I put it on low because I leave it on for so long. If you want something wicked you remove one jar as soon as it solidify and it is like a dessert.
I make sure that the pad touches all jars and I cover the top with a thick towel.

Another question just popped up. Do you put the jars on top of the heating pad? Or do you wrap the pad around the jars, but on the sides? Just curious about whether the heat would be distributed well if the jars were on top of the pad.

P.S. Love the kitty avatar!

The Avatar is my old kitty.
I usually have two 1-litre Mason Jars touching. I wrap the pad around them. The pad is higher than the jars and I cocooned everything with a big beach towel straight out of the dryer. I tuck it into the box. Cardboard is a good insulator but I use it because it is higher than my pad.

Hello everyone,

My name is Tom, some of you may know me from the SCD Longisland ListServ

I've been on SCD for 3 1/2 years now.

I've had Crohn's Disease for 9 years now, but I have always had low tollerances to sugar and alcohol products ever since I can remember. alcohol has always made me "throw up" for some reason, even small sips, don't know why always been that way ever since I can remember.

I was also born with CRS (Congenital Rubella Syndrome) which made me totally blind at birth. The Rubella left cataracts in my eyes. Today, I am 35 years old and am considered legally blind, and there's nothing they can do to remove the cataracts because the scar tissue (Rubella cells) around the eye are too tough for a lazer to cut thru, they've tried many times.

anyway, I'm on SCD because of my Crohn's... When I first started the diet over 3 years ago, I lost an incredible amount of weight, alot more then I wanted to, 121 was my lowest weight I think, and at 6'2 thats not good at all, but after a couple of years, I started to stabalize and I believe my last weight was 168, which I am happy with, still a little low but I am happy with that for the most part. I still fluctuate alot though depending upon how I feel. Even with SCD, autoimmune supporessors, and remicade, I still suffer in great amounts of pain, have been for the last 2 years now, with some awful Fistulas that just won't seem to go away no matter what I do..

As for SCD, ELaine's website is at: http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info
The .org site you guys mentioned, webmistresses site, has been down for many months.

I also offer support, nutrition and recipes on my Forum's as well,
http://www.crohnsdaily.com I just started that forum about 3 months ago so I don't have a very active user base yet, but its starting to grow I have 25 users now, woohoo! hehe

but yeah, anything you want to know about SCD, I am the person to ask. I've been on it for over 3 years, and apart from a few Fistulas, have had very positive results from it. I follow a slightly more restricted form of the diet myself, just because some of the legal foods I still cannot tollerate, like Lentils, split peas, beans (pretty much all the high fibery foods give me problems), grapes, and other fruits because of the pectin in the skins.. I don't seem to have a problem with the yogurt though, long as its incubated for 24 hrs so I guess thats good

but I mean, I just "love" SCD. Gives me a chance to try out new recipes. I studied to be a nutritionist and dietician when I was a kid, but gave it up my senior year because I was young, and stupid, and have been cooking since I was 5 years old, so I went to college for Computers instead, but never finished because of eyesight issues seeing the blackboard in school, so I now work in a hot smelly factory, but hey its a job, right? I'm just lucky enough to still be working, suffering with Crohn's and all, so I'm happy for the most part.

Hi Tom, welcome on this thread!
Your website looks cool.

I have a yogurt question to anybody. I know there is an upper limit of 3and a half cups. Is there a minimum amount that we should eat daily to have the best results? Maybe I'm not eating enough. I eat about a cup maybe a little less. My yogurt maker only makes a quart. My daughter also gets the yogurt so I would have to make it every day for us. Now I make it every 3 days or so.

I don't know if there is a limit Tunkany! 3.5 cups a day is a lot!

I copied this from the breakingtheviciouscycle.info:

Is there a maximum amount of yoghurt I can eat in one day?
Yes don't take more than 3 cups per day whether dripped or undripped.
Elaine writes:
The reason I put a "top" on yoghurt amount is because of the amount of one of the sugars of which lactose is composed: galactose. In other words, more than 3 cups would put stress on the liver to convert galactose to glucose and people with IBD don't need more stress on the liver.
However, if you drip the yoghurt, you are getting rid of the watery part with the galactose so if you can eat 3 cups of dripped yoghurt per day (and I can't imagine why you would want that much), go ahead. Just remember that you are eating pure casein which is a very good protein but that would be an awful lot.

I agree it would be a lot! But what is the minimum amount that would deliver enough bacteria to work efficiently? I couldn't find info on this. I hope my 1 cup is enough...

There is no minimum, 1-3 cups is recommended. I eat about 2 cups a day myself. Elaine just always said, if you eat more then 3 you can run into problems. She never was real specific on that, now I see why its posted on her website.. Elaine was always such a nice lady, I miss her so much.

Remember, there is also Lucy's Acidophilus pills if those are any easier?

what I do, I make 1 batch while the other is still in the fridge, you can always purchase more quart jars, thats what I do, I have 3 of them here at home. that way, you can make one while the other is still in the fridge. I only have to make it once a week that way The yogurt won't keep in the fridge more then 2 weeks anyways, and yes its best to pour our the watery stuff that collects inside the container after its refrigerated. I just pour it out in the sink.

when you eat it alone it is, but dripped yogurt is made in alot of recipes, which can add up after awhile. Thats why if I eat the ygourt by itself I limit it to about 1-2 cups a day, because we get dripped yogurt in other foods as well.

some people with milk protein intollerances don't even eat the yogurt at all, they use Lucy's Acidophilus pills instead, as they are dairy free..

Thats one thing that makes SCD different then low carb diets, Lactose is a form of sugar, its even called Milk Sugar. thats why alot of people are Lactose intollerant.. but thats why we incubate the yogurt for 24 hrs, instead of 8 like the yogurtmet package says, because the 24 hr incubation process kills the Lactose in the milk allowing us with Lactose intollerances to be able to eat it.

dripped yogurt just means, sifted in a strainer overnight (turns out like creme cheese that way) Also, a tip a learned from Elaine years ago, the yogurt turns out better using half and half, instead of skim, 2%, or whole because half and half is made with half cream and half milk (ya just can't use whipping cream, tried that once wasn't a pretty sight LOL)

The allowed sugars are "single molecule' sugars (sugars that have a single molecule structure, or natural sugars found in fresh fruits and vegetables) The illegal sugars, are double-molecule (chain molecule) sugars, which basically means "man made sugars" thats why saccarine is allowed but Equal and Splenda aren't, The idea is about the illeum in the small intestines. People with Crohns, IBS, IBD, etc, but more so with crohns, have illeum problems, and what does the illeum do? it breaks down complex carbs into single carbs, sending half to the bloodstream, and the other half to the large intestine and rectum so in other words, all we are doing is excluding "man made sugars" from the diet, so a diet like this is not intended for weight loss, in fact alot of people gain weight from it, myself I gained from 129 to 168, but then again 168 is stable for me, before I got crohns I weighed 210 and was into a 40 waste which was too heavy for me anyways, but for Crohns and other intestinal disorders, its about the best thing out there and really despite crohns, it really does stabalize weight problems, I think what they mean is its not intended for people who are 50-100 lbs overweight because its still high in fats and such, but for alot of people it does stabalize their weight

I use half-and-half, too. It comes out nice and smooth, only a little tart. I have a SAlton yogurt maker which only makes a quart at a time. But it was so much cheaper than the Yogourmet. I'm just cheap. I use the Yogourmet starter though.

If you make dripped yogurt, you said overnight, do you keep it in the refrigerator while it's dripping?

I want to use it for cheesecake because the dccc is too gritty and dry, my DH hates the SCD cheesecake. So I thought about trying the dripped yogurt. I miss the real smooth cheesecake texture. Also, is there anything to do about the honey aftertaste? Any SCD cheesecake experts out there?

does anyone check this thread anymore? I'd just like to say that not all places list sugar in their ingredients. I called Frito Lay and asked about their Nut Harvest -Fruit and Nut, which doesn't list sugar in the ingredients. However, their representative told me over the phone that the cranberries do have sugar. That's just how careful you have to be on the SCD diet.

Sorry- tried to reply to MadisonEl's post last night, but it borked for some reason.

I'm very familiar with the SCD, and I agree- it's tough to say whether or not the label is accurate. As a result, it's best to prepare your own food from scratch- at least for the first few months of the SCD, until you find yourself on a steady baseline.

Another tip: starch is the problem, and the SCD is built around getting rid of starch. Elaine alludes to it, but never really comes out and says to get rid of ONLY the starch- which is actually good advice as the other sugars should be reduced as well. But starch is what probably sets off Crohn's and UC and maybe other problems as well; it's a very specific biochemical pathway involving klebsiella.

So- pack a small dropper bottle with some iodine solution in it (the povidone iodine from the pharmacy will do- dilute it a bit), and test a sample of food. Discard the test sample- don't eat it- but look for black. Try it on some flour- LOADED with starch. Try it on a slice of banana- tiny little dots of starch, depending upon how ripe it is. You want to eat foods with as little starch as possible if fighting Crohn's or UC.

Good luck!