# Breastmilk yogurt?



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

I don't know if this was ever posted here before.
My daughter is becoming more and more interested in food, but she is only 5 months (as of next Saturday). I wasn't really planning on introducing solids yet, but she is ready. B/c of her age, I'm wondering if breast-milk yogurt would be a good first food for her. Is it even possible to make yogurt with human milk? If anyone has any experience here, please share!

Thank you,
Laurel


----------



## heatherdeg (Dec 30, 2003)

Wow... that's a good question?!?!

FWIW... we were told that the reason that they start kids on rice cereal is because it is absolutely the least allergenic thing you could feed them. We didn't stay on it for long--we moved quickly to oatmeal!


----------



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

I never gave my first DD rice cereal. I don't know why I have such a bias against it, really... probably b/c it's refined starch: just the sort of t6hing I try to hard to keep out of my own diet.

I'm a little scared of trying the b/m yogurt simply b/c I've never even made cows milk yogurt, before! I know I will have to start off with a little bit of cows milk yogurt to get the cultures started, but 2 tablespoons in a quart of yogurt should be fine, right?

Also, does yogurt freeze?


----------



## loving-my-babies (Apr 2, 2004)

Laurel.. care to share your breastmilk yogurt recipe?


----------



## heatherdeg (Dec 30, 2003)

I used to eat frozen yogurt but I don't know if it was altered to handle freezing. I don't think so...


----------



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loving-my-babies*
Laurel.. care to share your breastmilk yogurt recipe?









I was hoping someone else would have a recipe








If nobody does, I'll just use the regular yogurt recipe I found online, here:

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/971110c.cfm

I'll cut the recipe in half so I don't throw away a whole quart of breast milk if it fails!
I chose this recipe b/c it describes "incubating" the yogurt in warm water; I don't have a yogurt-maker, so this is the only way for me to go.

I will be pumping for now and hoping somebody will get back to me on their experience... if not, I'll just try this other recipe tonight, and let you all know tomorrow how it worked out!


----------



## xenabyte (Jul 16, 2004)

If you do a forum search on 'breastmilk yogurt' you'll find lots of threads with this topic in it. But this might save you some time.

Breastmilk yogurt is basically a 'raw' milk already, so the following recipe can be adapted, I'd think' to do what you want to do.

*Raw Millk Yogurt made using Human Breastmilk*

Place 1 quart RAW human breastmilk in a double boiler and heat *ONLY* to 110 deg F, any hotter and you are 'sterilizing it' of your own natural probiotic goodness, if you use human breastmilk.

Remove 2 TBS of the warm milk and mix with 2 TBS yogurt (commercial or from a previous batch) or a packet of dry yogurt starter.

Stir well and pour into a quart-sized, wide mouth mason jar and add in the rest of the warmed milk, stir again.

Cover the jar tightly with a lid and place in a dehydrator set at 95 degrees for 8 hours.* Transfer to the refrigerator and chill to 'set'.

* If you don't have a dehydrator or temp controlled 'ferment' box, then you can put the jar inside ANY thermos or insulated cooler that it will fit into and fill with hot tap water.

While you are making up the yogurt, you could fill the thermos with SUPER hot tap water and let it sit to 'pre warm' it.

When you are ready to add the jar of cultured milk, pour out the old water, put the jar in the thermos, then add in MORE hot water to just under the rim of the mason jar. Close and let it sit about 5 hours.

I use the packets of yogurt starter and it always is set up beautifully in 5 hours, using whole cow milk, then I chill it overnight to make the set 'stable'. However since it's raw BM, there could be some variations, like it being 'runnier' than using whole cow's milk.

Some folks use a crock pot set on warm, filled with hot water. They just set the jar in the crock and keep an eye on the temp. I've not done this yet.

Some folks put the jar in the oven with the light on, and close the door. Then it's left in for 8-12 hours.

*NOTES:* Since I'm already doing cow milk Kefir, water Kefir, and cow milk yogurts, and extended breastfeeding my 1 year old, and the occasional 'sip and run' 3 year old...I've not yet had the time or energy to express / pump a quart of BM to test this...since they are getting the BM 'straight from the source' so to speak...and keep me pretty busy as it is, with not much 'extra' to spare...

So I would suggest pumping only a cup of your BM (1/4 of the quart size) and scaling it down. Use 1/4 packet of commercial yogurt starter or that'll be 1.5 teas of a commercial yogurt (based on 2 Tbs yogurt / quart milk recipes).

Then you can use a smaller glass jar with a tight fitting lid and pick a favorite 'warm culture' method. I like the thermos with hot water the best, as it always has worked for me.

Good Luck, and if you actually do express the milk and try this, PLEASE post.


----------



## Blaise (Oct 12, 2004)

Thanks for the recipe! I think I'll try it this weekend. I've been wanting to make some breastmilk yogurt!


----------



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

xenabyte, Thanks so much for the recipe! I'm going to do it right away. i actually do have a quart of BM







Anyway, I'll be up pretty late tonight and I'll post when all is said and done.


----------



## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

Hey, you can buy 100% dairy-free probiotics to start that yogurt with. Check out the Power Of Probiotics thread in Health & Healing.


----------



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

I already had some dairy-free probiotics from my yeast-elimination diet, so i emptied half of a capsule into the brew. Can't hurt, I guess.

anyway, the concoction really isn't thickening and it's been at least 3 hours.







:
I'm going to hit the sack for a few hours and get up to check on it... but I'm not optimistic.


----------



## xenabyte (Jul 16, 2004)

Trouble shoot time:

Was the probiotic capsules you used refrigerated or not?

How 'old' are they?

How long was the BM frozen, if at all?

Did you let it go for at least 8 hours? (5 hours is usually enough using the commercial starter packets, but 8 recommended for alternative and using 'raw' milks).

Hmmm, how accurate is your 'thermometer' for heating the milk, cooling the milk and then there might be the method used for the culture (incubator, thermos, etc.). And if it was too hot or too cold, the cultures either won't grow very fast or will 'die'.

It's such a 'twitchy thing' when using raw milk (to heat to 180, then cool, or to only do to 110/112 and innoculate....) It's why I've not yet used some BM to try this. Though is works for cow milk...

Btw, the milk would still be good to drink, full of additional probiotic goodness, just not thick like store bought, if you were wondering. /smoothie time for baby?/


----------



## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

Was the probiotic capsules you used refrigerated or not?

How 'old' are they*? they're at least 6 months old and probably not active anymore, but I figured they couldn't hurt. I was using a really good Greek yogurt as my starter, I just added the probiotics for the hell of it. And no they weren't refrigerated.*

How long was the BM frozen, if at all? *about half of the milk had been forzen, but not for more than a week. the rest I pumped within 24 hours of getting started. Some of that was refrigerated, the rest went right into the double-boiler.
*
Did you let it go for at least 8 hours? (5 hours is usually enough using the commercial starter packets, but 8 recommended for alternative and using 'raw' milks). *yes, I did.*

Hmmm, how accurate is your 'thermometer' for heating the milk, cooling the milk and then there might be the method used for the culture (incubator, thermos, etc.). And if it was too hot or too cold, the cultures either won't grow very fast or will 'die'. *My dad's a cook, and I used his thermometer, so I'm pretty sure it worked well. The recipe that suggested incubating in a thermos/icebox suggested adding the hottest tap water, which is what I did. Could it have been too hot? Perhaps.*

It's such a 'twitchy thing' when using raw milk (to heat to 180, then cool, or to only do to 110/112 and innoculate....) It's why I've not yet used some BM to try this. *I may try it again and this time heat it more, and use a fresh probiotic... but i would make a much smaller batch!*

Btw, the milk would still be good to drink, full of additional probiotic goodness, just not thick like store bought, if you were wondering. /smoothie time for baby?/ *It really does smell/taste like yogurt, but it has the consistancy of the drinkable kind. I'm surprised, since human milk is fattier than cow's milk. I assumed that would make the yogurt really thick.*


----------



## HerthElde (Sep 18, 2003)

Wow, cool idea!

I just want to add, though I've never made yogurt before, that from what I understand when making yogurt "less is more", so to speak. If you add too much of the starter culture, it's not as thick. So, maybe try with less starter yogurt.


----------



## xenabyte (Jul 16, 2004)

Actually, it sounds like you had a success, just not a 'thick' success.

To make them thick in the stores, they usually add in gelatins or other thickeners and sometimes powdered milk (none of which I'd recommend, unless you have a good, organic gelatin or thickener like agar agar or arrowroot, or such.

Most 'raw milk' yogurts will be thinner and 'drinkable' like Kefir. And the above poster is right, a bit less is 'more' for making it thick and set up better.

Most probiotic capsules need refrigeration to 'keep' potency. So they were probably inert. The greek yogurt sounds good. Well, if you have any of the yogurt left from making the first try, freeze a few 'cubes' worth, and try that as a starter.

I'm so glad you posted again, as you really did have a success, it just isn't 'perfect' for the end result.

When making 'cow milk yogurt', heating to 180 kills off ALL bacteria/yeasts and then cooling to 110 and adding in the starter allows ONLY the bacteria in the starter to colonize and it thickens up pretty well (as the starter packets specifically isolate the bacteria that set up like that). THis might be another 'test' for getting it to thicken more.

[This is a total, aside, note; I was thinking it might be interesting to soak Kefir grains in BM, as the bacteria that naturally occur in humans would eventually 'colonize' the grains. Then you could pasturize the cow milk, and cool to room temp and put in your 'human colony Kefir Grains' and innoculate it with very specific bacterias/yeasts....for anyone to drink, not just your children -- I've not yet had the gumption to do this, so any momma's with babies of my grains, NO WORRIES, they have only been soaking in cow milk







haha]


----------



## xenabyte (Jul 16, 2004)

OH, another note. The fat content will give you richer, creamier 'mouth-feel', but it's the 'heating of the milk to 150-180 deg F that 'sets' the proteins.

Think of what happens when you make a custard with eggs or when you cook an egg. You want to heat the milk enough to make it 'set up' like egg protein, but not get too hard or burnt.

HtH

Heather


----------



## Wabi Sabi (Dec 24, 2002)

I have quite a bit of breastmilk in the freezer and wasn't sure what on earth I was ever going to do with it since the baby will only drink his milk straight from the source. I've been following this thread with great interest and decided to give it a try- I have a pint of milk in the crockpot as we speak!

LongLiveLife, did you ever feed the yogurt you made to your baby and if so, how did she like it? I'm wondering if it will be sour like plain cow's milk yogurt and if so, will the baby even be willing to eat it? On the other hand, I can't imagine that adding sweetner to it can be all that good for a baby either...?









Also, have you tried to make it again with different results?

I'll have to give it a few more hours, but I'll post again to let you know how it turned out for me...


----------



## Mama Bear (Aug 4, 2004)

:

I've been following along also. Please, let us know how it goes. I would like to try to make yogurt also for my ds. I'm not to excited about giving him solids/rice cereal, but would like him to taste different textures.


----------



## daisygrrrl (Sep 11, 2004)

Hi All-
I have been experimenting away with my yogurt making skills and was really surprised to see everyones reply. With BM yogurt, I have sterilized it, and haven't gone the raw route yet. but, with BM yogurt, what I have noticed is that the more fat in the milk the thicker it gets. I started off doing like 5 pumping sessions to get 1 cup of milk and after I made it it was very runny even though I added some nonfat dry milk. but I realized this was probably because I was only pumping foremilk. The next time I tried I had way more hind milk, and though runny, it was thicker than drinkable. I just mixed it with mashed banannas and Indigo loved it. I have fed him cows milk yogurt too which I have made. Oh, here is a tip that came iwth my yogurt maker. The longer you incubate it the thicker and more sour it gets. I only incubate mine for 4-5 hours. HOpe this helps some of you.

Laura


----------

