I am heating the full fat pasteurized milk to boiling point and removing , cooling down to 30 dgrs centigrade and then adding to the freeze dried or grains either to keep in store or making kefir for use . Do i always heat or can i skip that and use cold milk for all purposes , making , preserving , growing .
The benefits of boiling are detailed in this blog post here: https://www.yogurtathome.com/single-post/2020/05/16/boiling-of-the-milk-when-making-yogurt-and-kefir-at-home
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Many people hesitate to boil the milk for different reasons, however, what are benefits of boiling when you make yogurt and kefir at home?
- The boiling of the milk kills competitive bacteria in the milk—this guarantees that there is no number of competitive bacteria present. Most of the milk nowadays is pasteurized in advance before reaching the shelves in the shop as the focus is on removing the bacteria harmful to people, but small numbers of bacteria still exist after the process. They are not harmful to people but they might get into competition for food with the yogurt and kefir bacteria in the starter. This will increase the time for incubation and also will compromise the starter in the long run, which consequently will reduce the number of recultivations.
- Boiling of the milk evaporates the water in the milk. All processed (shop bought) milks contain water. After fermentation you will notice some whey left. This whey actually is the water in the milk and the best way to remove this in advance is to boil the milk for 15-20 min.
- The boiling also breaks down some enzymes in the milk and thickens the solids. This additionally supports the thickening of the milk during fermentation and practically helps the lactobacteria in doing the job, further reducing the incubation time.
There are two main ways to boil the milk
- On the stove—this is actually the way people try to avoid. It takes time and needs constant attention as the milk can burn or overflow, especially if trying to maintain a long boiling process.
- In the microwave on full power for 15-20 min.—This way is one of the easiest. You need a flat container sized at least double the amount of milk to avoid overflow and nothing else.
- Many people also wonder if they should boil ultra-pasteurised milks. The answer is simple: not every time, but if you made a yogurt and there are excessive amounts of whey, please do it for the next batch.
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So the short answer is: You can skip this step if you wish, but this will not improve any of the aspects that otherwise boiling improves
hello i had read about the pro’s of boiling for a very short time which i am doing but i was hesitant after seeing so many videos on youtube where they went from room temperature to begin the process . thank you for the detailed information .
You can ‘‘cold start’’ your yogurt mix, but again this would not be the optimum or for the best results.
Secondly, if you ‘‘cold start’’ your mix, you rely too much on the milk used or the processing of the milk. The milk is processed for humans and most frequently for direct consumption, but not for good bacteria and fermentation.
As with every single homemade product (homemade cake, homemade wine, homemade sausages, homemade cheese, whatever), there is more than one method, and you can be creative in finding more that can be closer to your preference, but there is one optimum, so knowing that you can start searching for other ways.
another point here is which milk ? i was at the local supermarket today and i was comparing prices with organic and grass fed options . Is there any benefit using organic ? the price is exactly double .
To make yogurt successfully, you should satisfy the bacterial requirements, not those of the marketing departments that create new milk categories(simply changing the descriptions or adding a new text line on the bottle).
Bacterial cultures need whole dairy milk with no additives, preservatives, and the highest possible fat and protein content. For best texture, unhomogenised milk can be used.
Bacterial cultures do not care about how the cows are fed or about the organic certification as long as the milk has no additives or preservatives, is high in protein and fat and is not homogenised for a thicker texture.
You can see our videos explaining some details about the milk below
# How to choose the perfect milk for homemade yogurt and milk kefir
# Organic milk vs regular non-organic dairy milk
More videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/NPSelection/videos