Finding non-sweet yogurt

[gato]

The yogurt starter we use is labeled as yeast (酵母), but you are right. It's really yogurt bacteria.

http://m.jd.com/product/1022315432.html

【买5减1】安琪酵母 伊仕特酸奶发酵剂 8菌型 酸奶菌 乳酸菌1g*10包/袋 【买5减1】市面独家8菌

See attached photo of the ingredient list from the packaging. Eight types of bacteria are listed.

[hedwards]

@Gato, thanks, I was a bit puzzled by the suggestion to use yeast in yogurt. That being said, the difference between yeast and bacteria is probably not of interest to most people as it's technical in nature.

 

I'm seriously considering making my own yogurt and kefir for health reasons and I'm always interested in hearing from people that are more knowledgable.

[Angelina]

Commercial production of yoghurt started with the discovery of lacidobacillus bulgaricus. As in the country.

This is the reason 莫斯利安 is marketed as an original Bulgarian yoghurt. Pretty ridiculous since 莫斯利安 is sweet and thus Bulgarian people (and the rest of the region) find it disgusting.

Yoghurt can actually fight an yeast infection, maybe the distinction should be made clear.

[abcdefg]

#7 -- @Prateeksha --

 

I sometimes would curdle a batch of my own like a lot of people back home still do. If you wish I could share the recipe with you.

 

It looks like 和润 is not available in Kunming. Could you kindly share the method for making yogurt yourself? Thanks in advance.

[liuzhou]

I've been making my own for years. Picked up a yoghurt maker in the local dept. store for about ¥80. 

 

Yoghurt starter is available in one local shop, but also online. Once you have made one batch, you can use some of that yoghurt to start the next batch.

 

You don't need fresh milk, although I do use it sometimes. I usually buy full fat UHT milk and add unsweetened milk powder.  (30g per litre of milk.)

 

This gives me a beautiful, firm yoghurt, although I sometimes strain it to make "Greek yoghurt"

 

It lasts about 10 days in the fridge, but I usually eat it all before that. If it turns at all pink, bin it and sterilise the container and any spoons etc which have been in contact with it.

 

The full procedure (with images) is laid out here.

[abcdefg]

Great information @Liuzhou, as always. I especially appreciate the photos that show actual Chinese brands. Makes the ingredients so much easier to find.

[liuzhou]

 

Great information @Liuzhou, as always. I especially appreciate the photos that show actual Chinese brands. Makes the ingredients so much easier to find.

 

Thanks. Hope it's useful.

[imron]

For those making yogurt and looking for a good yogurt starter, I've recently found a good source: Bacillus Bulgaricus (disclosure that's an affiliate link).  They sell Bulgarian yogurt starter and ship internationally.

 

It makes nice thick and creamy, non-sweet yogurt.

[Angelina]

I agree with the importance of bacillus bulgaricus.

 

I don't agree with the idea of marketing it as Bulgarian yogurt. My family in Macedonia (disclosure: we are still involved in dairy production) has been making yogurt for many generations. We have exactly the same tradition as people in Bulgaria and have been using exactly the same bacteria. Isn't it wrong to market it as Bulgarian yogurt? 

 

http://www.bacillusbulgaricus.com/lactobacillus-bulgaricus

 

 

 

 For Bulgarians, consuming yogurt has been known to be beneficial for many centuries, but the unique qualities of the Bulgarian yogurt garnered a worldwide attention in the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

 

Exactly the same in Macedonia, same bacteria. 

 

 

The traditional method of making yogurt goes like this:

you take 'sour milk' and fresh milk and then the fresh milk turns into 'sour milk'. There is no need to keep buying more and more yogurt starter, you just need a little bit of 'sour milk' and you can use it to make more of it.

 

Once you add water to sour milk and it becomes yogurt you can't make more sour milk with it. Therefore, it is important to keep a little bit of 'sour milk' in the fridge in order to have a free starter ready for you. 

 

 

The Genuine Bulgarian Yogurt Starter is an authentic Bulgarian heirloom product developed in a laboratory in Bulgaria especially for our online store. It has (at least) double the potency of other yogurt starters generally available on the market, which guarantees the best results possible. Since this yogurt starter is produced in Bulgaria, it has all the features of the Bulgarian yogurt (kiselo mlyako) - thick creamy nature, higher acidity, and best of all - impeccable taste! The yogurt starter contains only freeze-dried culture in a dried milk medium (it is not dairy-free). It is fully natural with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. 

100% potency guaranteed.

 

Easily found in both Macedonia and Bulgaria, either for free or for almost no money. Most importantly, you only need a little bit of kiselo mleko and then you won't need to buy more starter. 

 

Maybe I can bring some to China and send you free authentic 100% renewable yogurt starter. 

[imron]

Maybe I can bring some to China and send you free authentic 100% renewable yogurt starter.

Thanks for the offer, however I am no longer in China and thanks to the above site, I also now have plenty of yogurt starter

[Angelina]

You already wasted money on something you can get for free 

 

Good marketing idea anyway, like the inauthentic 莫斯利安 in China. 

[imron]

Where I am, I cannot easily get it, and definitely can't get it for free.

The relatively low cost and convenience of international shipping makes it more than worth my while and making it like this costs about half as much as it would buying the equivalent in the shops which don't always have it in stock anyway.

[Nathanwa]

Well, it's 2020 and my 3 nearest supermarkets don't stock anything 'yoghurty' that I would say actually good for you. No friendly bacteria non-sweet stuff, no Kefir, no Lassi, nothing. The Chinese assume yoghurt is something for kids and pile in loads of sugar. I waste money every week on something I have hope in but turns out to be basically thick milkshake.

[abcdefg]

I've been making my own for the last several years. It's admittedly a little bit of trouble, but it comes out OK. I use more yogurt in the summer. Willing to share the recipe, although there are already several good ones in earlier parts of this thread. 

[imron]

I'm not in China, but I also go the "make my own" route, using yoghurt culture shipped from this site, which ships worldwide.

[abcdefg]

Looks good. I'll try that starter next time. 

[imron]

The way I make it is to bring a litre of milk almost to the boil (kills off any bacteria in the milk) then let the milk come back down to room temperature (adding the culture when the milk is too hot will kill the yoghurt bacteria), then add a pinch of the culture (not really a pinch, as I use a teaspoon but it's only a tiny amount, maybe only 1/6 of the spoon) and stir it all in and then put it in a yoghurt maker for ~24 hours (you can do it for less, e.g. overnight, but longer fermentation times gives more tartness).

 

Then it goes in to the fridge and once it's cooled down, I strain off any excess whey, stir the remaining yogurt to make it all smooth, then it's ready to eat.