Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I want to make Raw Milk yogurt by the Viili culture starter from Cultures for Health, but it says if using Raw Milk, that it has to be heated to 160 degrees and cooled, before using it to make yogurt. Isn't the point of using Raw Milk not to heat it and ruin the vitamins? Would cooking it to this temperature basically make it pointless to use Raw Milk or is this temperature low enough to keep the vitamins intact? Also what are we supposed to do, hold a thermometer in it until it's done heating?

**EDIT I also want to buy kefir, but kefir needs to be made every single day to keep. Do I have to make the yogurt every day too? It'd be hard to have kefir AND yogurt everyday (even though I'm sure it's tasty haha) Or how do you guys do this so that it doesn't go bad?

edited Jan 11 at 0:19

asked Jan 10 at 22:43

Amber
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Does this seem like a goodd way to do it healthhomehappy.com/2011/07/… ? She says to get rid of all the lactose it has to be in a temperature environment of 100 degrees the entire time. I thought that as long as it ferments for 24 hours that it was lactose free? Thoughts on this? – Amber Jan 11 at 16:52

Mark · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-11 15:33:45Z UTC

I make Kefir and yoghurt. With regards to Kefir, I do exactly the same as andrew, except it'll be in the fridge if im away that long

when making yoghurt you have to heat the raw milk to high temperatures first. I dont think you can make raw milk yoghurt just by warming it. I have tried it and it never sets, but just curdles into a runny mess.

I heat the milk to 80C continuously stirring on the stove and then let cool. You will notice the milk is now much sweeter to the taste (its not the same as pasteurization which I think is about 70C and very quick). I am no food scientist but it seems the proteins or sugars are transformed and this is why that step is vital to yoghurt making.

I highly doubt you are ruining the vitamins by heating in. The vitamins are dissolved in the fat and the culture will making its own B vitamins and enzymes when setting the yoghurt (correct me if i' wrong)

portabella · Answer 2 · 2013-01-13 03:20:26Z UTC

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I just culture it in a clean Mason jar at room temperature. It works. I have been doing it this way for more than a year.

I'm using the Viili from Cultures for Health also.

Check out the Wikipedia page on fermented milk products:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_milk_products

All the ones called mesophilic (including Viili and Matsoni) will culture at room temperature; the thermophilic ones need to be heated.

You do not need to culture every other day. The cultures will keep for weeks. However if you are going to do this a lot, then it helps to keep an extra, known pure, culture.

edited Jan 13 at 3:20

answered Jan 10 at 23:02

portabella
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Oh so no heating? I'll try this thanks! – Amber Jan 11 at 0:01

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Villi is a type of yogurt that does not need to be heated. It also has a slightly different texture. Check out dyno-mom.com/p/viili-101.html for more info – AmandaLP Jan 11 at 19:48

I reculture with the yogurt I have made. This can work for many months, but usually something goes off - grainy texture or complete failure - and I have to restart. – thhq Jan 13 at 4:52

@thhq That's exactly what happened to me, so now I use a known pure culture, which I reculture with ordinary supermarket milk. This is also what Cultures for Health recommends. You do not need a large amount, since you are not consuming this one. – portabella Jan 13 at 12:42

JayJay · Answer 3 · 2013-01-10 22:47:22Z UTC

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I actually just heat (raw or not) to 110 and stir in my starter yogurt to ferment. Then end. Keep between 90-110 for ferment time.

answered Jan 10 at 22:47

JayJay
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So you heat to 110, let it cool, and then mix in the starter and make as usual? Also where do you keep it to keep it at that temperature? – Amber Jan 11 at 0:02

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I use a cooler. I transfer to quart jars and put in a cooler wrapped in towels in the warmest area of the house for up to 24 hours. – JayJay Jan 11 at 13:31

Stephen Ross · Answer 4 · 2013-01-10 22:52:39Z UTC

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Most of the vitamins in milk are pretty heat stable. You're going to destroy the enzymes, and possibly denature some proteins, but I wouldn't worry about it.

answered Jan 10 at 22:52

Stephen Ross
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tbunchylulu · Answer 5 · 2013-01-10 23:54:15Z UTC

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Sallie Fallon's recipe in Nourishing Traditions calls for only raising it to 110 degrees. I have done this and it works. I am curious to try it at room temp...that would be easier!

answered Jan 10 at 23:54

tbunchylulu
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that would be much easier haha! thanks. do you use a thermometer when heating it? – Amber Jan 11 at 0:03

I do sometimes...but I admit to being bit casual (like when I used to make bread with water temp)...you can kind of tell by how it feels when you stick your finger in. – tbunchylulu Jan 11 at 0:30

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i doubt room temp would work for most people unless you live in the amazon. i just had a yogurt bomb. tried it doing the oven method with the light on and it only stayed at 70 F. that's usually what a room tempurature is and my yogurt was milk consistency after 24 hrs. – joanna Jan 11 at 1:07

It works until you get milk contaminated with feces....then Nourishing Traditions are replaced by traditional diarrhea and vomiting.... – thhq Jan 13 at 4:47

You just need to find a source you trust. When my daughter was one, I started a raw milk coop in my town using a farm with just three cows nearby with weekly deliveries. She is now nine, and none of the many families in the coop have ever had a problem with the milk. – tbunchylulu Jan 13 at 12:08

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Colin · Answer 6 · 2013-01-11 03:40:14Z UTC

From what I understand at 118 degrees the enzymes and the beneficial bacteria in the milk will be destroyed. So as long as you keep it under that your okay, you'll still have all the wonderful stuff that you get when you consume the milk cold.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/raw-milk-yogurt/

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-rawpasteurized-yogurt-differences/

andrew · Answer 7 · 2013-01-11 10:44:03Z UTC

I use the matsoni culture for yoghurt; it cultures at room temperature and is easy to use.

And kefir DOESNT need to be cultured every day. I often leave mine for two or three weeks when I go away. When I come back, I just strain it (metal sieve, metal spoon!) rinse the "grains" in tap water, put in clean jar and fill up with milk. By the next day, it has formed kefir. I actually find it to be very forgiving and long lived. I do like it best when it has been allowed to ferment (or whatever it is doing) for two days - more developed sort of flavour, and I can't help feeling that it must have a greater amount of bacteria etc in it!

I have never heated the milk up.....

Matt · Answer 8 · 2013-01-11 15:50:43Z UTC

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If you trust your source, raw is fine. But I don't trust any raw source except myself (and most folks don't raise their own dairy animals.)

answered Jan 11 at 15:50

Matt
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thhq · Answer 9 · 2013-01-13 04:39:10Z UTC

I always scald my milk and cool it in the refrigerator before adding my culture. I think this is a sanitizing step to kill off competing or toxic bacteria such as E. coli. I think the culture would probably thrive in any lukewarm milk but I'm uneasy resorting to Paleolithic sanitation.

The old Salton yogurt maker I use came with a combination thermometer and dipper spoon.

Janknitz · Answer 10 · 2013-01-13 17:11:20Z UTC

The frequency at which you make kefir depends on temperature. During summer I have to attend to my kefir daily. During the winter it's every other day or every two days. Some people maintain a slow, steady fermentation in the fridge.

Kefir takes very little work. Just strain the grains, return them to the same jar (I swap out for a clean jar weekly), then wash the strainer and spatula. Five minutes, tops.

Walter · Answer 11 · 2013-01-14 13:57:48Z UTC

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Despite what raw milk sellers might say, heating milk to 160 is not going to alter the nutritional content much at all.

answered Jan 14 at 13:57

Walter
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Making Yogurt with Raw Milk

11 Answers