4 ms·
Off topic but I can't let this go by: > yogurt requires a constant temperature over a specific length of time. No it doesn't. I make perfectly good yoghurt i
by ninalanyon 2y ago
Off topic but I can't let this go by:
> yogurt requires a constant temperature over a specific length of time.
No it doesn't. I make perfectly good yoghurt in an old glass vacuum flask by heating a litre of milk to 80 C, allowing it to cool to 50 C, adding 60 g of live yoghurt, pouring it into the vacuum flask, putting the lid on and leaving it overnight.
- profsummergig 2y agoIs it necessary to heat it to 80c, can one heat it to 50c only, instead? Also, do you use a thermometer to measure the temps?
- toothrot 2y ago80c is a convenient temperature for activating naturally occuring enzimes in food for breaking down complex sugars. Similar, but food specific, holding temperatures are used for beer brewing, french fries, and other foods with complex sugars.
- hinkley 2y agoIn fermentation the initial heat is usually to harm any microbes other than your preferred ones so the selected microbes have time to make the environment inhospitable to other microbes before they can do the same to the selected microbes. Vinegar and alcohol in grape juice are two factions fighting for supremacy by trying to poison each other to death.
- nsenifty 2y agoBeen making yogurt at home for years. I just heat milk to the point when it's just about to boil over. Never measured the actual temperature, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 100C. I just cool it until it's warm to touch (about 40-45C) before adding the culture (a spoonful of last day's yogurt), then leave it overnight in the oven with the pilot light on.
- Suppafly 2y ago>the oven with the pilot light on. Those still exist, or do you just mean the interior light bulb?
- ninalanyon 2y agoPilot light surely means it's a gas oven.
- Spooky23 2y agoYou should follow the guidance and use a candy thermometer to kill the nasties. Once you make a few batches, you can usually eyeball it, different milks will act subtly different at temperature. Heating also changes how milk components can consumed by the cultures. I get milk from a farm that doesn’t homogenize it the same way as store stuff - the skin develops on the surface sooner. Personally, I prefer to use a yogurt maker that keeps it at a consistent temperature. But you can make great yogurt in a variety of lower tech scenarios.
- fuzztester 2y agoyes, and even in a no-tech scenario, as i said here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42029736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42029736 :)
- ahartmetz 2y agoAlso noteworthy but little-known is that unprocessed milk from a farm has up to 5% fat - you can't buy milk with that much fat in a supermarket.
- satvikpendem 2y agoI just add heavy cream to the milk for yogurt, has the same effect and is delicious.
- Moru 2y agoIn Finland they sell some small portion-bowls with a thin solidified cream layer on top. It's not yoghurt but something we Swedes call "Långfil" [1]. It has a very funny consistency, it doesn't stick to the spoon as normal youghurt and is very delicious! [1] https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A5ngfil https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A5ngfil
- OJFord 2y agoIf you happen to be in the UK - Graham's Dairy milk (sold in supermarkets) is 5%. But you're right that 'whole milk' is 3.5% or greater, typically 3.7% for supermarket own brand. Gold top or Jersey is 5%.
- dundercoder 2y agoI find that the yogurt is thicker when I initially heat it higher. My understanding is it changes some of the proteins, resulting in a higher curd yield.
- OJFord 2y agoIt's pasteurisation, your 50C-only yoghurt would potentially not last as long; possibly even succumb to unwanted bacteria before (or the wanted be outcompeted by the unwanted) turning to yoghurt. I don't measure it to 80C, just heat milk until it breaks then switch off and let it cool. I didn't have a thermometer when I first made it, but now I might measure that it had cooled enough. I wouldn't say it has to be as hot as 50C, you just probably don't want it hotter, so if you're making it without just let it cool to tepid, feeling warm to the touch, then add whatever you're using. Cheese similar, just more specific cultures. (And I suppose if you really get into it, the specific temps and holding them thing is a lot more true for cheeses - or rather for different types - than it is for yoghurt.)
- profsummergig 2y agoThe gallon milk jug we get in the USA, does that need to be pasteurized too? I'd assume they're already pasteurized.
- OJFord 2y agoFair point, I suppose if it's freshly opened and poured straight into a vessel out of a (not-eco) dishwasher cycle then it probably is a redundant step. Any relaxation from that doesn't mean it's definitely going to be an issue, just increasing the likelihood, or increasing the bacteria competition, it's not black and white.
- fuzztester 2y agoright, you don't need a constant temperature to make yogurt. in india, people don't even measure the temperatures as you mentioned. we just boil the milk (to sterilize it), let it cool some amount, put in the curd (indian english term for yogurt, dahi in hindi, thayir in tamil) starter (which is just curds from a previous batch), mix, and leave it covered for a while, typically overnight, anywhere in the house, or in a cooler or warmer part, depending upon your location and ambient temperature. the milk automatically sets, by the action of the bacteria, and becomes curd. nothing to it. even kids can make curd.
- trompetenaccoun 2y agoThere other inaccuracies. To give just one example: >One of the key differences between the Japanese and Chinese rice cooker is that the latter has a glass lid, which Chinese cooks demanded so they could see when to add sausage. The average Chinese rice cooker looks exactly like the Japanese ones. Cookers with glass lids exist but are uncommon in China. In fact if anything, I've most often come across those glass lid ones in the West, not in East Asia. Also the sausage part is so random, lol. The article is badly researched. A couple of years ago I'd have said I'm shocked a university professor wrote this, but frankly at this point it's to be expected.
- MichaelZuo 2y agoIEEE spectrum has gone way downhill, there’s literally no fact checking beyond brief google searches at all for most articles nowadays.
- Suppafly 2y agoA vacuum flask keeps the temp pretty consistent for a long time though. I doubt anyone thinks it needs to be perfectly consistent, just within the range that the bacteria can survive.
- ninalanyon 2y agoIf by consistent you mean within 20 K of the starting temperature.