raw yogurt

[SoulJourner]

I heard AV recommend spitting in milk and culturing at room temp to make yogurt - has your own bacteria doing the pre-digestion that way. I have tried it and sometimes the yogurt is tasty, other times not at all.  Has anyone else tried this and had more consistent results? I'm wondering if a tiny bit of honey added at the start would help the taste, if not too much to act as an inhibitor.

[SoulJourner]

I was thinking of trying a yogurt starter from Cultures from Health for counter-top culturing for more consistent and perhaps tastier results, but they have been freeze-dried and I wonder about the effects of that.

[RawZi]

    I think you mean AV's kefir, when recommended.  I don't think it was for yogurt too.  Some say he says honey.  I know he says honey is part of a recipe that preserves milk to last longer. 

[jessica]

it probably depends on the temperature
i know either to high or low creates more yeast which is not as desirable as bacteria
sometimes its takes more time and patience when you leave it out instead of warming and then insulating, i know i tried to make counter top yogurt and when it didnt provide results in a week i stuck it in the refrigerator and another week later i had really tasty sour cream....go figure? 

honestly these days i am lazy(and homeless!) and when i can i buy white mountain whole milk yogurt from the grocery.  i know its NOT raw, but it does have live cultures and is really good quality, only whole milk and cultures, sold in glass, decent price, great company
i mix that with some okios kefir sour cream(admittedly not the best quality but really delicious), butter, raw beef liver and citrus juice or baked orange veggies, salt and munch on whatever greens, herbs, weeds i can thats my blood/bone healing energy drink, probably sounds gross but thats my intuitive meal

[SoulJourner]

Wow, that does sound counter-intuitive to me, but obviously meets your needs. How do you feel about AV's warnings about salt? Do you eat as much as you crave, or try to limit it?

[zeno]

Here, someone states that ant's eggs or the dirt from ant hills is one of the original starters for yogurts. Search down the page for the information. I know I've tried to search and search to discover how was yogurt made originally? We didn't always have the convenience of starters.

Also, here is another recipe for unheated yogurt. How the milk is cultured though (whether its with a commercial starter, spit, or another batch of yogurt), isn't described.

[Sally]

I got a yogurt maker a couple weeks ago and made a good batch of yogurt with store bought starter.

Yesterday I tried using saliva as a starter for another batch, and it didnt work at all, and now it will be a waste of 2 litres of good raw cows milk.

If anything the enzymes in saliva will work to break down the texture of the milk, kind of like pineapple on jello. 

I held the milk at 44 C for eight hours and used 2 tbsp of saliva, I also drank a bit of milk and I was creating the saliva to ensure that the right kind of enzymes would be present in my saliva.

Pretty dissapointed.

[van]

saliva is full of bacteria, good and bad, best not to use.   With raw milks, use a very generous portion of probiotics and keep at body temp by using a food cooler and light bulb or heating pad adjusted over a couple of days that stays right at body temp.  Try to use fresh milk that has just been milked from cow, as immediately competing bacteria will start to grow and out grow most probiotics.  I have made it for years,  (or did). 

[jessica]

somewhat relevant is an art exhibit called "self made" where various types of cheese were made from bacteria sourced from different parts of the human body.  totally makes me want to gag when I think of how many kind of gross women I have met who have told me about their yeast infections (people get too comfortable around me, lol).........ugh

https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/growyourown/selfmade