Kicky, I always make my own yogurt by using a few tablespoons of a good Greek yogurt, never powdered milk. I'll see if I can find my original post and instructions. But even if I can't find it, there are a lot of folks here who make their own yogurt, so you'll get tons of advice.

Sol

My goodness .... How much did you add? Taste is subjective, so different strokes for different folks.

Did you refrigerate it before using it? That might allow the flavors to mellow a bit.

Some possible add-ins to mask the flavor:

1. 10 drops of almond extract + 1 T. brown sugar and finely chopped almonds

2. 2 T. applesauce, cinnamon to taste, and sweetener of choice

3. 2 drops of banana extract and 2 T. honey

4. Preserves - such as bluberry, strawberry, orange marmalade

5. 1/4 t. instant coffee powder (or to taste) dissolved in a small amount of hot water + sugar/honey

6. 3 T. grated cucumber + 1/8 t. dill weed + dash of garlic

7. 1-2 T. peanut butter (warm it in the microwave) + sweetener of choice if you'd like

8. Plain old vanilla + sweetener of choice.

9. Use it in a smoothie or cooking/baking.

10. Drain it and make yogurt cheese and add some strong flavors/onions or chives, garlic, spices, etc. for a dip or spread.

11. A great cookbook for recipes for using yogurt is "Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Cookbook" by Meg Cadoux Hirshberg. The Honey Whole-Wheat English Muffins (by Carol Vanier, Georgetown, Massachusetts - page 72) is an excellent use for 1-1/2 c. plain yogurt.

And to think I used to make yogurt with powdered milk ONLY! But must admit, some brands may taste "better" than others.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, I don't make yogurt anymore but back when the kids were little & I was making tons of it & working from a food storage program...I always used powedered milk. I don't recall having a taste issue? I used Carnation milk.

Great suggestions for add-ins!

/tricia

Hmmm. I made it a few times using a thick greek style yogurt as a starter, skim milk, and powdered milk. I don't remember it tasting funny.

Now, I know there are two types of powdered milk (instant and non-instant) and it can also come in different strenghts (from nonfat to whole). I know I used the nonfat, and I believe it was the instant. I wonder if that makes a difference, and if you used the other kind?

I have also used fresh whole milk with the nonfat milk powder. I have to say, yogurt made with the whole milk was so much thicker and nicer than the skim milk kind, but both were good.

Unfortunately I am not responsible enough to keep things like yogurt and amish friendship bread alive *cough* so I abandoned making it myself.

Another "used-to-be" yogurt maker.
My mixture was evaporated milk, skim milk and powdered milk to boost the protein.
Never noticed any taste but yummy!
Linda C

I use 2% milk and a bit of natural yogurt like Dannon. Could you use it up making biscuits or scones, muffins, pancakes just like you would use buttermilk?

I use powdered milk in baked goods sometimes, but never in yogurt.

I also make my own yogurt. I use a bit of my "current" batch of yogurt to start the next batch, I use 2% milk and powdered milk and I never noticed any problems with taste either. Mine is nice and thick and I've got Dad "hooked", he eats it mixed with my homemade jam for flavoring. Amanda likes it too, dumps some in the blender with frozen berries and a bit of honey for a fruit smoothie.

I've found that I can make 6 or 8 quarts at a time in my old Harvest Maid dehydrator, and it looks like this:

Teresa, I use in in place of buttermilk in pancakes and muffins, but I've never tried using it in scones or biscuits. I also use it in place of sour cream in cookies and coffee cake, and in Ann T's Cream Cheese Danish.

Annie

I think powered milk gets an "old" taste fairly quickly. Mind you, I am NOT a milk lover. Was the powdered milk fresh?

I make yogurt with nonfat powdered milk and a small amount of cream rather than boil and cool milk. It makes a yummy yogurt to which I add fruit or jam to flavor or not. No bad taste to the product. I would suspect milk might have been a bad brand or old. I ran out of half&half this weekend and instead of running out int he rain, mixed a bit of powdered milk in water and some whipping cream to make my own, I was also out of milk. There was no odd taste to it also. I keep my dry milk in the freezer in a watertight container as I made the mistake of buying it at Costco a long time ago and I don't use it for drinking.

Good idea making yogurt cheese out of it with such a wide possibility of flavorings. When I make my yogurt with dry milk, I don't use hot water, just room temp and stir until well dissolved, then add cream or half and half, then fill the rest of the quart container with water. I use a higher concentration of powdered milk than called for in making nonfat milk to add protein and give it more substance. I just set it in the oven with the light on or in a small cooler with a heating pad underneat for 8 to 12 hours until it thickens. I'll post this recipe if you're interested in it.

I have never tried making yogurt, but have always wanted to!
Can you guys give me some direction?
(aka: recipes..heehee)

Thanks!

Linda

Linda (doucanoe) - check out the link below for more information.

It's easiest done with a yogurt maker, which keeps yogurt fermenting at a constant temperature, for more consistant results. There are other methods you can use.

There are lots of little tips and tricks to making yogurt.

-Don't jiggle the yogurt once it's fermenting (usually happens with someone moves the batch). It destroys the curd and you can end up with yogurt "soup".

-You can use a wide variety of dairy products - from non-fat dried milk powder to cream - and combinations. I used to make a lot of goat yogurt when I could get fresh goat milk.

- You can make different types and consistancies by additions like unflavored gelatin or cornstarch.

-I'd suggest using Stonyfield Farm Yogurt as your starter to innoculate your yogurt. It has more strains of good bacteria in it than other brands.

-You can save yogurt from one batch to innoculate your next batch, but eventually it will become weak and you will need a new starter. If you notice your yogurt is not setting up as well as it did in previous batches, you probably need to get some commercial yogurt to use as a new starter. There are powdered starters available from Yogourmet (check your health food store).

- There is a temperature window for adding the starter to the cooled pasteurized milk. Within that window of temperatures, adding the starter when the temperature is at the warmest end of the temp. window will render a tart yogurt. Adding the starter at the cooler side of the temp. window will render a smoother, less tart yogurt.

- You'll need a good instant read thermometer because yogurt is VERY temperature-sensitive for making it. If it doesn't thicken, the milk may have been too hot or too cool when the starter was added. Not enough starter may also cause a failed batch. The incubating temperature needs to be just right or the batch can fail. If it's incubated too long, it can get really tart. If there's a lot of whey separating from the curd, it's because it was either bumped or moved during incubation or was incubated too long.

I've switched to making kefir (which is similar to yogurt) after making yogurt for about 30 years +, because all you need is milk and kefir grains. No messing with pasteurizing milk, concerns with temperatures, and kefir is much better for you than yogurt. I use kefir anywhere I need plain yogurt, buttermilk, sourcream, and even cream cheese.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Yogurt

Grainlady: You are absolutely oooozing with information! Thank you. I learned alot from you. I think that perhaps my powdered (whole fat) milk might have been off, so I've dumped it. Rats! I knew that I wasn't supposed to bump or move the yogurt while it was brewing, but I didn't know why. Now I know.

Annie: Oh my gosh! Your yogurt looks like sour cream! Its so thick, I'd like to get mine looking like that!

Thanks everyone for your advice!

You can check out the link on the Harvest forum too.

Lot's of the "why did this happen" stuff...

Deanna (who made a thin batch, then a good one, in the last couple of weeks. My first attempts!!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Yogurt thread