Ask Allie!

Ask Allie is our advice column, where you can ask all your food-related questions to get digestible answers! No question is off limits!

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I have a question and some comments. First the question and its lead up. We do mesophilic yogurt cultures in my house, mostly cause I am very busy. My oldest daughter wants to start doing some yogurt "like Grandma." Grandma does thermophilic yogurts. I am glad that she wants to start culturing but she is only ten. She does do a lot in the kitchen though she hasn't worked with the stove much, and never without supervision. But is there a yogurt maker that is kid friendly? Or should I have her start doing some mesophilic yogurts.

Comments. I am so glad you have the seasonal changes article. I woke up my Australian Kefir from hibernation and after 3 days it was fully awake and kefiring a quart of milk a day. After about a week winter showed up early in full force. And now it takes two days to kefir. I have tried moving it to a warmer place, tried using less milk, nope two days. I feel better knowing that this is normal.

Last comment. Thank you so much for your emphasis on backups. I put all my cultures into storage earlier this spring when I was about to give birth, most long term but two short term in the fridge. Well after I gave birth I had a rough recover, fell and got injured, some relatives died, and we found a house we can move into that fits our budget. One of my fridge storage kefirs died, but I also had backups for that in the fridge so I still have that culture. So even though I was very sad to see those poor grains die I am glad I had backups.

— Sara

First, I want to thank you for your kind words. We try really hard to keep our content relevant to the needs of our community members, both in seasonal reminders of fermenting information we’ve probably forgot since the last seasonal change, and in terms of new content, and it’s wonderful to get feedback that we aren’t missing the mark!

And yes, it’s totally normal. Cultures all have their own little personalities, and some of them can be real jerks! It’s always really sad when you lose a culture you weren’t trying to kill, and I’m glad you had backups so you didn’t need to buy new grains! I like to keep grains in breast milk bags in the freezer, and then I just break off a chunk if I need one. 

So, kids can totally make thermophils without help from adults, but if you’re not comfortable with a child in her age range using the stove unsupervised, I recommend a crock pot. If you don’t want her to lift the crock out of the heating element when it’s done cooking, she can always unplug it or turn it off and give it a couple/few hours to cool down first. There probably are yogurt makers that are kid friendly, but I have to be honest and say that having never owned or used a yogurt maker due to my aversion to having lots of gadgets (have only ever even see them online or in thrift shops), I can’t make a recommendation on one. I do recommend that, if you’re on Facebook, you sign up to our group because many of our community members do use yogurt makers and can give feedback on them!

I've just finished activated the French improved culture, and indeed it is mild as you said. I wonder if this culture still consumes lactose and produces lactic acid? How do you control the mildness?

— Lena

It does still consume lactose and produce lactic acid, but it doesn’t put out as much acid. Different bacteria will acidify the milk differently, so it comes down to the microbial profile of the given yogurt whether it will be tart or mild. Also how long it’s fermented for, as longer fermentation allows for more acidification.

Can I make yogurt with your improved French starter using a sous vide?

— Lisa

Definitely. I recommend 93-95F for around 12 hours. My friend Sarah makes her yogurt this way, and she get incredible results. At some point, be aware that this will probably turn into 5 hour incubation periods.