How to Troubleshoot Separated Whey When Making Yogurt
Commercial yogurt manufacturers often add heaps of sugar and artificial flavors to yogurt. Whip up a batch of homemade yogurt for greater control over what you're eating. Making yogurt at home also allows you to experiment with new, exotic flavors or perfect your favorite tastes. Successful homemade yogurt requires correct temperature ranges. The right temperatures help prevent excessive separation of the whey from the curds. The whey, which is liquid, rises to the top of the curds, which are the solids. Other reasons for excessive whey separation include improper incubation time and improper cooling after incubation. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Heat the milk to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Your homemade yogurt recipe will instruct you to scald the milk before adding yogurt cultures. The whey may separate if you do not heat it to this temperature during the scalding process. Use a candy or dairy thermometer to check the temperature of the milk.
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Hold the scalding milk at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining the correct temperature allows the yogurt to firm and prevents the whey from excessively separating. Allow the milk to remain at this temperature for 10 to 20 minutes.
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Shorten the incubation time to 4 hours if the whey continues to separate excessively from the curds. Maintain an incubation temperature of 108 to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures above 115 degrees Fahrenheit encourage separation.
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Avoid disturbing the yogurt while it incubates. This encourages whey to collect at the top of the curds. Do not stir the yogurt or move or shake the incubation device.
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Place the yogurt in the refrigerator immediately following the incubation period.
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Tips & Warnings
An incubation temperature less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit prohibits the bacteria from growing, and your yogurt will not firm up.
To make thicker yogurt, sprinkle a pinch of unflavored gelatin on the cold milk and let it sit for 5 minutes prior to scalding. During scalding, hold yogurt at 200 F for 20 to 30 minutes.
References
Resources
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Comments
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Ooops, in the second tip, you must mean to hold the MILK at 200F for 10 minutes or so? The yogurt would not culture nor would it live at all at that hight a temperature. And there is no way for me to correct the error except for making this comment.
