I've revised my coconut milk yogurt recipe. It's much faster, much easier. No
heating, no cooling down, no watching temperatures. Because it's made with coconut milk it has no lactose and no
casein, so no 24-hour incubation needed. You do need a blender and a yogurt
maker or other way to keep the microorganisms thriving at their favorite
temperature for 8 hours. I use a crockpot plugged into a dimmer switch.
If you are doing strict SCD or GAPS you must make your own coconut milk. There are lots of good recipes on line for this. I actually use Aroy-D Coconut milk in 1 litre TetraPaks, which has won awards (I know...). It lists
only coconuts and water as ingredients, and as far as I know, the TetraPak
packaging contains no BPA, which canned coconut milk (like all other canned
foods) does contain.
Dates are added to provide food (fructose) for the microorganisms that turn milk into yogurt (Lactobacillus,
Streptococcus, etc). Dates are said to be very digestible, but if you
prefer, you can replace the dates with 1 Tablespoon of raw honey.
The unflavored gelatin sets the yogurt to a soft gel as it cools. One
pack of gelatin usually sets 2 cups of liquid to the bouncy "Jell-O"
consistency we all know. Here we're doing over 4 cups of liquid, so it won't be as
firm as Jell-O, but of a gentle consistency that blends in a heavenly way with the coconut
milk's creaminess. Gelatin is also very soothing for the digestive system.
Keep refrigerated, like any yogurt. Should keep well for at least a
week but in my house it's gone within about a day, so it's a good thing it's
quick and easy to make again!
COCONUT MILK YOGURT
Ingredients:
4 cups coconut milk , at room temperature or up to 42
C
1 package yogurt starter or the dose for 1 quart milk
1 package unflavored gelatin (1 scant Tablespoon) or 1 1/2 Tablespoons unflavored Vegan Jel
5 raw dates, pitted
Directions:
1. Plug in your yogurt maker to warm it up. Place all the ingredients near your
blender.
2. Pour the coconut milk into the blender jar (use the jar measures to get the right amount if using canned milk). Start the blender on a
low speed, take off the whole lid, and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin and the yogurt
starter into the middle of the swirling milk. Turn off blender, add
dates, put the lid on, and process on high for 1 minute, until dates are
liquefied. Pour into yogurt maker and follow your usual
yogurt-making steps. Incubate 6 to 8 hours.
3. After about 6 hours, the yogurt will still be liquid and the cream
will have risen to the top. No worries! Mix well and taste the
yogurt to see if you prefer to let it ferment longer. If it's got that
great yogurt taste, put the lid on the container and refrigerate. After cooling 1 to 2
hours (depends on your container), the
gelatin will be starting to set, and it will be starting to separate again. Mix again (add 1 tsp vanilla if desired). Cool 2 to 3 more hours before serving.
Showing posts with label homemade yogurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homemade yogurt. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Coconut Milk Yogurt
A big item on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is the 24-hour yogurt, with its much-needed probiotics. But there is a troubling fact: making yogurt gets rid of the lactose in the milk, but what about the other milk components that are possible Crohn's irritants? Casein for example.
So I wanted to give coconut milk yogurt a try. Doing my homework before messing up perfectly good coconut milk, I looked at what other websites offer on the subject. Some websites, including at least one yogurt starter website (don't actually remember which), say it can't be done. Hey, I like a challenge, and the benefits were just calling to me. For example, another benefit is, it wouldn't have to incubate 24 hours, because the extra time is needed to make sure the bad lactose is all eaten up by the good bacteria. Coconut milk yogurt would also bring in all the amazing benefits of coconut oil, the relatively complete proteins of coconut milk, and the aromatic flavor of coconuts. So I just had to find a way.
The problems that made coconut milk yogurt impossible were, 1) it stays liquid, 2) it separates, and 3) it doesn't have enough sugar to feed the bacteria. To solve 1 & 2, I retained the services of unflavored gelatin. Of course, if you're only going to use it for smoothies (and it is a terrific smoothie ingredient), or you like liquid yogurt, or you're a vegan, you can just leave out the gelatin. Just shake before using. For the third reason I called good old dates, my new favorite sweetener, to the rescue. So this yogurt recipe needs a blender, to liquefy the dates, but I soon realized that it also helps mix in the gelatin and the starter, making coconut yogurt not only possible, but the easiest yogurt to make!
One more comment: I only use TetraPak (UHT) coconut milk, not canned milk (when I can't make it from the nut). No BPA. Also, UHT stands for Ultra High Temperature, which means the milk does not need to be brought to near boiling: it is already quite sterile. So there's another time and energy saver.
In fact, this method shortcuts so many of the usual steps of yogurt-making, AND the result is SO DELICIOUS!
COCONUT MILK YOGURT
Ingredients:
4 cups coconut milk (home-made or in TetraPak - no BPA) at room temperature or up to 42 C.
1 package unflavored gelatin
3 to 6 dates (with 6, the yogurt will be slightly sweet; adjust to taste)
1 package Thermophilus/Bulgaricus/Acidophilus yogurt starter
Equipment: a good blender, a plug-in yogurt maker. If your yogurt maker is the type that just insulates heated milk, you'll have to heat the coconut milk to the correct temperature before starting
Assemble all the ingredients near your blender.
1. Pour coconut milk into the blender jar. Start the blender on a low speed, take off the lid, and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin and the yogurt starter into the middle of the swirling milk. Turn off blender, add dates, put the lid on the jar, and process on high for 1 minute, until dates are liquefied. Pour into yogurt maker and follow your usual yogurt-making steps. Incubate 6 to 8 hours.
2. At the end of the incubation period, the yogurt will still be liquid and the cream will have risen to the top. Mix well, refrigerate one hour, then mix again. The gelatin will be starting to set, which will keep the yogurt from separating again. After a few more hours of cooling, the gelatin will have set to a soft gel. One pack of gelatin usually sets 2 cups liquid to the firm "Jell-O" consistency we all know. Here we're doing 4 cups liquid, so it won't be as firm.
My yogurt maker is an old crockpot with a cracked bowl, plugged into a dimmer plug. The yogurt goes into a glass jar (mason-type) that fits nicely in the crockpot. I put a potholder under the jar to keep the temperature even, and the lid on the crockpot. It didn't take long to figure out the right dimmer setting to get an even and continuous 42 C for incubating the Thermophilus/Bulgaricus/Acidophilus yogurt.
So I wanted to give coconut milk yogurt a try. Doing my homework before messing up perfectly good coconut milk, I looked at what other websites offer on the subject. Some websites, including at least one yogurt starter website (don't actually remember which), say it can't be done. Hey, I like a challenge, and the benefits were just calling to me. For example, another benefit is, it wouldn't have to incubate 24 hours, because the extra time is needed to make sure the bad lactose is all eaten up by the good bacteria. Coconut milk yogurt would also bring in all the amazing benefits of coconut oil, the relatively complete proteins of coconut milk, and the aromatic flavor of coconuts. So I just had to find a way.
The problems that made coconut milk yogurt impossible were, 1) it stays liquid, 2) it separates, and 3) it doesn't have enough sugar to feed the bacteria. To solve 1 & 2, I retained the services of unflavored gelatin. Of course, if you're only going to use it for smoothies (and it is a terrific smoothie ingredient), or you like liquid yogurt, or you're a vegan, you can just leave out the gelatin. Just shake before using. For the third reason I called good old dates, my new favorite sweetener, to the rescue. So this yogurt recipe needs a blender, to liquefy the dates, but I soon realized that it also helps mix in the gelatin and the starter, making coconut yogurt not only possible, but the easiest yogurt to make!
One more comment: I only use TetraPak (UHT) coconut milk, not canned milk (when I can't make it from the nut). No BPA. Also, UHT stands for Ultra High Temperature, which means the milk does not need to be brought to near boiling: it is already quite sterile. So there's another time and energy saver.
In fact, this method shortcuts so many of the usual steps of yogurt-making, AND the result is SO DELICIOUS!
COCONUT MILK YOGURT
Ingredients:
4 cups coconut milk (home-made or in TetraPak - no BPA) at room temperature or up to 42 C.
1 package unflavored gelatin
3 to 6 dates (with 6, the yogurt will be slightly sweet; adjust to taste)
1 package Thermophilus/Bulgaricus/Acidophilus yogurt starter
Equipment: a good blender, a plug-in yogurt maker. If your yogurt maker is the type that just insulates heated milk, you'll have to heat the coconut milk to the correct temperature before starting
Assemble all the ingredients near your blender.
1. Pour coconut milk into the blender jar. Start the blender on a low speed, take off the lid, and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin and the yogurt starter into the middle of the swirling milk. Turn off blender, add dates, put the lid on the jar, and process on high for 1 minute, until dates are liquefied. Pour into yogurt maker and follow your usual yogurt-making steps. Incubate 6 to 8 hours.
2. At the end of the incubation period, the yogurt will still be liquid and the cream will have risen to the top. Mix well, refrigerate one hour, then mix again. The gelatin will be starting to set, which will keep the yogurt from separating again. After a few more hours of cooling, the gelatin will have set to a soft gel. One pack of gelatin usually sets 2 cups liquid to the firm "Jell-O" consistency we all know. Here we're doing 4 cups liquid, so it won't be as firm.
My yogurt maker is an old crockpot with a cracked bowl, plugged into a dimmer plug. The yogurt goes into a glass jar (mason-type) that fits nicely in the crockpot. I put a potholder under the jar to keep the temperature even, and the lid on the crockpot. It didn't take long to figure out the right dimmer setting to get an even and continuous 42 C for incubating the Thermophilus/Bulgaricus/Acidophilus yogurt.
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