Strange milk fermentation

[majormark]

Maybe you can explain what just happened...

Yesterday I wanted to see what happens if I let raw milk ferment by itself vs with little bits of commercial plain yogurt in it for about 30 hours. Essentially I wanted to see if the cup containing commercial yogurt bits will ferment faster.

And guess what... The plain milk seems to have fermented FASTER... I expected the opposite.

The glass container with just milk has a yogurt like hard consistency and the one with bits of yogurt has just the fat gathered on top and the rest is liquid, sour tasting, milk.

The container with plain milk was partially covered (~80%) while the other one was completely uncovered (if that makes any difference).

So, how does that work?

[van]

Lots of variables going on here.  First,  yeasts grow fastest at temps colder than body temps.  Bacterias generally grow faster at body temps.  Raw milk will have it's own yeasts and bacteria.  Commercial yogurts can be any sort of bacteria, but are probably ones selected to culture at a very specific temp, and may not compete well with other organisms.   Bacterias multiply or double every ten to twenty minutes in ideal circumstances.   There can be any number of airborne bacterias or yeasts.

[Roselene]

Should this be in the Weston Price or Primal Diet section?

When I leave raw milk out open to air it firms up too.  I don't know why your other one didn't.  It de-homogenized better though?

[majormark]

I figured out why the milk in one container firmed up while the other didn't. But still cant really understand.

It's because the milk that got firm faster was partially covered.

In the beginning I had 3 wide glass containers. One with plain milk and the other two with added yogurt that were not covered.

When I partially covered one of the containers with added yogurt, it got firm over night while the other is still liquid.

So probably too much air actually slows down fermentation at room temperature.

[TylerDurden]

Milk should be discussed in the primal diet forum or the weston-price forum. IMO. I will move it there.

[van]

It's not the air that slowed it down, but airborne yeasts that got in the milk.  Yeasty milk will turn gooey.  Bacteria milk will go solid.

[RawZi]

    I don't like the goo.  Those powdered god knows what dairy source starters make fairly gross goo no matter the quality of milk you ferment with it.

[majormark]

I will always cover it if I ferment some more because the fat from the one that fermented slower tasted a little like yeast.

By the way, I noticed I don't feel the need to drink other liquids if I eat too much of it. Milk leaves me a little thirsty somehow.