- 4 cups soy milk, or 1 box of soy
milk
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup store-bought soy
yogurt or dairy yogurt with Active
Cultures
- a warm spot
Cultured soy milk is the official name of
soy yogurt. Yogurt is a term that legally
can only be applied to milk products. Since
soy is not a milk product, it can't
officially be called yogurt. I call it
yogurt anyway. I am not bound by legal or
manufacturing regulations. I am just a
housewife with several hungry children.
Hungry children will not be bothered with
the term "Cultured Soy Milk". They just say
yogurt and leave it at that.
If you've ever made dairy yogurt, then you
already know how to make soy yogurt. Soy
milk and store-bought yogurt are combined in
a large jar or bowl. The mixture is whisked
well, to make sure the prepared yogurt is
well combined with the soy milk. Then the
entire mixture is placed in a warm spot for
4 to 8 hours, or until the yogurt is
thickened and set.
When you are at the store looking for
starter yogurt be sure to read the package
label. You need starter yogurt that has
"active cultures"; this is vitally
important. Active culture is a scientific
name for friendly bacteria. The friendly
bacteria are the critters who do the job of
thickening your yogurt and giving it that
lovely tangy flavor. If the starter-yogurt
you buy doesn't have active cultures, then
it can't turn your soy milk into soy
yogurt.
My local Natural Foods Co-op has cultured
soy milk in the refrigerator section, not
far from the dairy yogurt. The brand I buy
is called Whole Soy. It contains lots of
healthy active cultures and does a beautiful
job of making yogurt. If you are unable to
find soy yogurt to use a starter, then you
can use dairy yogurt instead. It's best to
choose a plain flavor either way. I buy a
small cup (6 to 8 oz) of soy yogurt and use
about half of it for each batch of yogurt I
make.
Every cook develops his or her own method of
culturing yogurt. Don't think that there is
only one right way, because there isn't. We
all have to adapt to our own cooking
conditions and ingredient situations. Making
yogurt at home is not 100% fool proof.
Everyone has the occasional failed batch.
This is normal. I've been making yogurt
several times a month for close to 10 years
and I still have batches that fail. There
are steps you can take to minimize the
failure rate though.
First, be sure to always use clean utensils.
Competing bacteria can hide in whisk wires,
on the rims of jars and lots of other sneaky
places. Make sure all of your spoons, jars,
bowls and whisks are clean before you begin.
Some folks suggest that all of the utensils
should be sterilized. You could do this by
dipping everything in boiling water for a
few moments and then allowing them to cool.
I don't bother with sterilization because I
am lazy. If you want to make sure your
yogurt is perfect every time, sterilization
would be an option.
Next, make certain that your starter yogurt
has active cultures. If there aren't any
live cultures in your starter yogurt, then
nothing will happen. Read the label to be
sure.
If you are using fresh, homemade soy milk,
allow it to cool down to lukewarm before
introducing the culture. Hot soy milk will
kill the friendly bacteria. Warm soy milk
will make the bacteria very happy and more
friendly. If you are using an aseptic box of
soy milk, you can use it at room
temperature, straight from the box. If you
are using refrigerated soy milk, then you
may want to heat it briefly on the stove or
in the microwave, to take the chill off of
it. I don't always do this, and my yogurt
still turns out just fine, although it does
take a little longer to set.
Combine the soy milk and starter yogurt in a
quart-sized canning jar or a casserole with
a lid or a large resealable plastic
container. Use a clean whisk to beat the
mixture until the yogurt is well liquefied
into soy milk. Now, place a lid on the
container and place it in a warm spot. You
want a constant temperature of about 100�. A
little warmer is fine and a little cooler is
fine. I have found that anywhere from 85� to
about 120� will work just fine. Any warmer
than 120� is too hot. The bacteria will die
off because of the heat and you will not
have good results.
I culture my yogurt in my oven overnight.
I've had the most consistent results this
way. I turn my dial half-way between OFF and
200�, or at approximately 100�. Then I shut
the door to the oven and let the yogurt sit
overnight. In the morning I have perfect
yogurt.
If your oven will not set at 100� then you
can try turning it on 200� for two minutes,
and then turning it off. About 4 hours later
check the yogurt. If it isn't set yet then
turn the oven on 200� for two minutes again
to rewarm the oven. Allow the yogurt to set
another 2 to 4 hours or until it is thick.
Depending on your oven's insulation and the
mean temperature of your kitchen you may
need to rewarm the oven more frequently, or
less frequently. Be sure not to leave the
oven on, or your yogurt will be cooked not
cultured.
Another method of incubation involves a
heating pad and a large bowl or pot. Place a
towel over the heating pad and set the
heating pad on low. Place the prepared soy
milk on top of the heating pad. Invert a
large bowl or pot over the whole
contraption, rather like a tent. This will
keep the heat focused around the incubating
yogurt. A good friend of mine has had much
success with this method.
A small insulated picnic cooler is my second
favorite method. First make sure your yogurt
jar or container will fit inside the cooler.
Then run or pour hot tap water into the
cooler a few inches deep. You want it to be
about half way up the sides of your yogurt
jar. Test the temperature with your finger.
If it is lukewarm, great! If it is too hot
then add cold water to cool it down. If it
is too cold, then a little hot water (even
boiling water if necessary) to bring the
temperature up to a nice snuggly warmth,
somewhere between 85� and 120�. Place your
jar or container of prepared soy milk in the
cooler and shut the lid. Allow it to sit,
undisturbed, for about 4 or 5 hours. Check
the yogurt. If it is thick and creamy, then
it is finished. If it is still sort of thin,
then it still needs to incubate longer. Pour
off all of the water, which will be cool by
now. Add new warm water and allow the yogurt
to sit another 3 or 4 hours. It should be
nice and thick and ready for refrigeration
or consumption. The main advantage of this
method is that it keeps the oven empty and
available for other employment.
If you have a gas oven with a pilot light it
will usually keep the interior of the oven
warm enough to incubate yogurt. Some people
incubate their yogurt in a pot of warm water
on top of a radiator or near a wood stove.
The pot of warm water helps maintain an even
temperature around the yogurt, giving you
more reliable results. This is especially
important if you incubate your yogurt close
to draft or air conditioner. On hot days, or
in warm climates, you may be able to
incubate your yogurt in a warm spot on your
porch or near a sunny window. Look around
your house for the most likely incubation
spots.
After you have made your yogurt it can be
used anywhere dairy yogurt or buttermilk is
called for. I especially like to use soy
yogurt as my buttermilk when I make biscuits
or pancakes. In my experience soy yogurt is
easier to make than dairy yogurt. I have had
more consistent results with soy yogurt than
I have with dairy yogurt. I don't know why
this is. If anyone else does, please let me
know.
As for eating your yogurt, that is the fun
part. I like mine with granola for an old
health-food-freak favorite. Since most
store-bought soy milk is already sweetened
and flavored with vanilla, the yogurt made
from it is already vanilla yogurt. It's
yummy over fresh or canned fruit, on top of
pies and smoothed between strawberries and
shortcake. My kids prefer it mixed with a
dollop of fruit sweetened jam, or used in
beverages like smoothies and shakes. Soy
yogurt has a fruity flavor that dairy yogurt
doesn't have. I actually prefer this flavor,
but some people may take a while to adjust
to it. When using soy yogurt in baking, the
vanilla flavoring is pretty much
indistinguishable.
I've thought of making chocolate soy yogurt,
with chocolate soy milk but I haven't done
it yet. This probably wouldn't be good in
baking, but it might be perfect for lunch
boxes. If anyone tries it, let me know how
it turned out. Good Luck! and Happy
Culturing!
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