Hello,

I have been making yoghurt for a while now and have never had a problem doing
it. The last two times - with the same batch of milk - it has acted
differently.

The milk I use is from a local dairy. They have only grass-fed cows that are
given no antibiotics and no hormones. The milk is low heat pasteurized and it
is not homogenized.

I use the recipe out of Nourishing Traditions for making yoghurt:

Heat milk to 180 F, let it cool to 110 F and keep it at this temp for at least 4
hours.

The last two times I have attempted to make this yoghurt I began heating (always
slowly) the milk and almost immediately it separated. It has never done this
before. I am in the middle of the second attempt now and won't know how how it
turns out for 4 hours.

The first time it happened the milk separated and as the temp rose the curds (?)
coagulated so that when I stirred it it hung around the spoon in big drippy
clumps. Once it got up to almost 180F the curds (?) "melted" and left a grainy
residue in the bottom of the pan. The second time it did not coagulate while
heating...although it did separate.

I went ahead with the batch anyway and after 4 hours I pulled it out to look at
it and it was separated. I assumed it "made" but separated for some reason. I
immediately put it into a strainer with cheesecloth to drip so that I could
salvage something out of it. It dripped and left what seems to be cheese and
whey.

####I have two questions###########

Does anyone know:

1. Why the milk acted this way?

2. If the product of the first attempt is good usable cheese and whey?

####################################

The "whey" looks pretty much like normal whey, but with more than the usual
floating white layer on top...along with a small layer of white on the bottom of
the jar. The whey itself seems more liquid than usual and slightly more
white-tinged than in the past.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has experience or knowledge that may help me!

Ethan Muehlbauer