Non-dairy yogurt Recipe
 

Ok, I gotta post this because I'm getting asked how to make this in several forums and I keep repeating the instructions. Instead, I can link to this!

I have a Salton Yogurt maker that makes 1 quart of yogurt, so this recipe fits that yogurt maker nicely.

Here's the steps one takes for making anything into "yogurt".

1) Kill the bad bacteria in your starting medium (milk, coconut milk, whatever). For non-milk products you can usually just boil it.

2) Add gelatin or pectin if you want it to get a yogurt like consistency, otherwise, if it isn't milk, it'll have more of a kefir like consistency. A thick liquid.

3) Add your bacteria food (something with sugars in it, like 1Tbl honey, pureed pineaple or banana). Mix well.

4) Cool to 90-100 degrees.

5) Add culture and incubate for 4-24 hours.

6) Pour into a clean container and refrigerate until it sets up.
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Ok, specific to Coconut Milk yogurt:

I use 2 cans of coconut milk. Make sure you get some without perservative. I get mine at Trader Joe's. It is a "light" brand. I haven't tried it yet with a full fat brand. I want to try it though.

I use 1 or slightly less than 1 packet of gelatin. It gets a bit too jello-like with a full packet, so maybe 3/4 or 3/5 of a packet is better.

You can just leave out the gelatin and it is like kefir and makes a mean smoothie with a little lemon juice and sweetner!

What's it taste like? Well, less sour than milk yogurt. I think it tastes a little like coconut still, but it has a great tang to it. I recommend going a full 24 hours because it doesn't get that terribly tangy and you'll get more of the beneficial bacteria per serving.

I got the idea for this from a web site (I don't have the URL) where the woman described making yogurt from cashews and water. So you can see, that you can "yogurtize" almost anything given the right temperatures, bacteria and give them something to eat so they can reproduce.

Here's a link for a non dairy yogurt starter:

http://www.giprohealth.com/starter.html

Thanks Jen! I knew there had to be something out there. :D

Ouch! $30! I wonder how much there is in a container?

Here's a recipe for making almond milk (which you could yogurtize): http://homecooking.about.com/cs/ato...almond_milk.htm

More nutmilk recipes: http://nomilk.com/nutmilks.txt

If you're making a quart at a time, that's 120 doses, so the bottle goes a long, long way.

Besides the $30 price, there's a $15 shipping charge as it has to be shipped fast in a cold pack. So $45 for 120 quarts of yogurt; I thought it wasn't bad at all!

Nancy, I'm thinking this coconut cream would make a good milk which could be used to make yogurt. (It says "mix 1 or 2 teaspoons of Coconut Cream Concentrate with water or juice to make a creamy coconut milk drink.") What do you think? I'm thinking it would be economical compared to the cans, and it comes in glass, which I feel much better about.

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/c...concentrate.htm

I've got a batch of almond milk yogurt in the maker right now, and I'll be tasting it tomorrow morning. I had to use a milk-based starter though, as I haven't received my non-milk starter yet.

I'm so anxious to be making yogurt with no milk whatsoever. I haven't had my intolerance of milk clinically confirmed, but it really makes me feel bad, so I'm just assuming it's a no-no.

I get confused and frustrated trying to come up with a good yogurt to help with my candida, but I'll keep trying. I know someday soon, I'll get it right!

I noticed the Progurt doesn't have lactobacillus acidophilus but l. casei instead. I wonder why....

Something I found on preparing almonds:



When I made my almond milk, I soaked them for 12 hours, but didn't skin or toast them. I have a 42-oz. yogurt maker, so I used 2 cups of almonds, which I pulverized in batches with a little water in a food processor, then added more water to make 42 ounces. It was too many almonds! I could have used 1-1/2 cups or less. I had to strain out a lot of solids, a great deal of which was almond skins. I put the solids in the frig because I think I can make yet more almond milk with it. Next time I'll skin the almonds first.

The end result was very creamy and looked good. I added 6 oz of good commercial yogurt as a starter, and 1 T. of maple syrup. I will post how it comes out.

i know this is probably a very dumb question but i must know.....

could you use the homemade milk that you are speaking of in a low carb cereal?

Thanks
Jen

Of course. Hood carb count down is a wonderful product, but only very recently came on the market. Same with soy slender. For many on this bored who started low carb before it became trendy, almond milk or soy milk were what was available. Even having unsweetened from the market was sometimes rare so making your own was the only way to insure no added sugars and preservatives.

If you dig you can also find recipies for homade cereals. The great thing about store cereal is of course the convience, but occasionaly having alternatives is what keeps this way of eating a part of your life instead of just a diet.

On www.pecanbread.com, it says "Non-dairy yogurt starter and non-dairy acidophilus can be purchased from Custom Probiotics."

http://www.customprobiotics.com/ The yogurt starter has acidophilus. It is $50, but is very concentrated, and you use a tiny amount for each batch.

I already ordered the other kind from GI ProHealth mentioned above. I hope I did not make a mistake.

I'm not sure about the coconut cream. I am thinking it might separate and you'd have water and cream as an end result. Hmmm.... I haven't even tried full-fat coconut milk yet because I thought it might separate too.

The Probiotics one also charges 15.00 for shipping!

I don't know if you're trying to follow the SCD or not, but the Elaine Gotschall only recommends l. acidophilus, l. bulgaricus and l.thermophilus. She tested them and judged these to be safe and very beneficial, while the bifidus and casei and other species are controversial. Some sources say they are beneficial, but Elaine wasn't so sure.
L. casei is in most yogurt brands so millions of people eat them. I don't think they are particularly harmful, but I'm no expert. I read some posts on the SCD websites where someone was using Stoneyfield yogurt (has casei) as a starter and had no success with SCD until they switched to Yogourmet starter that has l. acidophilus. But they are people with bowel disease.
Since you already ordered it, you might as well try it, I don't think it'll do any harm. Or you can return them but they will probably not reimburse you for shipping expenses.

Nancy, I can't find any coconut milk without additives. Even Thai Kitchen puts guar or xantan gum in it now, even in the premium kind.