I had the separation too. I did use part coconut milk though because I didn't quite have enough almond milk. It isn't as tasty as the cocoyo, IMHO. I also thought it wasn't very sour for having fermented for 24 hours, which makes me wonder if I should be using a disaccharide. I probably should since lactose is one.

Heck, if I could get away with dairy, that's what I would be eating!

I had some acidolphulus capsules in my fridge so I opened one and poured it into my cocoyo along with the culture (which doesn't have it for some reason). I think it worked, it tasted a little more tartly this time.

One weird thing though, I had a red scum in my yogurt which I've never seen before. I'm wondering if it is because I used maple syrup this time instead of honey?

Ack!! Back off the dairy again. It was ok for a while and then seemed to build up in my system. Got all bloaty and tired. I'm giving up on yogurt for a while and just doing the cultured veggies.

How're the cultured veggies working out?

Ouch! I can't support this with a reference, but whenever I see a red/orange/pinkish 'growth' in my yogurt and cheeses, that's automatically (to my mind and experience) "bad" biotics, an overgrowth of the unfriendly (or at least unknown) bacteria. It happens! I'd toss the batch, sweet one!

ps: honey has a mild natural 'antibiotic' effect, which I've never heard of for maple syrup...may have picked up a few critters with the maple, though it does happen at random now and then. Add the maple AFTER the 'pasteurization' of 200F for 10m?

Oh oh... maybe that is why I've been poo-ing non-stop for the last few days. I thought it was the nuts I ate, still do sort of think it was.

Now, how on earth did any sort of bad bacteria get into my yogurt which was boiled? I am trying to recall when I added the maple syrup, it might have been after the boil but it was really, really hot. Surely it must've been well over 160 for a good 10 minutes.

Or... I opened a capsule of acidophilus and threw it in. Maybe it is contaminated?

Argh! I'll throw it out.

Hey... just notice that thread on pumpkin again... pumpkin/coconut milk yogurt. It could be done!

Ok, after throwing out that batch of yogurt I started a new one. This time I used the Probiotic culture, boiled the hell out of the coconut milk, added the sweeteners (honey and molasses) early so they got boiled, sterilized everything that would come in contact with the food. I mean... serious paranoia. I still had a bit of that red. Its got to be something in the culture.

I think I will contact the company and ask them about it. But in the meantime, I think I'll risk eating this one. I was SO careful.

According to Harold McGee (do I begin to sound like an ad for this guy? Sorry), there are two purposes for boiling the milk for yogurt.
1. to kill off bad bacteria.
2. to concentrate and "denature" (= unfold) the protein strands.
Commercial yogurt makers add milk powder to increase the protein concentration. Maybe adding rice protein isolate, if you can't use milk ore whey, or even soy protein would help with the thinness problem?

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention, I sent email to the culture company and they never responded. I won't buy from them again. The bums.

Refmls, I found a web site of a guy that has an electron microscope who examined casein proteins after they had been heated for yogurt. What he found was that if you heat it long enough at just the right temperature that the proteins form nubs that make them cling together better. He had pictures and everything, it was very cool.

I wonder if rice protein isolate has any starch in it? I can't eat starches. I wonder if another sort of protein would get nubby with the proper heating?

Oy, bums isn't the word I'D use!

I'm pretty sure that protein isolate is protein isolate (just the protein, eh?) ...but to be sure, I actually have some rice protein AND some rice & pea protein isolates hanging around here in my test kitchen

just a sec~~~

yah.

MLO Brown Rice Protein (Vegan & Gluten Free), Rice Bran Extract - No Added Sugar {right off the label, and on the

• NF label: 28.4g (1 oz to u yanks ) - 110 cals, 1g Fat, 12g TC, 2g Fiber, 3g Sugars, 15g Protein.

• Ings list: brown rice protein concentrate, rice syrup solids, rice bran.

Does NOT claim to be a protein isolate, though...and concentrates are notoriously higher in carbs than isolates}. Of note, claims 10mg sodium and 75mg potassium!

Naturade Soy-Free Veg Protein Booster

• NF label: 28.4g - 114 cals, 1.2g Fat, 4.3g TC, 22g Protein.

• Ings list: pea protein isolate, rice protein, medium chain triglycerices, natural flavours, reishi and shiitake mushroom extract, xanthan gum, potato protein hydrolysate, guar gum, papain, bromelain, spirulina powder.

Hmmmmm. Intriguing ingredient list, I am reminded. Also of note, 160mg sodium and 40mg potassium.

Well, hope that helps! Sort of.

Ha! I want one of those!

Actually, I'd trade it in for an outdoor kitchen. *dreams*

I'm making a new batch of yogurt today using my old, milk based culture. It'll be interesting to see if I get the red streaks in it.

Well???

Actually, I finally got around to doing some testing without actually using some already-made yogurt as a culture/starter; something you made me think of when you were opening


Hmph. So I made some yogurt of 1 C "low-lactose" milk (8g/Cup instead of the usual 12) I can get around here and 1 C of 18% Light/Coffee Cream -- making my own "half n half" with slightly fewer carbs -- and a couple of Tbsp of Olympic brand organic yogurt and a capsule of my favorite probiotic (and the 180-190F for X minutes trick) and all into my 2C thermos for 12+ hours. Thickened even more, to a heavier than sour cream consistency, almost a yo-cheese, on chilling. Delightful! and the thickest yogurt I've ever made...

Of course, then I wanted to find out if it was the probiotic, if it would work as well with just the capsule, i.e., a non-dairy culture/starter. So yesterday I set up everything precisely the same except the only starter in use is the 1 capsule of probiotic. And yes, indeed, it's chilling in the fridge now, but it seems to be precisely the same solid mass I got before, right out of the thermos.

So, Nance, I'm thinking this stuff or blend or whatever just might be useful in other fermentations, whatcha think?

Here's the ingredients, so you can compare to your probiotic capsules:

Natural Factors Cal'dophilus Super Strength with 6 billion active cells (non dairy):
Lactobacillus rhamnosus .........50 %
Lactobacillus casei ...................30 %
Lactobacillus acidophilus .......10 %
B. longum .......................................10 %
FOS from chicory ..200 mg (a prebiotic)

So, the 4 active cultures and the prebiotic base (cell food, I'm guessing) combined seem to have some whopping culturing effect on foodstuffs as well as the GI tract!

Fun, eh? Oh, yeah, there were little reddish specks in the capsule contents that I noticed as I stirred them into a bit of the milk...but no streaks when all was said and done and finished.

Interesting! Well, yeah, it makes sense though. I don't see why we can't use probiotic capsules as yogurt starters.

Its the Yogurt culture I got for $50 that causes the red streaks. I didn't get sick however, when I ate my second try. Although this time I think the streak was more brownish.

I tried to make yogurt from a non-dairy potato based milk called "Vances". Lets just say... it failed miserably! I did let it culture for > 24 hours though and I think the bacteria ate ALL the potato because what I had left was pretty much just water. Either that or the gelatin separated out the potato from the water and it settled to the bottom. Not exactly sure. I had forgotten to add gelatin during the initial heating and added it in after it had cultured 12 hours or so, so that might have ruined it.

I am missing my yogurt though. I gotta get busy and make more cocoyo.

Can you remind me (in short form) of your cocoyo process? I'd like to give that a try, too. I've got all sorts of coconut products lying around doing nothing

Particularly, do you heat the coconut milk to just under boiling (to avoid curdling and separation) and then cool to culturing temp?

Ta!

Me again, aren't you listening?

Never mind all that, I tripped over this page while looking for something else, and thought of you and your soy and coconut yogurts, and such.

Have a look, tell me what you think (it has to do with the gelling and texture of non-dairy yogurts, very interesting).

http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1999382.htm