Recipe Lactose-free yogurt

LissaC

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To make around 600ml lactose free yogurt:
- 500ml lactose free milk
- 1/2 tablespoon starter which can be another yogurt, store bough

1. Boil lactose-free milk for 2-3minutes, whisking continuously
2. Let milk cool to 50ºC and add the starter. Mix well (you can use a fork, a whisk or a stand mixer. A stand mixer does a better work at avoiding clumps)
3. Get into a yogurt maker for at least 6 hours to incubate. The longer you let it incubate, the thicker the yogurt will be. After that, get the yogurt in the fridge.

Enjoy!
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Notes on this recipe:
* Regular dairy milk doesn't need to be boiled, but lactose-free milk must boil 2-3 minutes to gain body and become thick
* You can flavor yogurt, but not all flavors can be added before the yogurt incubates. The flavors you add before incubating can be added while you heat the milk, and they are: soluble coffee, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon powder, vanilla, grated coconut, honey, maple syrup. Fresh fruit or cereals can only be added after the yogurt incubates because they interfere with fermentation.
* Adding sugar can help bacteria with fermentation, but you can easily do without it.
* In my experience adding flavors to yogurt before incubating will increase the fermentation time.
* If you use a flavored yogurt as starter it will also give a slight flavor to the yogurt.
* Choosing yogurt as starter: they say you can use a regular, non lactose-free yogurt as the amount of lactose isn't enough to harm people with lactose intolerance, but I prefer to use a lactose-free yogurt as starter, it's easy to find and not too expensive.
* You can also use a packet of yogurt starter or probiotics as starters. The yogurt starter usually comes with instructions, probiotics are usually 1 tablespoon for 1 liter of milk.
* If you're using probiotics, your probiotics can't have prebiotics or digestive enzymes, they will create mold!
* You can use a yogurt maker for incubating yogurt but there are other methods like using the slow pot or an oven, personally I never tried these methods.

Here: yogurt flavored with coffee
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And yogurt flavored with lemon curd (the lemon curd is added after fermentation)
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I like the sound of this, having quite a stock of almond milk and plenty of fruit in the garden. One thing I don't have is a yoghurt maker. What exactly does it do, and could I replicate its effect with another device - slow cooker, or water bath for instance?
 
epicuric yogurt made with almond milk will be another adventure entirely, nut milks have a different composition and they need a thickener, the most common ones being cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca starch, guar gum or xanthan gum. Without a thickener the yogurt will be liquid and even then, hitting the right quantity of thickener can be a challenge. From my personal experiences nut milks will thicken during fermentation and then a bit more when you refrigerate but if the milk isn't thick before you incubate it will never thicken. For reference, here's a short guide to yogurt thickeners.

A yogurt maker keeps the temperature constant so that the yogurt can incubate properly. You can definitely use a slow cooker, or an oven, even just the sunlight but some methods make it more challenging to control temperature and keep it constant. Here's a guide to making yogurt without a yogurt maker.

Here's almond milk yogurt thickened with tapioca starch, 2 tablespoons tapioca for 500ml almond milk. It had to heat until 100ºC and culture for about 18 hours, but the end product had kind of a gooey texture. Last night I made almond milk yogurt with guar gum but it's runny, I will try thickening it again with guar gum.
Image from iOS (146).jpg
 
epicuric yogurt made with almond milk will be another adventure entirely, nut milks have a different composition and they need a thickener, the most common ones being cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca starch, guar gum or xanthan gum. Without a thickener the yogurt will be liquid and even then, hitting the right quantity of thickener can be a challenge. From my personal experiences nut milks will thicken during fermentation and then a bit more when you refrigerate but if the milk isn't thick before you incubate it will never thicken. For reference, here's a short guide to yogurt thickeners.

A yogurt maker keeps the temperature constant so that the yogurt can incubate properly. You can definitely use a slow cooker, or an oven, even just the sunlight but some methods make it more challenging to control temperature and keep it constant. Here's a guide to making yogurt without a yogurt maker.

Here's almond milk yogurt thickened with tapioca starch, 2 tablespoons tapioca for 500ml almond milk. It had to heat until 100ºC and culture for about 18 hours, but the end product had kind of a gooey texture. Last night I made almond milk yogurt with guar gum but it's runny, I will try thickening it again with guar gum.
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Thanks for all the info. I will give it a try when I get back :)
 
My daughter has a yoghurt maker, I need to talk to her about it. We just get store bought here, apricot is my fave. I don't normally do lunch but I do have a yoghurt.

Russ
 
I used to get store bought yogurt but making it at home can be a lot of fun. It’s also more environmentally friendly (no plastic!) and cheaper. I love a lactose-free lemon yogurt that costs 1€ for 180g of yogurt. At home I can make 1litre of lactose free yogurt with lemon curd for around 2€! :happy:
 
I used to get store bought yogurt but making it at home can be a lot of fun. It’s also more environmentally friendly (no plastic!) and cheaper. I love a lactose-free lemon yogurt that costs 1€ for 180g of yogurt. At home I can make 1litre of lactose free yogurt with lemon curd for around 2€! :happy:

I need to learn how to make lemon curd as well!

Russ
 
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