacteria, because the heat from cooking will kill them.
• What happens if I freeze the yoghurt?
  You lose some, but not all of the probiotic benefit of the bacteria, because some of them will be killed in the freezing process.
• What happens if I dehydrate the yoghurt?
  You lose the probiotic benefit of the bacteria in it.
• How long is yoghurt good for after you've fermented it?
  It can last up to three weeks in the fridge, but the bacteria will remain active in it for two weeks at most.
• Why can't I use the yoghurt I have made as a starter for the next batch?
  This would be a bad practice, the commercial yoghurt or starter powder we use as a starter has been produced under tightly controlled production methods and should not contain undesirable strains. If we use the yoghurt that we have produced with each generation other strains are likely to contaminate it and the existing bacteria can also mutate to undesirable strains
• "Yogourmet" yogurt starter has sucrose listed as an ingredient, is it okay to use?
  Elaine says that the small amount of sucrose in the Yogourmet starter will not be a problem as it will all be consumed in the SCD™ 24 hr fermentation
• What is the liquid left over from dripped yoghurt? is it whey?
  The water is not whey, per se. Whey contains lactose is usually the word used when you separate milk into curds (protein) and whey just like Little Jack Horner. There is no culture involved, just separation which I believe is done by using rennet when making cheese.
  The water we get in our lengthy fermentation is actually the "water of hydrolysis) which forms when the culture splits lactose which yields two monosaccharides and H2O.
  It varies often with temperature variations as well as when you use milk with varying amount of fat. Skim milk would yield the most water as it has more lactose than whole milk and, therefore, there would be more water of hydrolysis when this increased amount of lactose is split. - Elaine
• Is there a maximum amount of yoghurt I can eat in one day?
  Yes don't take more than 3 cups per day whether dripped or undripped.
  Elaine writes:
  The reason I put a "top" on yoghurt amount is because of the amount of one of the sugars of which lactose is composed: galactose. In other words, more than 3 cups would put stress on the liver to convert galactose to glucose and people with IBD don't need more stress on the liver.
  However, if you drip the yoghurt, you are getting rid of the watery part with the galactose so if you can eat 3 cups of dripped yoghurt per day (and I can't imagine why you would want that much), go ahead. Just remember that you are eating pure casein which is a very good protein but that would be an awful lot.