What will thicken yogurt

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How to thicken a Yoghurt based cold sauce? Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 4 months ago. Active 7 years ago. Viewed 58k times. How can I achieve that? What should I add to thicken cold sauce?

Potato flour is not an option as I don't want to warm the sauce. Improve this question. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. And I think rumtscho is correct you are going to need something thicker than whipping cream. However, the problem with plain and flavored yogurts is that they have a liquid texture. If you add yogurt to recipes like pie, cake, or brownies, there is a tendency to run out. In this article, you will learn several ways to thicken the yogurt.

Is Runny Yogurt Safe to Eat? If you have runny yogurt, then there is a chance that it is spoiled. You will know in two ways: Smell : Spoiled yogurt tends to smell sour and unpleasant with a sharp or pungent odor.

If there is no smell at all, then it is safe to use. If the color changes or it develops an unpleasant odor, then trash it. However, if you are wondering whether your yogurt has gone bad or not, then here is how to taste-test it: Take a small spoonful of the yogurt and taste it. If the yogurt tastes sour, but you detect a strange smell, then it is probably spoiled.

So, discard that as well. Either you used the wrong type of starter culture or too much heat involved in the process. You might even have to buy a yogurt maker to obtain thick and creamy yogurt in some cases. Here are some suggestions on how you can fix this: Use a cheesecloth or muslin cloth to line the strainer when making cultured milk.

This will help cool down the contents so that they will ferment properly. It is the protein in the milk which forms the gel causing milk to thicken. An increased ratio of protein to other components in the milk will make for a thicker yogurt. Powdered milk is a good source of protein which will not substantially alter the flavor of the yogurt.

Powdered milk has a different flavor than fresh milk so do not add too much or the flavor will be effected negatively. Gelatin is made by reducing collagen found in animal products into smaller protein particles. Once the collagen has been broken down it is tasteless and can be used to gel in a wide variety of foods including yogurt. To use gelatin to thicken yogurt add the powder to the milk when it is cold and stir it constantly while it heats up. To ensure the gelatin is properly dissolved you have to heat the milk to at least 50 C.

Once you have reached temperature make the yogurt normally. As the milk cools the gelatin will form a gel in the liquid of the yogurt, the lactic acid bacteria will also help to break down some of the collagen and integrate it into the milk protein.

Once the pH of the yogurt gets below 4. Although gelatin is tasteless it dies have a texture which can be a grainy, rubbery texture if too much is added. It can form a layer on the top or bottom of the liquid. Be careful to not overdo the amount of gelatin.

Starch has been used as a thickener for a wide variety of foods including gravies, sauces and pie fillings but is can also be used to thicken yogurt. There are several types of starch which can be used including:. The starch forms long strings of starch which get entangled together causing the liquid in the milk to gel. Since the lactic acid bacteria cannot breakdown the carbohydrate in the starch they remain in the yogurt and continue to provide thickening power throughout the life of the yogurt.

This is the usual way yogurt from the grocer is thickened as it provides long term thickening power and is fairly cheap to use. Agar is made from a red algae and comes in powdered, granules or sheet forms. It can be used to thicken any water based liquids which includes milk. It forms a gel with the water found in the liquid and can also contain water in pockets making the solution semi-solid.

It does not need heating to activate but can stand heating without affecting its ability to thicken. It is relatively flavorless and adds little color. Xanthan gum is a carbohydrate created by a specific bacteria through fermentation. It is made industrially for use in commercial products like salad dressing, sauces and dips, in shampoo and conditioners and also in pest control products. To thicken yogurt with Xanthan gum add it to the milk before heating and treat the milk normally. What kind of milk you user?

Do you know it's fat content? Using farm milk should lead to thicker yogurt than using UHT milk. As I see it, your method was bad and your yogurt didn't get to proper thickness. Almost all answers suggest tricks vor getting properly thickened yogurt to be thicker than normal. That's why I changed the title. If you don't agree with the new meaning, you can roll it back in the edit history. I really hope anyone reading this reads all the way down the answers.

The top one s aren't actually very good and are actually totally mistaken on some points. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. There are many myths surrounding yogurt making: UHT milk is bad. This is simply not true. I have made yogurt with whole fat UHT milk for years and it comes out nice and thick. In fact for the past several months I have been using a high quality whole milk powder that makes a lovely, thick yogurt.

Store bought yogurt will always be thicker because of additives. Also not true. My yogurt is as thick as a high fat sour cream and contains no added milk powder, gelatine, etc. You need many hours of 'fermentation' to make yogurt. Again I don't agree. My yogurt sets in hours, after which it goes in the fridge to cool and finish the culturing process. The milk must be exactly x temperature when you add the starter. This is only somewhat true. That said, too low and you're losing some effects of the protein denature explained below.

Everything must be sterilized. Clean everything carefully, of course, but you are adding a starter with billions of cultivated bacteria into an ideal environment for it to grow. It will easily dominate other bacteria that happen to get in—and they will, since there are bacteria in the air all around us, so even post-sterilization there will be plenty of foreign stuff entering the yogurt. That said, an over-long incubation will give other bacteria a chance to express themselves, so best to avoid that.

Don't move, touch, or cause the yogurt to shake in any way during incubation or it will fail. I used to believe this myself but it's really not that sensitive. Obviously less agitation is better, but it will not fail even with fairly substantial movement during the incubation. Drinking yogurt is shaken quite violently during incubation in order to keep it liquid and even then it's still quite viscous.

The keys to making good thick yogurt are: Protein. A milk with high quality protein will make a great yogurt. Incubation temperature. A lower temperature will also produce yogurt, but you are in a race with other bacteria, so the quicker it's done the better. Buy a cent indoor thermometer and start looking for ways to create the right temperature environment.

Time between generations. Try to bake a new batch every days. After a week in the fridge the bacteria are starting to suffer and will not be as strong and active when introduced into the next batch. A short generation cycle will let you go on making yogurt with the same culture for dozens of generations. Sugar quantity. This is my own personal guess based on bread making, etc. A little sugar will boost the bacteria, but too much will slow it down. I use 2 tbsp per litre of milk and it works very well.