Yet another yogurt-making question...

[bellywizard]

I know that lots has been written here about making yogurt at home. But I'm not having much success, so I need some good advice!

I have a yogurt maker - the Salton YM9. I've made 2 batches of yogurt using Yogurtmet starter, whole milk, and some powdered milk. I incubated for about 18 hours, then chilled in the fridge.

Both times, the yogurt turned out a bit thin and lumpy. The taste is creamy and not tart, making me worry that the lactose-content is still high.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong... Everything I used was very clean, I heated the milk (with powder) to just under a boil, cooled to about 110F, added the starter, and incubated.

Does anyone have any clue what I could try differently?

Thanks!!

[bellywizard]

solved my own problem!
my thermometer was bad & i was adding the starter when the milk was too hot.

yay for a successful batch of yogurt!

[Sam Fujisaka]

I make yogurt with milk and powdered milk, but without heating it first. Turns out great.

[sourmango]

Do you use some sort of yogurt starter? And, what are your proportions? Thanks!

[bellywizard]

Yogurtmet makes a starter that's 5g of powder to 1L of milk.
You can also use about 1/2 a cup of good-quality yogurt per L of milk - which is what worked for me.

[Sam Fujisaka]

sour, I use some left-over yogurt or store bought plain and unsweetened as a starter. Then, three liters of whole milk, 400 grams of powdered whole milk, and a bit of (sorry, don't know how much; but enough to fill my large mixing bowl) and a touch of sugar--and the starter. I pour the mixture into five or six on-liter plastic tubs, place in the microwave, zap on high for four and a half minutes (this just warms the mix), then 45 seconds every hour-and-a-half or so.