Lots of whey in goat's milk yogurt

[doxiemoxie]

I recently made some yogurt from milk that had previously been frozen and for some reason it has a soft set and lots of liquid (I assume its whey- yellow clear) Can anyone help me trouble-shoot this? I used about 1/2 gal to one cup of plain yogurt and and cultured overnight in a water bath.

edit to add the milk is raw.

 

[Griffin's Ark]

I have never made yogurt from frozen milk, but after leaving the yogurt sit for about a week it will begin to separate like you have described. I normally pour off the whey and put it back in the fridge. Typically as long as the solids sink everything is ok. When the solids float on the whey the throw it away. You can also strain your yogurt through a clean linen handkerchief and make real Greek yogurt. The more whey that comes out the thicker the yogurt and the longer the shelf life. Of course if to much whey comes out you will have Chevre!

 

[doxiemoxie]

Thanks for the help. The amount of whey is LOTS more than I would normally see on yogurt (or sour cream, or cottage cheese) even after a week. I figured that the fat content was somewhat low.

Would you mind clarifying that if any solids are floating to toss? There is a little bit of floating curdled solids in one jar. Is this indicative of the wrong cultures growing? Is this a definite toss or is it something that dogs can handle? I'm fine tossing it just want to understand the why's so I can try to avoid in the future. Again, thank you.

 

[freemotion]

Sniff it. If it smells good, taste it. If it tastes good, eat it!

 

[Griffin's Ark]

Thanks for the help. The amount of whey is LOTS more than I would normally see on yogurt (or sour cream, or cottage cheese) even after a week. I figured that the fat content was somewhat low.

Would you mind clarifying that if any solids are floating to toss? There is a little bit of floating curdled solids in one jar. Is this indicative of the wrong cultures growing? Is this a definite toss or is it something that dogs can handle? I'm fine tossing it just want to understand the why's so I can try to avoid in the future. Again, thank you.

When solids float it can mean several things, but mainly yeast and bacterias. The pros say that you have a 50/50 chance of something in there you don't want. I don't think it is that bad, but you can easily smell the yeast if it is yeast. Often that is what gets into our cheese and yogurt. The bacteria, could be the same bacteria that creates the bubbles in swiss cheese or could be something worse.

I have had at least an inch of whey develop on yogurt quite often. Sometimes it depends on when you stopped the cultures from working. The small amount of particles that you have described floating should not be a problem. The biggest concern is when the whey is on the bottom. Take a look at this website. It is quite good and has the science part explained for most of the problems that you might see... http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12938

 

[doxiemoxie]

Thanks Griffin's Ark,

I have read Dr Fankhauser's site before and he is very helpful. I just didn't find anything that seemed to address this particular result. I think that I'll pass the yogurt on to the dogs since the smell is good (no yeast, no vinigar-y or propionic acid smell) and the rest of the yogurt looks ok and is settled at the bottom. I appreciate being able to share unusual results and get feedback.

Thanks Free motion to you too!

 

[kstaven]

Naturally occuring bacteria blossoms quickly and the sooner after milking you can turn it into yogurt the better the quality. You want the bacteria you are adding to be dominant in order to get a good culture. You will also find that not all off the shelf yogurt has enough active bacteria left to create a good culture base.