Go to the Recipe: Easy, Delicious Sous Vide Yogurt
This is a great method too! I'm curious about the texture of your recipe vs. this one: We're often taught that the denaturing step in heating milk leads to a thicker yogurt texture all else equal (due to protein unfolding). Do you find this to be true?
Here’s a slightly different, simple, and delightful rich yogurt recipe that has some good acid tartness to it that is perfect with the Joule.
This makes two quart sized ball jars of yogurt with min effort, so split all of the ingredients below between the two jars:
1/2 gallon of half and half
4T of existing yogurt (Greek or Indian yogurt if this is your first batch, otherwise use existing yogurt)
1/16th teaspoon yogurt starter (flat end of a small spoon for each jar) I use the following which gives great flavor - LyoPro Bulgarian Style Yogurt Starter from Homesteadersupply.com
For cooking - keep it easy. Throw in the yogurt and starter and half of the half and half and stir it all together. Once mixed, pour in the rest, mix, and seal the jar. Once done, throw into a tall stock pot and fill the water line right up to the lid. Cook at 113F for 24 hours and then refrigerate. Comes out perfect and doesn’t need any before or after steps.
Once the jar is heated in a bath, the vacuum will be filled with vapor from the product inside.
Vacuum-sealing jars is best for storage.
It is easier to read the temperature of the milk in a pot than to heat a whole bath to 195, drop in your jars, wait until they reach the proper temperature (which takes an unpredictable amount of time), then unjar and cool your bath to 109. Unless you have a lot of free time to kill or multiple water baths, the pot will be easier.
Thanks I just found this reply 2 years later! I really wish that chefsteps would improve their comments features. They're not even searchable. I didn't even get a notification about this reply. Thank you for clarifying this Skyr thing for me!
Hi, I have always wondered if jar sealing with vacuum sealer is good if you have the equipment before making anything souvide in a jar. Thanks!
The glass jars are put into a large plastic food bin in the photo. Depending on how much yogurt you're making, you may want a bigger bin for the water bath sous vide. I use my 12 qt large bin for lots of things so it's a good investment, especially if you want to try the sous vide turkey method they have on here (which is a game changer for the best turkey you'll ever have).
Reply to an old comment, so just tying it out even if it doesn't get seen... Long before the ChefSteps folks made Joule, they resold PolyScience sous vide units. I bought one from them and the image looks like that unit - I suspect this was just easier to leave as is vs. reshoot to include a Joule.
In funny sort of way, these days PolyScience (at least the culinary not the lab gear) is under the Breville umbrella as well as the ChefSteps group so guess it is all in the family that way...
Hello Robin, To make the Skyr style you will need to start with a live culture skyr yogurt since it is all about that particular culture. Then you will strain yogurt to get you to a thicker consistency. I would say it's close to Greek yogurt but the Skyr is about a special culture that is added to warmed milk.
Can this be adjusted to make the Icelandic (Skyr) yogurt?
I love it
This makes sense with milk that has been pasteurized! Going to try and skip the whole first heating/cooling step. Thanks!
Why not heat the milk in the water bath for 30 minutes at 180° instead of using the stove?
You can culture dairy in zip or vac bags, yes.
Can I use vac bags for this instead of mason jars?
What is the container you use to incubate the yogurt? It’s not listed under “equipment.”
If it doesn't specify live cultures on the packaging I'd assume it had been pasteurized.
I doubt it. As long as it didn't scorch. The key is not to kill the bacteria in the live yogurt. Hopefully you tried this and already know.
Yes, and yes. Rings especially like to rust here. I'm going to look into stainless lids/rings to see if that helps. Since not fully water bath canning, reusing the lids should be doable.
I sterilize the bottles and things that come in contact with the yogurt as there is no need to heat the coconut milk or cream to 180 deg F just heat it to100 to 110 deg F. The 180 deg F changes the proteins in animal milk for making yogurt but is not necessary with coconut.
Follow the recipe but add 2 tablespoons of sugar or maple syrup (do not use honey) as coconut milk or coconut cream has no sugars like regular animal milk that the cultures in yogurt feed on. Use store bought coconut yogurt as a starter. I regularly make coconut cream yogurt using probiotic capsules and gelatin (thickener) and it comes out great,
I did and it turned out exactly like in the video , thanks guys for all the amazing content and support.
After it cools.
Do i strain it when I get it out of the water bath or I got to let it cool first ?
Did anybody use mason jar to make this? Did you get rust lids after?
Can this be done with coconut milk or coconut cream with the same ratios please?
You can use any milk and yes the texture will change slightly but the bacteria will do its work and still thicken.
Your recipe calls for whole milk. Can I do this with low fat (2%) milk? Will that impact the consistency? I’m a big fan of Nancy’s low fat organic yogurt - thought I’d see if my home made would be any better. Thanks
When heating the milk it boiled, is that a problem?
Are there yogurts that have dead cultures out there? Serious question. I have some cheap yogurt and am wondering why Nick Gavin would say that.
To avoid having to make it every day, and I use a large pot on the stove and heat a gallon of milk for a batch of yogurt. After it cools, I add fresh store bought whole milk(unflavored) yogurt. (3/4-1cup). Then I pour the mixture into clean 32 Oz plastic yogurt containers and put them (on a cookie sheet) in the oven overnight and I’ve got 4 1/2 - 32oz. containers of yogurt. I turn the oven light on when I start the process and it’s perfect for incubating yogurt. Takes 4-5 hours or longer to gel but I leave it around 6 hrs. Perfect yogurt by the quart full.
Can you actually put the sous vide in a pot of milk or is it only for water?
For the record: It works just fine to use some yogurt from the previous batch.
This summer I made it for daily breakfast. 6 0.5 liter glasses in one batch. I used it straight from the glass with some fruits, drained it to get a cream cheese and so on. It's about 90 minutes effort per week. Not to bad.
I like homemade yogurt, so I just bought a yogurt maker and I'm so satisfied with it. I mean,the whole process may be interesting and exciting just first 2 times, but if you decide to make yogurt everyday for breakfast, for example, it's already a problem, it takes too much time. I realize that it's much better and easier to buy yogurt in the market, however I don't even want to imagine how many unhealthy elements are in there. So, I've checked https://www.wellfed.net/best-yogurt-maker/ in order to be sure that I choose the best variant available on the market and now I'm happy with my electronic yogurt maker by Cuisinart.
Can I use some of the self made yogurt as a starter for the next batch?
i just skip the heating step, yoghurt comes out perfect every time
you actually called them? lol
a YEAR? wow, i would have said like eat within like 3-4 weeks max
sounds like more hassle than just combining yoghurt and milk and putting it in warm water
My small tip: Rather than cool down the milk and heat up the water I just put the heated milk in their containers in the cold water. I put the thermometer in one of the containers. Within 10 min or so both water is heated and milk is cooled!
The above is far more hassle than required. Wash jars and 2 cup measuring cup in top rack of hot dishwasher. Let cool after drying. Put about half a cup of fresh live culture yogurt (commercial or leftover from prior homemade) in measuring cup, add a cup of or so of cold pasteurized milk (I use whole Lactaid) from an unopened half gallon, and whisk vigorously. Divide this starter into 8-10 jars and then fill up jars with rest of milk. Screw lids on tight. Put in 105 deg water bath for 8-12 hours. Refrigerate. That's it! It's smooth, creamy, and lovely. Play with time and temp for changes in consistency and tartness. Don't eat it if after 3-4 weeks it starts to look bad eg mold on top.
Does anyone know the shelf life on these yogurts? Made some about a year ago and some have been sitting in my fridge with lid seal still under vacuum. I popped one open for S&G and the yogurt still has the same consistency and sour yogurt flavor. Should I be worried about any bacteria or pathogens? Are they safe to eat?
Ahem ... on 7th image from the bottom, the piece of equipment on the right seems like a prototype of a new model of Joule ? (Me, Vieux Monde that I am, I'm using a Swid, bought almost half a dozen years ago. I got my sister a Joule as a wedding present ... but now that Joule is available in 230V, I'll be certain to take advantage of its smaller footprint).
Where do you get the Bulgarian culture from?
So much smarter than this article. The first thing I thought when I read it is why do I have to use a pot when I have a sous vide dammit! Blown away that everybody didn’t comment the same thing
Excellent recipe and excellent guide. I popped the mixture in 5 little jars removed 2 at the 5 hour mark and left the other 3 for 12hrs. The five hours mark was more “breakfasty” and 12hrs more suitable for mixing with cucumbers and lemons etc. Now if only goat milk was available in congo....
I loved the recipe....and more than that....all you experts. Here's M deal. I followed all the insructions to make a batch. I was pretty excited about making it.......as I can consume...a ton of Y. I read all the expert stuff below....and followed what need to be followed. OK: I made it....per directions. Chilled overnight. Came out with a wonderful taste in the morning...but gosh...was thin. I dialed up the CHEFSTEPS peeps. Great people...advising me to strain m bath through a coffee filter. I did that. My batch started as a quart....+a little. I stuck a spoon in it.....IT WAS WONDERFUL.!
I ADDED a smidge of cherry juice....and vanilla . It made a quart. I stuck it in the fridge. I pulled it in the morning and out was pretty soupy. I dialked o the Chef peeps They had me strain it through a coffee after that worked great and within an hour,,,,,I had wonderful stuff !
I have been making yogurt for many, many years. I have used skim, 2%, whole milk and a mixture of half cow and half goat. I have used the Yogourmet, Yogotherm or just a big pot in my preheated/turned off oven with temped water and four quart jars. Now I look forward to making yogurt in my new Sous Vide. I had taken my Yogourmet to the EU last year, used successfully there for 4 months but it cracked in my checked baggage on my return. Won't hold water now, but still heats up enough to make passable yogurt. I use a freeze dried starter from https://www.getculture.com/yogurt-culture/ It lasts for months in my freezer, and for several batches I only use previous batch to start next batch. One suggestion I have is that from the very beginning of my experience with making my own yogurt, to thicken my yogurt I always add 1/2 to 1 cup of powdered milk to a half gallon of milk. It really helps make the yogurt thicker and doesn't require straining. I also use my microwave to heat the milk to 180º to start a batch. I let it cool on its own before adding the starter and the powdered milk. Hope I have offered suggestions that you will find useful.
Yes, but I recommend adding powdered milk to your batch...maybe a 1/4 cup per quart.
can this be done with skim milk? anyone try this? thanks!
I fill the canning jars with milk after coming back from work, place them in the Sous vide setup, set it to 82C, one hour later turn down to 40. Before going to bed, mix each jar with one tablespoon of previous Yoghurt (bulgarian culture) and let it sit overnight at 42.5 C. No scalding of milk anxiety, no cooling down stress, no messing with multiple mixing containers (I only mix by stirring while adding previous yoghurt culture).
My 3rd batch of yogurt is in the water bath now. Years ago I used a “Yogourmet” yogurt maker. I still had the old 2 quart plastic containers so I decided to use them with the Joule and see how it would work. To make the first batch I bought a gallon of whole milk and a small container of plain Fage Greek yogurt. I heated two quarts of the milk to precisely 180 degrees F while stirring constantly with a wooded spoon. I verified the temp using the old Yogourmet thermometer. After turning off the heat I stirred the milk constantly until the thermometer read 110 degrees F. I scooped a heaping tablespoon of Fage into the container and ladled in some of the milk. I mixed with the wooden spoon until it was smooth. I then alternated ladling and stirring until all the milk was in the container. I set up the Joule in a clear plastic food container, put in the Yogourmet container, and filled the water level to just below the top of the container. I did this because I wasn’t sure the container made a water tight seal. I set the Joule to 109 degrees and let it run overnight (about 6.5 hours). I then refrigerated for several hours before eating. It was smooth and delicious and there wasn’t very much whey.
To make the second batch I simply substituted the last heaping tablespoon of the first batch into a bowl, washed the container and followed the same process. I was rushed for time so heated the milk on high heat to 180F and tried the quick cool method to 109F. I simply put some water in a large bowl and added some ice. I SLOWLY placed the pan in the bowl and stirred until the temp was 109F. Everything else was the same. The result was just as delicious but there was more whey this time.
I believe the key is making sure the temperatures are spot on. If the milk doesn’t cool enough the active culture will die. I’m looking forward to batch number 3! Thanks ChefSteps for recipe suggestion.
Thanks Guys, brilliant works like a charm. I changed front end as its to easy to burn milk and you got to watch it like a hawk so used my second Sous Vide setup (Nomiku unit as you guys haven't got A into gear yet and made what most of the world uses a 230v unit!) set that to 86degC and with 4 1ltrs AG jars in the water raises it to 82 Deg C easy and less hassle, in mean time my main sous vide is running at 43 Deg C for processing after batch is ready. Only problem I found is my own mistake... in trying to get jars back down to 43Deg C you don't put them straight in cold water... Yep I gave myself idiot of the week award for that one.... Great yogurt I don't strain mine most people seem to prefer it as it comes out of the jar. I note some people are having problems getting there's to set, look at type of milk your using, I bet in all cases its reconstituted milk made with milk powder no doubt from our dairy farms here in New Zealand. That stuff doesn't make yogurt of any sort, stick to proper milk.
sure
Can this temperature be used to make kimchi?
I strain my yoghurt and keep the whey for cooking but never use it all. Rather than use lovely yoghurt as a starter for a new batch is there the bacteria required to inoculate a new batch in the whey?
I used 109 degrees for 5 hours and though tasty the yogurt was lumpy! How can I make a smoother texture ?
Can the yogurt that I make with this recipe be used to make another batch of yogurt?
Harry
