Bulgarian Yoghurt Starter

The initial activation batch was quite thin, but I was expecting that after reading other reviews. The 2nd batch came out very nice. Good consistency, especially after straining for a few hours. And is very mild (low tartness/tang) as I was hoping for.

I’ve been making yogurt for a few months and grew tired of needing a new store-bought tub every few generations. Found a Sandor Katz video online where he talks of endless generations via heirloom cultures. After 5 quality generations (more than any store-bought tub produced), I’m convinced this is the better way. As Sandor explains, it’s not just a handful of lab-isolated bacteria strains in this yogurt, it’s a whole complex community of bacteria that gives it a deeper flavor. To my surprise this yogurt also cultures much faster than store starters. This yogurt is ready after a 5 hour culture, whereas store-bought greek yogurt was taking 10 hours to get to where i liked it. This Bulgarian yogurt culture has a deeper, more interesting taste than store-bought tubs. It has a nice tang, but without the sour taste that is a turnoff to me and likely other vinegar-haters out there. Culturing has worked with every method I’ve tried so far: instant pot directly in the stainless tub, mason jars in the instant pot, and mason jars 75% submerged in water with a sous vide circulator. My go-forward is the mason jars as that enables me to produce the volume of yogurt my family consumes, while keeping the container size small enough to maximize quality. I use a standard <$3 gallon of whole milk from my local supermarket and do the initial heat to 180℉ in a pot on the stove. I found that a pot is faster than instant pot, and because I stir it periodically, it warms and cools without forming a skin on top of the milk. Activation batch tips: 1) Follow directions to the letter. Printed instructions are packaged with the starter, and a video is available on the sellers website. Subsequent batches are easy, but activation from dried starter just takes longer and you don’t want to waste this relatively expensive starter. 2) Mix thoroughly. The powdered starter didn’t dissolve as easily as I thought it would. Discovered some partially hydrated clumps at the bottom as I poured into the last jar. I decided not to remix the whole batch and fortunately that worked. 3) Be patient. Instructions say to start checking the activation batch at 5 hours, and let it go until 12 hours if not set. My activation batch took 11 hours to set. Per instructions, after setting I let it set at room temperature for 2 hours and then overnight in the fridge. Subsequent generations are much easier and faster than the first activation batch. Ongoing starter tip: IMHO the instructions from the seller call for too much starter in ongoing batches. I’ve been using a single heaping tablespoon of starter (yogurt from prior batch) per 1 gallon milk and think the resulting quality is great. Too much starter results in yogurt that is sour and possibly thin/grainy. Just be sure to thoroughly mix the starter into the milk. Update: This yogurt is still great after 6 months and 31 generations of yogurt so far. A few updates to my prior comments - 1) Settled on gallon batches of yogurt in 4 quart-size mason jars with plastic lids, cultured in a sous vide circulator bath at 110F. These batches provide my family of ~5 days of high-protein breakfasts. 2) I freeze enough yogurt to fill 3-4 cubes in an ice cube tray every couple months. One of my batches turned out bad I think because of a pot that was not fully sanitized, and I used a frozen cube to resume the lineage without needing more dried starter. To restart I used 1 cube in a quart mason jar of milk. It takes a long time to culture - just like the initial activation batch, but batch 2+ then turn out perfectly. This approach protects against contamination & other production gaps (i.e. vacation!) 3) updating my guidance to one heaping Tablespoon of starter per gallon of milk. I pour ~1c from the heated pot into a measuring cup, stir in the starter, and then add back to the pot. 4) culturing time: yogurt is consistently set after 4 hours of culturing at 110F. After 4 hours I remove the jars from the water bath and let them sit at room temperature for 2 hours, then place in the fridge overnight. (NOTE - these times are for production batches from a fresh starter. Activation batches take significantly more time to culture)

La seule petite chose c'est le le yogourt n'est pas aussi doux au goût que ce que j'espérais

I have ordered this item three times and of the three times only my first item (ordered on March 3, 2021) was great my siblings and I loved the taste but sadly we lost it due to parents being unhygienic or something else happened to it, so I made a second order when it was June 7, 2021 and this one came in expired my white/yellowish is powder was red/orange in color went to ask via email and I never got a reply back felt betrayed, but we really did love this taste, so I went for round three July 12, 2021 and when it came the siblings and I were excited the color and expiration date was fine . When it was done fermenting and cooling it was beautifully creamy and thick from appearance, but when I went to smell it the scent was different, but I thought maybe it would still be fine and to my surprise it was a bit sweet not a little tangy and tart like it was supposed to be when it plain. This was my experience so far I hope I can get the same thing I got back in March eventually, and I'm not even mad at the gallons of milk I lost making yogurt, just disappointed.

Short answer - I like this yogurt a lot, but you must be patient or you will think it doesn't work. Mine took 13 1/2 hours to ferment and thicken.It is mildly tart, not complex, and produced a thick yogurt. It may be a good choice as a base for people who don't like complex and super-tart yogurts. Long Answer - I tested this and yogourmet side by side. Got a half gallon of regular 2% milk, put it in the crockpot on low for two hours while it simmered, then poured it into 2 quart mason jars, lightly covered, and let it rest on the counter until the thermometer read around 105F. In the meantime, I put the oven on warm and half-filled a pampered chef rockcrock with water, covered, and put it into the oven to warm. Warm gets to around 200F. When the milk was cool, I turned off the oven. Then I put a yogourmet packet in one quart and one of these packets in another. Loosely covered the mason jars and put them into the warm water in the oven. Laid a doubleup bath towel over it to insulate, and left it alone for 5 1/2 hours. When I checked, the yogourmet was thick and tart. Not my prefered flavor of tart, either. I put it in the fridge. I ate it for breakfast the next morning but had to add fruit and sweetener. But the one with this packet was completely soupy - exactly like milk. I thought I must have killed it from the heat. I put it back in the oven with the towel over it and left it alone for another 8 hours (overnight). And it was PERFECT. Smooth and thick, not lumpy. It was mildly tart, with enough sweetness that I could eat it without fruit or honey. If I have a criticism it is that the flavor was not complex enough, but that is fine. I capped it and put it in the fridge. The other comments suggest that over time this gets even better at thickening so I'm looking forward to making future cultures from this initial start.