heating milk for yogurt

[polyhymnia]

I just bought a Salton 1 quart yogurt maker and the instructions in it say to heat the milk just below boiling before putting it in the yogurt maker. Is this really necessary? I recall reading somewhere that because milk is now pasteurized the proteins are broken down enough already and you don't need to do this prior to making yogurt anymore. Thoughts? Has anyone tried it w/ compared to w/o heating it?

[GeekVanessa]

I too use a Salton 1 quart. I tried not heating it past 135 and the results were very liquid. I heat to 185, cool to 113 and then I let it perk for at least 12 hours. I get great yogurt. For starter I use some of my yogurt plus some Fage.

[polyhymnia]

Thanks. I went ahead and heated it today when I made my yogurt and am glad to know you have tried it without before. I do like a pretty thick yogurt so it's good to know that this resulted in a thin yogurt. Do you add the dry milk like they say in the recipe book? I have not so far and it's turned out fine.

[oaklandfoodie]

I added the powdered milk my first time making yogurt, and ended up with dry powered clumps in the yogurt. I guess I didn't stir it enough to combine. It made an incredibly thick yogurt though.
I have since not been using the dry, and it's not as tick but still good.
Do others get a film of milk on top when they are heating the milk and what do you do with it?

[polyhymnia]

I got the film the first time and not the second. I just tossed it the first time, after tasting it to see what it was like. And actually, I don't get the film while heating because I stir constantly, but I did get it when i cooled the milk in the fridge.

[THewat]

huh. I'm making yogurt from unpasteurized milk, and I've been most successful when I've heated it to 170 and then let it cool to 115 before I've put it in the yogurt maker - a non-electric "Yogotherm" My understanding is that if you heat it less (105) you get liquid yogurt, but I'll admit that I've sometimes gotten yogurt that was a little liquidy even heating it to 170 & letting it cool. It may be the starter I'm using - only Dannon seems to produce a firmer yogurt every time.