"Start out by making yogurt and/or buttermilk. Learn about proper milk handling, good aseptic technique with the starter, and proper temperature control."
This started as a brainstorm to reduce packaging and an aspiration to learn more about the extra functions on my appliances.
1. I glugged 96 oz (2 jugs) of Alexandre regenerative milk into my Instantpot and followed the instructions to pasteurize it. Following this setting should have brought the milk up to at least 161*F to kill any harmful bacteria or pathogens. The milk was purchased vat-pasteurized and unopened before, so I was curious if this step was actually necessary. Reddit commenters suggest that bringing the milk to this temperature also denatures protein (commercial pasteurization does not reach the same temperatures) and that denatured protein reduces the amount of whey byproduct and makes for a thicker consistency yogurt.
2. I used my temperature gun to allow the temperature to fall to a level where the live cultures in my smidge of store-bought yogurt could survive. In retrospect, I think I messed this step up. I thought it was OK at 140*F but I should have let it fall to 110*F. On the upside, I stirred in more than the suggested 2 Tbl of yogurt/gallon, so that may have cooled the solution a tiny bit and introduced much more culture to potentially survive the scalding. I will have to try this again with the appropriate temperature drop and see if the yogurt consistency and whey production are different. When planning a future batch, I should also take some notes on how long it takes for the temperature to fall. This recipe was largely "dump and go" except for this step and I would hate to botch a batch because it wasn't cool enough before leaving for an outing.
3. I followed the instructions to ferment the yogurt by holding it at a 110*F temperature for 8 hours.
4. After allowing it to cool (overnight), I spooned it through a mesh bag to try to thicken it a bit and captured most of the whey in a separate jar. I am puzzled about what to do with the whey, but I think I can sub it for buttermilk in baking projects, use it as the liquid base for oatmeal (when I'm not eating yogurt), feed it to my dog, put it in a soup/chili, use it to start another batch of yogurt, or compost it. It might even be OK as
5. The instructions suggested refrigerating the yogurt for 12-24 hours to develop flavors (but I ate some right away as a breakfast parfait).
6. (experimental) In one of the pint containers I filled, I also tried adding 3 tableish spoonfuls of milk powder since I prefer the *really thick* style of yogurt and this was pretty runny.
First round stats:
milk: 2924 grams yields 1383 grams (runny) yogurt and 1271 of whey (give or take some spills)
recycling generated = 146 grams of plastic (2 milk cartons) vs recycling for 2 containers of store yogurt = 72.47 grams!
cost = $16.98 vs. grocery store yogurt equivalent (2.03*$7.49) = $15.23
Surprising! At face-value, it costs about the same to buy vs. make yogurt. It also appears that to buy your higher-volume milk input in a plastic container actually doubles the amount of recycling you generate. If you were looking just to reduce waste created, you should be opting for the bulk containers of very thick, heavily filtered yogurt (i.e. Siggi's) which we were already doing. This isn't making a compelling case to DIY yogurt unless you feel you cannot find a yogurt brand that uses sufficiently sustainable milk for your standards (untrue in our case, the regenerative dairy makes the yogurt we used as a pricing benchmark); have a way to completely avoid recycling (perhaps via the Strauss bottle exchange program, or running your own dairy); or you find enough worthwhile uses for the whey to offset some of the cost (very possible if this can replace the milk I add to coffee and smoothies). Finally, there is a nontrivial chance that my newbie mistakes with adding the culture too early generated a lower yield of yogurt than was achievable by a more experienced yogurt-maker and that this would shift the ROI of the entire project more favorably.
7/16: whey is tasty totally serviceable milk alternative in protein shakes. ROI is improving.
7/17: no whey does it taste good in coffee though. It is too dense and clumps on the bottom. It is also more acidic so it doesn't seem as effective at mellowing the bitterness of the coffee. ROI is dubious again.
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