Yogurt?

[LIGA girl]

You have done the right thing there Bama. My experience is that the yoghurt can turn all of a sudden, it is not a gradual thing often, so that yoghurt that sits there will do nothing for 11 hours, then firm up in one. If it does not work after at least 12 hours, it probably means you have the wrong temp in the oven. But if it smells right, ie like warm yoghurt, it will most likely work.

As for the gas light, my oven is electricity so I cant make any comment on that one, sorry....    I have never had a yoghurt precipitated explosion in my oven and would certainly warn you if I had.... 

[anthropositor]

If your temperature is right and your yogurt culture is viable it will eventually thicken.  Give it another 12 hours.  

If it doesn't thicken further but still smells good, add some chocolate syrup and have a chocolate beverage or blend it with some fresh fruit or ice cream or some dry pudding mix and create a nice dessert.  

If the temperature of the oven ever got above 110 F or so you might have killed the culture.  Your interior light may be generating too much heat.  Your next step might be to start over again with fresh milk and a fresh yogurt culture doing everything in the same way, but this time using a spacer which does not allow the oven door to close entirely.  This will reduce the interior temperature of the oven.  

If you have a means of measuring the oven temperature, that could give you further information on what is going on.

[Bamawing]

It isn't too hot. It's only slightly above room temperature. I've been basing this on the same "warm kitten" temperature that is ideal for bread to rise, and this is a little cooler than that.

I like the dry pudding idea. Between that, bananas and Ovaltine, I think I can do something with this.

Wish me luck. If it explodes, I'll be sure to let y'all know.

[anthropositor]

If it is below body temperature by 10 F it will probably take an extra day or so.  But if you play around with it I'm sure you will find a way to eat or drink it with enjoyment.

[itchychick]

Bama.... did the yogurt you put into the milk have live cultures?

[Bamawing]

Yes, it did. I left it in until 3:00 in the morning, when I woke up and checked it. It was warm to the touch and still liquid. I have yogurt-flavored milk and a husband who is doing a pretty good job, actually, of refrianing from "I told you so." Of course, he's still convinced that if I drink it I'll die from food poisoning.

I think part of the problem was the "ultra-pasturization" of the original milk, the lack of heat, and a vibe of pure negativity on the part of the spousal unit.

Time to get some pudding mix...

[LIGA girl]

If your temperature is right and your yogurt culture is viable it will eventually thicken.  Give it another 12 hours.  ....

I'd say this was the problem Bama, as the culture dies off above a certain temp ....

[Bamawing]

Guess what?? Today I was itching badly in "the usual location" so I decided to drink some yogurt and see if it killed me.

It's set!

Well, sort of. It's the consistancy of a nice, think milkshake, only not frozen. I had a banana smoothy for breakfast, and just drank a chocolate smoothy. Dan says that the sight of it turns his stomach. This means that the next time he groses me out, I have recourse!!!

And I have a half a gallon of nice, smoothy drink to boot. No blender required.

[Bamawing]

Oh. My. God, y'all, I have found the Elixer of Life!

This yogurt and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Oh... oh yeah... this stuff is heavenly. I'm getting Jeff to add it to the menu.

[LIGA girl]

Sounds Yum Bama! you must have had partial success with the yoghurt then and maybe it just needed longer to turn into fully fledged yoghurt ...

[Aquababe241]

Yoghurt or Kefir...That is the question...I love yoghurt...very good for hair, nails and colon...That is until I discovered kefir...It also tastes slightly alcoholic when left at room temperature for 2 days...absolutely heavenly..

I make mine from raw goat milk with grains from  The Kefir Shop in Scotland...just £7 for a grain starter.  Then all you do is add a cup of milk and shake it every now and then...After 2 days, the grains should be fermenting the milk...taste and notice the difference.

Use whatever milk you like that's fresh...preferably raw. Sheep's, cow's, goats.  Fermenting milk makes it more digestible and doubles the Vitamin B content, folic acid and protein.  12 hour fermentation tastes nice...36-48 hour fermentation looks thicker and more tart..consume at your leisure.

It's very addictive and really nice...Remember, just a glass jar with a plastic sieve.  No metal. Sieve the kefir, drink, then add more fresh milk to the grains.  Keep glass jar clean by washing in hot soapy water.

NEVER wash the grains.....just add the milk...

Life is sooo simple if you don't try...

[anthropositor]

If I had been the one to start this thread, I would probably not have combined two such dissimilar products in the title.  Even so, sometimes making new a combination of ingredients in a recipe has informational value.  I was just inspired to try mixing some dried Shmooo spice to yogurt. 

I did not anticipate that it would be good, but my emphasis in the past few months has been to try it in absolutely everything I could, not only to determine its versatility, but because I am deliberately trying to find an overload point.  A level of saturation in the diet beyond which I could not go, for whatever reason.  I mixed quite a bit of dried crumbled Shmooo into plain yogurt.  I found the change in texture pleasant.  I think I could through some raisins in, chill well, and have a nice highly nutritious dessert.  I'm not talking just a spice like pinch.  A half ounce of dried Shmooo is probably the equivalent of over three ounces of the fresh vegetable.

I ate big tablespoon of the mix, and liked the more complex texture, but it was pretty bland, not strong in flavor at all.  I didn't have much yogurt on hand, so it was pretty much gone before I knew it.  But next time, I think throwing in some cilantro, avocado and coarsely ground pepper, with maybe a diced tomatillo and some minced onion will make an excellent dip for pretzels or chips which is also incredibly nutritious.

I suppose this should be over on the Maca and Shmooo thread, but it is hard not to cross-thread with Shmooo, since it apparently accommodates itself to everything I mix with it.  I have been eating it in steadily increasing amounts to find the point at which my body would signal that I was going overboard.  Day before yesterday I ate two salad bowls full, raw and sliced cole slaw fashion.  This is perhaps three times the volume of salad made out of lettuce and other greens that I might ordinarily eat.   

I don't know if this is related, but my appetite was slow to come back.  My sleep seemed more alert.  (My wife eats Shmooo for dinner, but will not eat it as bedtime approaches.  Says it keeps her awake. 

I also noticed that my blood pressure climbed some yesterday.  No emergency or anything, but eating the Shmooo in such quantities may be accelerating my metabolism to a certain extent, and I may need to make some adjustments in my blood pressure measures to compensate, if I continue consuming such large quantities.

Oh yes, one more thing.  Although I often tend to gorge at buffets at least twice a week, it seems I have lost about fifteen pounds in the past couple of months.  I didn't realize it because I don't usually weigh myself with any frequency.  I have not been dieting in any way.  I eat whenever I am inclined to do so.  Very odd.