# My Goat milk yogurt won't set! why not?



## jduggan (May 22, 2005)

I've tried twice. I have a Salton older type (got it from freecycle) yogurt maker. I heated the goat milk in a pan on the stove to just a boil, removed it, put it in a cold water bath in the sink to cool it to lukewarm, added a tablespoon of active plain cow yogurt, stirred, and put it in the cups with the lids on in the yogurt maker. I let it sit there for 10 hours each time. It is totally runny, like when I put it in there, only slightly thicker.
I am SO frustrated and disheartened. My daughter is begging for yogurt everyday and she has been switched to goat milk only. I can't find commercial goat milk anywhere.
Advice please!! I bought a thermometer today, is it ESSENTIAL to do the mixing of the starter when the milk is at 115degrees?

thanks


----------



## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

Mine never gets that thick either. I even bought some powdered goat milk to add but it is still rather thin. I found that if you strain it overnight in cheesecloth (like when I'm making tzatziki sauce) then that helps the consistency. I may resort to trying added gelatin.







:


----------



## RAF (Aug 13, 2002)

Hello,

We raise dairy goats and make raw goat milk yogurt alot. It is naturally thinner than cow's milk yogurt. We don't even boil it on the stove first, as that would defeat the purpose of raw milk for us. Ours thickens up quite a bit if we put it in the fridge overnight though. Have you tried sticking it in the fridge for a while after it is done? We also let the yogurt ferment for a full 24 hours before adding some honey to the warm yogurt and sticking it in the fridge to thicken. It comes out just fine that way and is delicious. It takes about 24 hours for the yogurt to have much valuable probiotics in it anyway. Any less than that and there isn't much life. Anyway, good luck!


----------



## Rosie_Kate (Dec 6, 2005)

I've always had trouble getting goat milk yoghurt to thicken, too. That's just the way it seems to be! I agree with Rebekah about not heating it to begin with, culturing longer, and putting it in the fridge. Failing that, I like to freeze it (you can do it in ice cube trays or muffin tins so that you don't have to chip away at it to break it up) and make really yummy smoothies! Put it in the blender (frozen or not) with fruit and drink it!


----------



## jduggan (May 22, 2005)

I can't believe I didn't think to freeze it for smoothies!







Good idea!
Can someone please clarify about the not heating it at all to begin with? Do you mean don't heat to a boil or don't heat at all? Just mix the yogurt starter into the cold goats milk and then put into the yogurt maker?
Has anyone tried a fancy new yogurt maker and gotten better results?


----------



## Rosie_Kate (Dec 6, 2005)

I've never used a yogurt maker (tried a crockpot once, though! Don't...)







I make yogurt in a bowl or jar in my oven with the pilot light...

I might warm the milk to 100 degrees, but I definitely don't boil or pastuerize it. (unless you're having trouble with bad bacteria overtaking the good--you'll know it when you smell or taste it-- but that's rare with good, fresh milk.) I'm not even sure it's necessary to heat it at all, but it may make it go quicker because yogurt has to culture at about 100 degrees.

Have you even tried making Kefir? It's easier than yogurt --no heating, you just let it sit on your counter for 24 hours and then refrigerate it!-- (and it's thicker than milk but thinner than yogurt), and is even healthier because it actually _colonizes_ the digestive tract with beneficial bacteria. Goat milk cultures into kefir exceptionally well. You don't have to use kefir grains, you can get a powdered starter and keep perpetuating it just like yogurt.


----------



## tboroson (Nov 19, 2002)

I've found that goat milk yogurt doesn't set up very firmly. The farmer I buy my milk from suggested adding arrowroot to thicken it. But, I found that made the texture... slimy. Yeeeeeuck.

Another thing - check your temps! Run your yogurt maker with water in it for an hour or two, then check the temp with a candy thermometer. Use a candy thermometer to make sure your milk is at the right temp so it doesn't kill off your culture.


----------

