Dangerous On A Spoon!

To boil or not to boil? Milk that is!

Even though mesophilic yogurt has been around for hundreds of years it’s become quite popular over the last few. It’s known for its ease in preparation and not requiring any fancy yogurt making equipment. Set it and forget it of sorts.

Whenever I prepare a mesophilic yogurt I’m always left wanting. The texture just isn’t there. Think loose jelly. Mmmmmm. NOT! Even worse as you stir the yogurt it gets even more thin. Now think drinkable yogurt. It’s my opinion that most mesophilic yogurts fit into the category of drinkable.

One sure fire way to fix that is to almost boil the milk. I know what you’re thinking. Great! Make something easy the hard way.

The last few months, I’ve made it a point to bring my milk slowly up to 180 F, then cool it back down like you would a thermophilic culture. I do make sure to cool it fully down to room temperature around 70-78 F. Remember thermophilic cultures ferment at a higher temperature than their mesophilic counterparts. So when cooling the milk bring the temperature all the way down. I’d even go as far as heating the milk and pouring it off into a mason jar and letting it sit for a few hours. Once room temperature is reached, add the yogurt cultures, stir, and ferment like you normally would a mesophilic culture.

The process is still ridiculously easy. You won’t need to worry about keeping the milk warm during the ferment. The resulting yogurt is thick, creamy, and dreamy. Mesophilic yogurt doesn’t have to be dangerous on a spoon. Heat that milk. Denature those proteins. It’s worth it I promise!