Thanks for the good advice and tips. It may be possible that something
wasn't quite pristine when I made that batch. I'll have to give another
batch a go and see if it happens again. For now I'll put it down to happy
accident, since the end product was quite palatable.
Yogurt - another of the great mysteries of the universe......


"zydecogary" > wrote in message
...
On Nov 28, 9:18 am, "Nientad" > wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
----- snip ----->
> Has this ever happened to anyone else while making yogurt? Any idea what
> would cause it to rise and have so much whey?
>
> Thanks!
> di

I'm a long time maker of yogurt at home and I confess that that has
never happened to me. However I find it quite interesting.

Let me muse and conjecture.

Many times when I feel that my refrigerated milk is about to go bad, I
use an old trick of heat the milk to about 180-190 degrees F and then
slowly dribbling a little white vinegar into the milk while stirring.
The curds will seperate after a very short time and when you drain off
the whey, you have something similar to what you are describing -- a
cheese (curdles). Which, by the way, is very good and can be used in
omelettes and salads -- etc. So, never throw away your milk again --
make some instant cheese.

Reason Why:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4131807AAXeAnB

Wikipedia: Cheese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coagulated_milk_curd
"For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids
such as vinegar or lemon juice."
"The acidification can be accomplished directly by the
addition of an acid like vinegar in a few cases (paneer, queso
fresco), "

Bare Bone Cheese: http://schmidling.com/making.htm
Doing this will make you feel like Little Miss Muffett

NOW -- why did this happen to you when you didn't add vinegar to your
batch of yogurt. One can only guess, since we weren't standing in you
kitchen at the time.

So let's WAG.

If, for some reason, you utensil was not entirely sterilized there may
have been traces of some sort of acid that effected the yogurt while
incubating. The acid may have also been on the spoon, stirrer or
containers that you used -- without your knowledge, of course.

"Acetification - The formation of acetic acid from alcohol - what we'd
call the conversion of wine to vinegar by bacterial infection. To
avoid acetification, fermentation vessels should be sterilized and
kept full. You can prevent infection by Acetobacter, responsible for
the conversion, by using good hygiene and sterilization procedures,
but once a wine is infected you won't be able to save it. Don't use
any equipment or vessels to make your wine *****which may have held
vinegar!" [or an acid food]

Let's do a way out WAG. If you make wine at home (or for that matter,
commercially) you are always 'on guard' for the VINEGAR FLY.

Yes, it's real and you have them (and their bacteria) at your house,
believe it or not -- provided you eat fruit at home.

INFO
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question...9153346AA68ggO

Or even just the bacteria from the fly

"Vinegar
Acetic acid. This may be formed in a wine if it becomes infected by
types of bacteria often carried by the "vinegar fly" or fruit fly
Drosophila. "

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies

Perhaps some of the above might help.

But anyway, congratulations for making yogurt at home. As you know,
it's so easy and fun.

I make about two quarts at a time using my microwave oven with a
temperature probe to not only heat the milk to the proper temperature
but to maintain the correct incubation temperature while the yogurt is
forming.

I have posted several article in the cooking forums describing the
techniques. You might research them -- just for interest.


Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland
http://bit.ly/GarysInfo