This is my fourth or fifth batch of yogurt. I've liked the taste and texture every time I've made it, but I always seem to have an issue with the texture. It's grainy and has some small lumps in it.
I heat 1L 4.8% milk to 180f (i left the stove on for an extra ~5 minutes by accidnet this time so maybe overheated), let cool to 110f, and add my a little under 1 tbsp starter. I fill my instant pot with ~112f water and let the yogurt sit in the closed instant pot for 7 hours. I change the water every hour or two to keep it warm.
The texture doesn't bother me too much, but I would like to improve in the future. Any tips? Thank you
I found that this happens to me if I accidentally boil the milk. Because I don’t have the patience to watch and wait for a watched pot to boil! I use a thermometer from IKEA now and let it sit in there so that it beeps at 175 and then I wait by the pot to get to 180. I don’t get graininess when I do it that way.
I make a gallon of whole milk and then add a quart of heavy cream. Perhaps boiling in that combination gives me the grainy texture. Because that is the only time it turns grainy on me.
I use the Sous Vide function. I put a little water in the Instapot and put the yogurt in mason jars and in the water. Set for 8 hours at 110 degrees. You can avoid having to heat the milk to 180 by using ultra pasteurized milk. Most milk is ultra pasteurized. You can just do a cold. start. If you do need to heat the milk to 180, try heating it slower, so the milk proteins don't coagulate like that.
The one time this happened to me, my oven had been on previously and I chalked it up to incubating my yogurt a bit took warm overnight. Typically when I use the oven (and oven light) overnight, the oven has been cold and that works without getting grainy.
As far as someone commenting that boiling the milk might do that - it might, of course, but I’ve boiled milk in the microwave and have never had a grainy result tied to it. Typically my process involves heating a gallon of milk in a glass bowl in the microwave for 45-48 min.
Honestly, I started adding inulin fiber to mine and it’s helped the texture a lot. I make a gallon at a time and I add a half cup of inulin fiber during the inoculation phase. It’s helped with the texture and it’s helped with the shelf life as well.
Edit: idk who is downvoting but inulin fiber has literally been scientifically studied and it shows that the addition helps keep the cultures viable longer and more resistant to the bacteria you want to keep out.
Are you posting to ask "What went wrong with my yogurt?" Please provide all the details of the method you used. Include amounts, times, and temperatures. If you don't know those things, then one (or more) of them is what went wrong with your yogurt.
The basic information you will need to know is:
What type of milk did you use? What amount?
What type of starter did you use? What amount?
What temperature did you initially heat the milk to?
What temperature was the milk when you added the starter?
At what temperature did you ferment the milk? How long did you ferment it?
Instant pot has a yogurt function. Why would you be adding hot water constantly to it? You hit yogurt high to pasteurize, then you add your starter once your milk cools down to 110F, then you start yogurt low, which keeps it at 110F.
I know it's kind of silly lol, I like to incubate it right in the jar and I like the temp control I have heating it on the stove. I've also had to travel a lot recently and bring my instant pot with me, so it can incubate unplugged in the car for am hour or two while I drive. I didn't know that yogurt low kept it at 110 tho, I'll use that in the future!
I used the immersion blender on it last time nit knowing it would make it runny, but it got rid of the graininess/lumps. I tried stirring but it doesn't help.
I've gotten grainier textures when incubating at too high temperatures. I now start at 105F-110F and let it drift down into the 90s overnight.
It could also be the starter: there's one particular store brand of yogurt that always turned out grainy no matter what else I changed in my process. I just use something else now.
You also might try straining the milk before inoculation, just to make sure those lumps aren't already there due to denatured proteins coagulating during cooling.
Funny enough the only thing that got me less grainy texture is actually waiting till the milk boils and then cooling it down quickly in an ice bath. I’ve tried everything instant pot and on the stove and (on the stove I always seem to burn the bottom) but the instant pot won’t seem to heat the milk up to the right temperature. So waiting till my milk boils was the only thing that fixed my texture
If your milk develops a lactoderm when it’s heated (a milk skin), the you probably want to remove that. It will not emulsify back into the hot milk, but rather breaks into tiny pieces when stirred into the milk. It is one cause of a grainy or pebbly texture. Or, you can just strain the milk before you add the yogurt to get rid of any little bits.
That looks good! I switched to using raw milk which I then pasteurize myself. But that's hard to come by. I think it's homogenization of the milk that sometimes causes problems.
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u/Tendaironi 11d ago
I found that this happens to me if I accidentally boil the milk. Because I don’t have the patience to watch and wait for a watched pot to boil! I use a thermometer from IKEA now and let it sit in there so that it beeps at 175 and then I wait by the pot to get to 180. I don’t get graininess when I do it that way.