Ok, I know people have done this for years with sourdough, and I can understand wanting to cultivate the growth of bacterias, is this safe though? Recipe from "500 Low-Carb Recipes" by: Dana Carpender

Yogurt
1 Tablespoon Plain Yogurt
1 1/2 to 2 cups instant dry milk

1. Fill a clean, 1-quart, snap-top container half full with water.
2. Put the plain yogurt in the water, and stir. Add the powdered milk, and whisk until the lumps are gone.

*For your first batch, you'll use store-bought plain yogurt as a starter, but after that you can use a spoonfull from the pervious bath. Every so often it's good to start over with fresh, store-bought yogurt, though.

3. Fill the container to the top with water, whisk it one last time, and put the lid on.
4. Put your yogurt-to-be in a warm place. I use a bowel lined with an old electric heatingpad set on low, but any warm spot will do, such as inside an old-fashioed gas oven with piolet light, on the stove top directly over piolet light, or even near a heat register in winter.
5. Let your yogurt sit for 12 hours or so. It should be thick and creamy by then, but if it's still a little thin, give it a few more hours. When it's ready, stick it in the refrigerator and use it just like store-bought plain yogurt. Or flavor it with vanilla or lemon extract and some splenda or stevia.

I thought this sounded cheaper and would be lowe rin carbs. Dry whole milk is more expencive and harder to find though then low-fat. Would this be safe, or would I have to worry about it sitting out and other types of bacterias and such forming?

I think the important thing is that your 'store bought' yoghurt must be live, not pasturised. That way the right bacteria will be used.

I've been living in a country where paople eat tons of 'gone off' milk products, yoghurt, kefir, smetana and loads of cheeses. I've never heard of anyone getting ill on them. If you are into fermented milk products you might like to try kefir. It's even better for you than yoghurt.

my mother always made yogurt at home until she got a new pilotless stove.

she boiled milk, let it cool, add the yogurt starter (plain dannon) and put it in the gas stove overnight (with a pilot light) and it was ready in teh morning.

so this is probably ok

My mom also makes yogurt at home just like this. She's from the middle east and growing up that's the only way they got yogurt. They also didn't have refridgeration so they just kept the yogurt out until it was all eaten (a few days) and all was fine.

You realize that this recipe has ~120grams of carbs!!!!!

Each cup of dry milk has 65g of carb...

I only eat 1/2 cup at a time. The theory behind plain whole milk yogurt is that the bacterias eat the lactose turning it to lactic acid and reducing the actual number of carbs. In a cup of yogurt labled as haivng 12 carbs, the actual effective carb count is only 4. Almost no commercial yogurt I can find only has 12 carbs though, and eating it every day I thought this could save money as well as carbs. My SO is too worried about the bacterias though and food poisoning, he keeps urging me to just keep buiying the store bought.

Comercial yogurt contains between 11g and 18g of carbs (all sugar, all "effective") per cup (according to the USDA database).
If you buy "natural" yogurt it is made from milk and culture, and it is typically very "watery" and breaks up into liquid when you stir it. So a cup of milk (14g carbs) turns into yogurt (11g carbs)...
The way maufucturers make it more creamy is eiter draining it (remove water), or start with concentrated milk which is made of milk and dry milk powder. Either way, you will get a lot more carbs per cup...

So, if the yogurt you are making is lush and creamy it has lots more carbs then "natural" yogurt which is high to begin with..

I just tried some whole milk yogurt for the first time today....very rich and creamy (10% fat). I am in Ontario...and the brand name is Liberty.

I checked the website for nutritional information (www.liberty.qc.ca) and 100 grams (1/2 cup) is only 4 carbs...is that possible? or a mistake?

I also heard about the lactose being "eaten" by the cultures...so you are supposed to subtract 8 carbs from whatever the original carb count is to get net carbs (can't do it in my case tho...cuz that's a negative carb count???)

Very weird!

Froufie

P.S I have sent an email to the atkins customer service reps to see if I can get the true info on yogurt and carb counts.

The information about Lactose being eaten and reducing carbs can be found in the GoDiet book, and in a short summery in 500 Low-Carb Recipes. I try to stick to a half cup a day, sometimes I do allow a full cup. I always count the full amount of carbs listed on the nutricional lable just in case. That way I know I'm under even if the carb count is a little higher, and if the carbs have been lowered, I'm just ahead of the game.

I've been having Live natural Greek yoghurt for breakfast recently, it's 4g per 100g (1/2 cup) and really rich and creamy - a really refreshing start to the day.

Hi Ladybelle,

In India we always make yoghurt at home from whole milk. It is not as creamy as the store bought yoghurt as it contains lot of water(whey?). I guess they just drain of the water which if I am not wrong is very rich in nutrients and is given to sick children instead of water.

Yoghurt is made by adding a spoonful of yoghurt culture from the previous batch to boiled milk. You do have to let the milk cool before you add the culture. Store it in a warm place and voila.. you have fresh creamy yoghurt. I can vouch that it tastes much much better than the store bought yoghurt (not even stonyfeild). In India people normally keep making fresh batches for daily use as it is an important component of every meal. They do not believe in refrigeration either as it spoils the taste!!!

Good luck with making your own yoghurt... yummm

Kranti

I have made tons of yogurt with raw (unpasturized) milk. You don't need the powdered milk. It is thicker and much yummier than yogurt made with pasturized milk. It requires no sweetner.

I've never had a failed batch, though I did with the pasturized stuff.

It's also higher in healthy bacteria and better for you. I'm all for it.

Just wantd to say that I have "tested" the yoghurt carb count thing by testing my blood glucose after having eaten a cup of yoghurt, unsweetened, twice without adding anything and twice with blueberries added in an amount that would have put me "over" my carb count if the yoghurt bacteria hadn't "eaten" some of the carbs. At no time did I get a significant rise in blood sugar, hence no insulin reaction to worry about. This made me feel comfortable counting one cup of yoghurt as having about 4 effective carbs. I do think the sugars/carbs are "eaten" by the active bacteria in the process of fermentation.

That being said, anyone who wants to go ahead and count the carbs as listed on the label (where the process of fermentation isn't accounted for) would just be giving themselves a sort of buffer -- a "just in case." If that allows them to feel more comfortable with having a little yoghurt, I'm all for it! <g> My favorite way to have yoghurt is to have a cup of whole milk yoghurt with a little Splenda flavoured syrup (I like strawberry) and 1/4-1/3 cup of berries or an ounce or two of nuts, and 2-3 T. of flax meal. One of my favorite breakfasts!

Lene'

I'm going to try this tonight. Can I store it overnight in my upstairs bedroom? With this heat & humidity it's like a sauna! LOL

I don't know if I can get unpasturized milk here. Maybe from a dairy farmer. There was an add in a magazine to sign a patition for bringin back unpasturized milk. They said the pasturization killed some of the nutrients. I can agree with that in I know heat destroys some things; However, I don't think I would feel comfortable buying unpasturized milk fo rmy children. I know these days it is alot more sanitary then when milk was distributed from a large cart pulled around town and a community dipper, but I still feel safer having the pasturized option. I would like to try milk fresh, unpasturized and milked that day at some point. I've heard it is extreamly creamy and wonderful. I can imagine making some great yogurt with it



I do that. Even with 1/2 cup a day I rarely go over 20g net carbs anyway. When I allow myself a full cup I get near 30, but I'm on Atkins OWL, so that's ok. If someoen was having alot of carbs form other sources it could be a problem, but it's worked ok for me so far