PDA

View Full Version : Lactose-Free Yogurt



tunghaichuan
March 27th, 2011, 09:16 AM
Since I'm lactose intolerant, I like to make my own yogurt. Commercial yogurt is only fermented 4-6 hours and contains lots of lactose.

Making yogurt is actually pretty easy.

You need:

1. gallon of milk (I use the organic house brand)
2. carton of commercial yogurt to use as starter (I use Fage Greek-style yogurt and ideally you want to use yogurt that only has milk and yogurt cultures in it and is free of other additives) It needs to be about 2 cups.
3. Stainless steel pot with a tight-fitting lid to boil the milk
4. Wire wisk
5. Heating pad
6. Meat thermometer (optional)

I put the heating pad on a kitchen towel on top of my fridge and plug it in. I find that the lowest setting on the heating pad works best.

I put the milk in the stainless steel pot and put it on the stove and turn up the heat. The key is to constantly stir the milk as it will boil over and make a huge mess if not carefully watched. After about 15-20 minutes on the stove, the milk will start to foam up which signals it is read to boil over. I turn off the heat and let the foam die down a bit and then turn on the heat again to make sure that the milk has boiled for at least a few seconds. This sterilizes the milk and prepares it to be inoculated with the yogurt culture/starter.

The next step is to put the milk into the refrigerator. The milk needs to cool down to about 100-110 degrees. At my altitude (I'm in Colorado) I find that it takes about 4 hours 30 minutes. YMMV.

Once the milk has cooled down, I put the starter into the milk using a clean spoon and gently stir it. I put the lid on the pot and put it on the heating pad. I then insert the meat thermometer between the heating pad and bottom of the pot to monitor the temperature. 100-110 degrees is best. Any cooler, and the yogurt doesn't ferment properly. Any hotter, and the cultures die.

To make sure the yogurt is lactose free, it needs to ferment at least 24 hours. I usually let it sit longer than that. The longer it sits, the tarter the yogurt tastes, which I happen to like. Sometimes my batches sit 32 hours or more.

After the yogurt has fermented at least 24 hours, put the milk back in the fridge. It needs to be cooled at least 8 hours before being eaten.

Any variety of milk can be used: skim, 1%, 2%, whole. The more milk fat the creamier it will be. I usually use 2%.

After the yogurt cools the whey will begin to separate from the yogurt. I usually toss it as it is kind of bitter.

For a real treat, you can strain off the whey and make Greek-style yogurt. I use a large coffee filter in a strainer. This makes the yogurt very thick and creamy, almost like a type of pudding.

Enjoy.

deeaa
March 27th, 2011, 10:43 AM
Whoa, I'd love to try this if I can find the time. I'm also lactose-intolerant, but it's so common here everything is available totally lactose-free as well. The only problem is those products are much more expensive, like three times normal milk products...and I drink a lot of milk, as do the boys. BUT it's getting to be pretty much the norm that in cafeterias etc. the milk used is lactose-free and also cakes etc. are made only of lactose-free cream etc.

I suppose lactose-intolerance or at least slight version are very common here, I understand something like 20 percent or more of people have at least some degree of lactose-intolerance, and there's a whole lot of people who have a slight case of it and don't even realize it ever, some suspect up to 50% of people here could have some symptoms.

The funny thing is, I used NOT to be, I drank milk and milk products like crazy, but then I spent 4 months in the USA and when I came back I could no longer drink normal milk.
I think my drinking of normal milk all the time kept up my ability to use lactose from since I was a baby, but the milk in the USA was different and didn't support the bacteria in the intestine required for lactose, and thus I lost the ability. I can have some normal milk, but a full glass or so and I'm in trouble.

Eric
March 27th, 2011, 12:06 PM
Whoa, I'd love to try this if I can find the time. I'm also lactose-intolerant, but it's so common here everything is available totally lactose-free as well. The only problem is those products are much more expensive, like three times normal milk products...and I drink a lot of milk, as do the boys. BUT it's getting to be pretty much the norm that in cafeterias etc. the milk used is lactose-free and also cakes etc. are made only of lactose-free cream etc.

I suppose lactose-intolerance or at least slight version are very common here, I understand something like 20 percent or more of people have at least some degree of lactose-intolerance, and there's a whole lot of people who have a slight case of it and don't even realize it ever, some suspect up to 50% of people here could have some symptoms.

The funny thing is, I used NOT to be, I drank milk and milk products like crazy, but then I spent 4 months in the USA and when I came back I could no longer drink normal milk.
I think my drinking of normal milk all the time kept up my ability to use lactose from since I was a baby, but the milk in the USA was different and didn't support the bacteria in the intestine required for lactose, and thus I lost the ability. I can have some normal milk, but a full glass or so and I'm in trouble.
So wouldn't you regain that ability if you just drank a lot of milk again, or are you theorizing that once gone, the digestive enzymes/bacteria won't ever be back in your body?

BTW, I'm lactose-intolerant too but I dislike milk, so I only mind it when it comes to cheese and yogurt and what not.

tunghaichuan
March 27th, 2011, 01:15 PM
So wouldn't you regain that ability if you just drank a lot of milk again, or are you theorizing that once gone, the digestive enzymes/bacteria won't ever be back in your body?

BTW, I'm lactose-intolerant too but I dislike milk, so I only mind it when it comes to cheese and yogurt and what not.

My understanding is that the body loses its ability to produce the lactose enzyme. Added to that is that milk is species specific. Human beings were meant only to be able to digest human breast milk. And then only as an infant. Cow's milk is only really suitable for calves, as it allows them to put on a lot of weight in a short period of time.

Having said that, lactose-free milk and yogurt are great sources of high quality protein.

tunghaichuan
March 27th, 2011, 01:22 PM
Whoa, I'd love to try this if I can find the time. I'm also lactose-intolerant, but it's so common here everything is available totally lactose-free as well. The only problem is those products are much more expensive, like three times normal milk products...and I drink a lot of milk, as do the boys. BUT it's getting to be pretty much the norm that in cafeterias etc. the milk used is lactose-free and also cakes etc. are made only of lactose-free cream etc.

I suppose lactose-intolerance or at least slight version are very common here, I understand something like 20 percent or more of people have at least some degree of lactose-intolerance, and there's a whole lot of people who have a slight case of it and don't even realize it ever, some suspect up to 50% of people here could have some symptoms.

The funny thing is, I used NOT to be, I drank milk and milk products like crazy, but then I spent 4 months in the USA and when I came back I could no longer drink normal milk.
I think my drinking of normal milk all the time kept up my ability to use lactose from since I was a baby, but the milk in the USA was different and didn't support the bacteria in the intestine required for lactose, and thus I lost the ability. I can have some normal milk, but a full glass or so and I'm in trouble.

It is kind of a PITA to make, and the main things are keeping the equipment clean, timing the inoculation at the right temperature, and fermenting for a set minimum amount of time. It can be a hassle.

It's not surprising about your experience with USA milk. Most commercial milk here has all kinds of added crap in it: hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals to keep the cows producing milk. This is the reason I use organic milk, with the hope that these things are kept out of the final product.

I've even heard that the conditions for the cows affects the milk. The cows are kept perpetually lactating to produce milk, which is unnatural. They are also treated badly: mostly confined, and fed a diet that they were not meant to eat. From what I understand the best milk comes from cows that are allowed to move around and eat grass, which is their natural diet.

FrankenFretter
March 27th, 2011, 01:51 PM
My understanding is that the body loses its ability to produce the lactose enzyme. Added to that is that milk is species specific. Human beings were meant only to be able to digest human breast milk. And then only as an infant. Cow's milk is only really suitable for calves, as it allows them to put on a lot of weight in a short period of time.

Having said that, lactose-free milk and yogurt are great sources of high quality protein.

I don't drink milk (I use soy milk instead), but it's not due to lactose intolerance. I don't drink it because of what Tung states right here: Cow milk is for cows, not humans. Of course, I'm not very good at being lacto-free. I love yogurt and cheese. I think that makes me only half hypocritical. :D

mrmudcat
March 27th, 2011, 01:54 PM
Tung you are so very right. I have been on the organic all natural kick in recent years.Free roam/range beef cows and milk cows along with chickens etc. etc. is the way to go!!!

tunghaichuan
March 27th, 2011, 02:09 PM
I don't drink milk (I use soy milk instead), but it's not due to lactose intolerance. I don't drink it because of what Tung states right here: Cow milk is for cows, not humans. Of course, I'm not very good at being lacto-free. I love yogurt and cheese. I think that makes me only half hypocritical. :D

Most hard/aged cheeses like the various cheddars (coldby, sharp, mild, etc.) and Swiss are lactose free. They are manufactured with enzymes. Soft cheeses like mozzarella and string cheese do have lactose.

I've been using almond milk on organic puffed rice cereal for breakfast. Add a little agave syrup and I'm good to go. FWIW, I stay away from soy products as I've read that there are substances in them that create estrogen type compounds in the human body. Added to that, most soy products are made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Monsanto owns the patent on GMO soybeans and have actively persecuted small independent soy bean farmers. It seems that it is impossible to keep GMO soybeans out of non-GMO soybean fields and Monsanto sues anyone selling their patented soybeans without a contract for patent infringement. See the documentary Food, Inc. for more info.

I've also been on a gluten-free kick lately. I suspect that I might be slightly gluten intolerant. Gluten is another one of those substances that may only trigger slight allergies in people. My boss has celiac disease and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. The bad thing is that even a tiny amount of gluten contamination is enough to put her in the hospital.

deeaa
March 27th, 2011, 09:57 PM
Yes I understand lactose-intolerance is quite a natural state of beings on any mammal really - as an infant the baby's intestines have this bacterial flora that can chop down the lactose into nutrition particles, BUT once the mother quits feeding the milk, the flora simply starves to death in a matter of weeks or so, and after that there is no way to revive it and the baby becomes lactose-intolerant.

Many people give milk to cats and hedgehogs etc. but don't realize every wild animal is lactose-intolerant and likely gets stomach aches from it.

I believe my intolerance came about mostly because while I was in the U.S. I drank basically no milk at all, or very little at any rate, and what I did, probably was superpasteurized and whatnot, not really regular milk...and because of that the flora died.

It took me months afterwards to realize what's wrong, I did drink milk for months again when I came back, but I kept getting these weird symptops and gas and whatnot, and then I took this test where they took my blood and checked the sugar in it, then I had to drink a quart of pure lactose, and they tested again in 20 minutes, and the blood sugar level had not changed, indicating I could no longer use lactose for nutrition.

I quit drinking milk and milk products for years after that, until in around the year 2000 or so the markets suddenly flooded with non-lactose milk and products, including milk that tastes just like normal milk (i.e. not sweet like some lactose-free milks) and I started drinking milk again.

BTW even though completely feeling-based, when I had quit drinking milk and milk products, my hair thinned severely in a matter of 3 or so years, and for the first time in my life I had two cavities in my teeth...since I started drinking milk again, I haven't had a cavity since and those two are the only reasons I have ever gotten dental treatment (save some wisdom teeth removed), and my hair feels, if not much thicker, at least hasn't thinned any worse no more, so I do believe milk & milk products are very good for me.