--- In native-nutrition@yahoogroups.com, "Buddy A. Touchinsky, D.C."
<dr.touchinsky@...> wrote:
>
> I used a casserole dish in a skillet. Even on low, it was around
120 degrees. Initially it was perrfect, at around 110 degrees, but
when I checked it an hour later it was 120.
>
> The overall method was thaw the raw cow milk, warm to around 150,
cool down to 110, then add a powder starter.

Well if you meant to keep the yogurt raw, you didn't -- my
understanding is that you have to keep the temp below 115 degrees the
entire time for that. ;-) And if you left the casserole on the burner
after adding the starter, then you probably killed the yogurt
bacteria before they could colonize. (RIP.)

IME making raw and "cooked" yogurts, cooked yogurts with powdered
starter tend to set up better, giving a thicker, more consistent
texture (with the caveat that goat yog is thinner overall). However,
180 degrees seems to be the magic high temp to get the thickest
yogurt; heating the milk less doesn't seem to do it. It can make for
a long wait before adding the starter, though.

Raw yogurt is more of a gamble; I'm never quite sure how it'll turn
out, but it's usually much more watery and tends to separate. I think
that the key is to bring the raw milk up to around 110 veeeery
slowly, remove the milk from the heat source, add the room-
temperature starter, and maintain that 100- to 115-degree temp for
12+ hours, even up to 24 hours.

FYI, I usually use raw goat's milk with a couple tablespoons of
purchased goat's milk yogurt (per 2 quarts of milk) as starter, or
raw cow's milk with powdered starter. I use an Excalibur dehydrator
as an incubator. I've also heard that you can use a cooler with jars
of boiling hot water (replaced every so often) to achieve the same
effect, but I'm too lazy for that!

Try it again; you'll eventually get it right! In the meantime, use
the milk for something else ...

Best,
Pam