Question

1. Which milks are best suited to making yogurt? Which are not well - suited to making yogurt? Explain your recommendations.

2. Can you still coagulate cheese protein when the pH is far lower than 4.6? Explain your suggestions.

Answer 1

Cow milk is the most popular choice for culturing. Heating encourages the proteins to coagulate, resulting in a thicker yogurt than unheated or raw milk. Goat milk is becoming more popular for culturing. The structure of goat milk is different from cow milk and results in a thinner finished yogurt than cow milk.Sheep milk is sweeter than cow milk and contains more protein, resulting in a thicker, creamier yogurt. It is used more for making cheese than for making yogurt.

Non-dairy Milk may be used to make yogurt. Please see our article, Alternative Milks for Making Yogurt for special instructions.

Lactose-free milk may not be suitable for culturing. Some brands do actually still contain lactose, but also contain lactase, an enzyme that helps lactose-intolerant individuals digest the lactose. However, these brands are usually ultra-pasteurized, as well, which does not work well for culturing. Other brands of lactose-free milk are filtered to remove lactose. In that case, there would be insufficient food for the bacteria. Lactose-reduced milk may not be suitable for culturing. There will not be enough food for the bacteria, and it also may be highly processed.