YOGURT

[orockthro]

 Yesterday I made.... (wait for it...) YOGURT.
Yes indeed, I braved the weird, nebulous world of bacteria, and came out with something delicious. 8D I'm super duper pleased.

My mom has been making coconut yogurt for the last few months, and she has a dedicated yogurt maker she got off the internet. I wanted to try making coconut yogurt pretty badly (it's yummy, doesn't contain dairy, and also did I mention yummy?) but I'm not at the "buy lots of equipment" stage of this curiosity. Luckily the internet told me I could do it without, it would just be fussier.
So I did!
It wasn't that "hard" either, although the fussy part was accurate. It involved: 2 cans of coconut milk, 1/3 c. of corn starch, 4 tablespoons of store-bought coconut yogurt as a culture, a candy thermometer, and 24 hours. 
(I followed this recipe)
I say followed. I ... mostly followed it. Like I said, I used corn starch as a thickener instead of tapioca starch, since corn starch is what I had on hand. Since this was my first batch, I don't know how it differs. I also only ~mostly~ kept it at 100* for about 11 hours instead of the 12-24 recommended. 

HOWEVER.
IT WORKED.
24 hours later, I HAVE YOGURT.

I'm... somewhat shocked, and deeply pleased. :D
Imgur is being grumpy so I can't share pics. They'll come later, because I'm deeply pleased with myself. *laughs*

It's boatloads cheaper than buying it from the store. 

Store bought--
24 oz plain coconut yogurt: $6.99
(OUCH)

Home-made coconut yogurt--
(2) cans of coconut milk: $4.6
1/3 c. corn starch: $.24
Starter: free from now on, so long as I save some yogurt from the current batch
Yields 48 oz plain homemade coconut yogurt! 
Per oz. the homemade coconut yogurt is $.10 whereas the store bought is $.29

BOOM.

Comments

[tassosss]

That's exciting! I can't wait to see picks. It's so satisfying when kitchen experiments work out.

[orockthro]

:3 Yessssss
I've been totally impressed with your dedication to bread, by the way! I really want to try out a few of the things you've done, once the weather has cooled down a bit. :)

[mlaw]

Wow that's great! I wonder if you can make it with almond milk?

[orockthro]

HM! My gut guess is no, that it wouldn't work out the same. Since this is full fat coconut milk from a can, the already thick consistency lends a lot to the final gloopiness of the yogurt, with a little help from the starch. Almond milk may or may not sustain a bacteria colony, but I bet the consistency/texture would be totally different from what we think of as yogurt.
But I'm not a yogurt expert! :)

[mlaw]

I did a little research and no almond milk won't work, has something to do with it not containing any sort of fat, which is what allows the pudding to thicken.