Villi yoghurt
For those who make homemade yoghurt, but who hate the hassle of having to maintain warm temperatures, keep track of time, etc., the answer is... Villi yoghurt! Villi is the only culture in the world, as I understand, that requires NO warming or timing to ferment properly. I've been making it from one original starter batch for about four years, now, right out on our kitchen sink counter, all seasons of the year, in a simple mason jar, with nothing more than the occasional shake of the jar and an eyeball as to when it's thick enough to strain. It's a very mild culture (not like sour Greek), and if you strain it overnight like I do, it's thick like sour cream in the morning. Absolutely superb for flavoring with fresh fruit and a little sweetener, pressing into yoghurt cheese, or using in place of regular cream fillings for cannoli, cream horns, and so on. Best bet for those who don't like to fuss, and for those living off grid. And, I use raw milk. The result is both heavenly and very healthy.
Comments
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That is VERY interesting! I've had bad luck with yogurt here in NC - we cannot buy anything but ultra-pasteurized milk, and it just never seems to firm up.... maybe if I got the time and temp perfect, it would... but I'm not a terribly detail oriented person. Where can I get some of this Villi culture?
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I purchased mine from Caleb Warnock at seedrenaissance.com. Caleb is a fun and quirky guy, and he sells many types of heirloom organic seeds that he raises in his own garden as well as various other types of cultures, apothecary items, and probiotic products. I've had to use pasteurized milk just a couple of times with my Viili in an emergency, and it didn't seem to hurt the culture at all, so I'm hopeful that it might work for you. Caleb said in the workshop that we took at his place that it would work in pasteurized milk, so I'll take his word for it. Anyway, I hear you about not being detail oriented, and I think this might be a great solution for you! It's worked beautifully for me, and, trust me, paying attention to yoghurt details is NOT my idea of a fulfilling day...
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@judsoncarroll4 and @Suburban Pioneer Villi is just one of many counter top or room temperature milk cultures. I have found that ultra-pasteurized milk will work with my "poly cultured" counter top fermented milk, but not as well as pasteurized or raw milk. It is important to use whole milk and not skim or 2%. We used raw milk for a number of years until we couldn't afford it. I have been doing the room temperature counter top culturing for many years and call it a poly culture since I have combined so many different cultures, including Villi, Kefir, probiotics, etc. that it is totally a combination of unknown bacteria and yeasts. I have shared it with many people and have been told by a patient of Russian descent it reminds her of her grandmother and the fermented milk her grandma made. Another patient said it reminded her of the fermented milk from her grandmother from Columbia. Fermenting/culturing milk at room temperature has been used as a preservation model for literally thousands of years in many populations. We didn't always have refrigeration.
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This does sound interesting! I used to rotate a milk kefir grain, but found out I didn't do well with dairy overall from the proteins. I have been searching the globe for alternatives that do not break the bank. I love yogurt, cheese, and cream dips and spreads. (Essentially everything but actual milk). I am trying goat milk on for size with the hope that I can test negative for casin-1A. Have you ever tried it with goats milk?
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erikawinterton I make a very simple non-dairy yoghurt using coconut milk. For my culture I use a combination of homemade water kefir and kombucha to get a blend of probiotics but you could really use any probiotic as your culture. I do it by eye but use approximately 2 tablespoons of culture per can of coconut milk. I give it a quick blend to mix and then pour into mason jars and let sit on the counter 2 days or until desired tartness. It will be thin like kefir and thickens once you refrigerate it. It is delicious and really easy.
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@erikawinterton Works with goats milk and I have done it with Thai Kitchen coconut milk using the original dairy culture as a starter. I figured that with repeated culturing the dairy would essentially "disappear" from the culture as I only used a little dairy culture on the first batch, then used a little of each batch as the starter for the next batch
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@judsoncarroll4 You'll likely never get a good set for anything from ultra-pasteurized milk. the UHT process denatures the milk proteins, so they won't react properly after that. :(
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I have one from Caleb too that I have had sitting in a drawer for a while. We have extra milk right now, so I should probably pull it out. I also got a start powder from Cultures for Health that I similarly have not tried.
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Yeah, I have found that to be true. I have to go down to SC to get honest milk.
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We used to get raw milk from a farm in SC... I think it was Cow R Us, but it's been 10 years.
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Yes, you're definitely right about most of the world not having refrigeration, and don't most commercially available yoghurt cultures require keeping warm to ferment? Sounds like you've hit upon a mixture that includes Viili plus a lot of other stuff, and done a great job putting together an eclectic combo that works. I'm not sure I'd have the same luck just putting things together, or that I'd have the same yeasts and bacteria available in my environment! Viili's a great base that makes wonderful, mild yoghurt consistently and with ease for those who don't want to fuss with having to baby the stuff. Do you know a good culture that makes Greek sour yoghurt on the countertop and that will last indefinitely? my husband occasionally gets a hankering for Greek, and the Viili just doesn't sour up (which is a plus in my book! I'm not a fan of sour yoghurt or sour cream.)
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I've never tried Viili with goat's milk. The musky, "goaty" undertones are OK at first, but they get to me after a few bites or sips. I've tried sheep's milk yoghurt, though, and found it to be to my liking. Sadly, I don't know where one might purchase sheep's milk, though.
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@Suburban Pioneer I make the combination by starting a "test" ferment with the new culture by putting it on the counter with the homogenized, pasteurized whole cows milk and see what happens and how it tastes. If if cultures and tastes ok then I add it into the mother culture. If you have the luxury of real (raw) milk it already has probiotic bacteria in it. The farm I had my cowshare with would test each batch of milk and then retest it in 24 hours if the first test showed any "bad" bacteria. Typically the second test was always clear as the naturally occurring probiotic bacteria in the raw milk would take out the bad guys. (or it was a contamination that wasn't in the milk. They never shared the milk that had a first bad test, even if it was clean on the second. This did reinforce that the good guys can overcome the bad guys.
There are different yeasts and bacteria in your home than my home, but if you try my testing method, you will come up with a polyculture that has been tuned by nature to your environment. If you have real milk, let a pint sit on your counter and see what that culture tastes like. You will quite likely be pleasantly surprised.
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So I need to ask...where do you buy the culture? Maybe I can find it up here somewhere? I will look, but if anyone has sources, I'm listening.
We have lots of raw Jersey milk & I don't have issues with making yogurt, but this sounds fascinating.
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I may sound like a broken record as I recommend these folks a lot, but the quality is there and the price isn't out of line. I can't say they are cheap, but sometimes you do get what you pay for: Cultures for health: https://shop.culturesforhealth.com/collections/yogurt/products/heirloom-yogurt-starters
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@LaurieLovesLearning I got my heirloom yogurt cultures and my gluten free sourdough starter from Cultures for health. The heirloom package has the culture for Villi. https://shop.culturesforhealth.com/collections/yogurt/products/heirloom-yogurt-starters
I haven't tried the Villi yet, but may if it doesn't require pasteurized milk. I have used the Matsoni culture and have kept it going for over a year. It's quite mild. The Filmjolk was initially quite tasty, but seemed to get yeasty after a couple of months, so I quit using it. I believe the directions for all of the cultures say to pasteurize the milk, but perhaps that's just lawyer-speak.
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@Gail H The reason for pasteurizing is to get a standard product in the end. If you don't mind your cheese not being "perfect", raw works just fine with most cultures.
It could be lawyer speak too.
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Does anybody know why raw milk will,of course, get disgusting and unusable in short order if left out by itself on the counter, but is fine until the whole jar turns into yoghurt and whey with just a teaspoon of culture added? IThat's something I don't understand about Viili. The end result is so good, but I do have to use the opened container of raw milk within two days after I put it back into the fridge, or it becomes clearly something you DON'T want to ingest. But the milk in the jar all turns into 'gurt with no spoilage. Does anybody understand the chemistry involved?
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I Actually milk my gaots by hand and feel their milk so super sweet without the typically "goaty" undertones usually found in pasteurized goat milk. I really enjoy it fresh, but can't do the goat milk cheese at the store. Lol
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I my heck! I can't believe I have never tried this! I am definitely going to do it! I have everything I need for it too! Awesome!
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Wow - do you feed your goats something special to get the sweet flavor? Or is the goaty, musky taste brought on entirely by the pasturization process itself? I've read that keeping the boars and does separated reduces the musky flavor, but I've never had goats so I don't know. Our local co-op sells raw goat milk so should I try it? My husband (Mr. NOT Daniel Boone) has actually encouraged me to get a couple of mini goats to keep the pasture grass naturally trimmed down, so I could potentially get goat's milk that way for myself, but there's NO way I'm mixing goats and young fruit trees!!!
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I imagine it is several things. All animals have a natural oil that carries scent. (Pharamones). The males (bucks) are quite a bit more musky than the females (does). So, what you mentioned might have some slight effect.. But I feel overall it is likely more so the breed. I breed mini lamanchas. Which are a cross between American Lamanacha and Nigerian Dwarf goats. The Lamancha are huge dairy producers and their milk (to me) tastes just like a dairy cow but it is creamier due to the higher fat content and non-homoginization. The goats milk I have tried from lamancha breeders that do 100% alfalpha hay all taste like this. The nigerian dwarfs are also pretty sweet and have a higher fat content, but they don't produce as much. So, I like the mix. I do feel the pasteurization has a huge effect on the flavor. But also breeds like Tongenburge are actually bread for the goaty flavor milk. Some people dig it! Lol
Also with getting your own goats be sure they are good dairy produces and are handled. I had a wild yearling goat that I am afraid won't train to be milked. They are goats after all!
And of course keep them away from young fruit trees!
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Hmmmmm.... that does make sense about the breed, as well as the feed. Minis, huh? Can they coexist peacefully with several year old fruit trees?
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Actually, many people love the disgusting & unusable raw milk left on the counter. The Mennonite people would call this glums or cottage cheese. There is a way to tell if it is good or not. One is by looking for mold. The other is flavor.
I don't make it even though my husband likes it because I am not a fan of that type of sour flavor.
I suspect that with the viili, that this particular culture is more aggressive than the other bacteria, thus why it cultures in this way.
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Hmmmm... more aggressive, that makes sense!
Re: the disgusting raw milk, to me it just smells spoiled and dangerous. But I'm with you about sour milk flavor - I don't like it either. That's why I can't do Greek. My husband prefers sour Greek to any other type, though. Vive la difference!
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