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 forgot to set a timer on my yogurt maker, and now my greek yogurt is lumpy/cheesy looking. It smells fine and doesn't taste like much really, but the texture is gross. Can I reuse this culture to try making a new batch? Any rescue tips?
— Bianca
Yeah, you can. Just go ahead and take that same one tablespoon of curd per cup of milk like you normally would, and pretend this never happened. The curd is much denser without its whey, but I never adjust the backslop quantity when I over-ferment a yogurt (thank you for reminding me to go check if mine are done!). If you want to eat the curd you have, you can blend it (add some whey back in to thin it out), but it will be very tart/funky. I personally use this kind of stuff for mashed potatoes, because the funkier the dairy the better the potatoes. Baking with it also works really well.
Yesterday, I made my first batch of Whole milk yogurt, using a half gallon of whole milk and half a cup of wholemilk yogurt using the slow cooker method put slow cooker on low with milk inside for 2.5 hours, turned slow cooker off and waited 3 hours before putting in the culture. Wrapped the slow cooker in 2 towels and let to ferment 8 hours it came out runny, What can I do to thicken it now it still has not thickened in the refrigerator?
— Lisa
Nothing is going to thicken it, I’m sorry to say. Since it sounds like you’re just starting out with this yogurt, you should not be doing batches larger than 1 cup of milk for the first 3 batches, per the website activation instructions. Go on ahead and take 2 tablespoons of the runny stuff (the rest will be good for baking, smoothies, and mashed potatoes) and make a batch with 1 cup of milk. After that one is done, you’ll return to the standard 1T:1C ratio but do 1C max batches for those first 3.
All of that said, the cooler/oven method requires a 24 hour incubation period, not 8. So make sure you’re giving it the right amount of time for that method!
I ordered and received the Einkorn and the Desem Sourdough starters.
Do I need to order that kind of wheat to get the different favors? Or do I use basic bread flour and just a small amount of those wheats. Like 20% einkorn. Thanks!
— Becky
It’s totally up to you, Becky. I personally tend to be pretty free-wheeling in how I mix my flours for baking, while others tend to be purists. For your starters specifically, yes you should feed them only the kind of wheat they normally use (desem and einkorn). You can, however, once your starters are activated, save some of the pure form and then convert the rest over to modern wheat starter. For the loaves you’ll make, it’s all about personal preference. I often toss in handfuls of weird flours I’d like to use up (banana!) and other random stuff in my breads, but I think this would offend the sensibilities of some bakers. Do what you like with the dough; keep at least some of the starter pure.
