There are three main reasons you can get a yoghurt that is of a stringy, almost slimy consistency.
- Poor temperature control.
- Using Non-Dairy yoghurt culture for a dairy application.
- Poor quality milk.
Poor Temperature Control.
Yoghurt culture is made up of a mixture or blend of different lactic bacteria strains. These culture strains will become active at different temperatures. The culture that causes the slimy or stringy texture is the one that wakes up at a lower temperature. There are two potential issues here.
- Your yoghurt maker does not hold the correct temperature range.
- The milk is too cold when the culture is added.
If the yoghurt maker drops below 36° to 37° C then the 'slimy' bacteria strain becomes dominant. You can test your yoghurt maker very easily by following the instructions here.
If the milk is below 36° to 37° C when the culture is added then the slimy bacteria strain will be dominant and may be for hours. For example, Long Life or UHT milk straight out of the pantry may be well below 36° to 37° C and take hours to reach this temperature in an electric yoghurt maker.
Using Non-Dairy Yoghurt Culture For a Dairy Application.
Although the Non-Dairy yoghurt culture contains the same two lactic bacteria as the Mild or Tangy Dairy yoghurt cultures the mixing ratio has been changed to make the slimy bacteria dominant to give an increased viscosity for making soy yoghurt. When used in a dairy application the dominance of this bacteria will often show through, even when all of the temperatures are correct.
Poor Quality Milk.
Another issue can be the quality of the milk you are using. If you have checked your temperature control, you are using the correct culture and you are still having this issue, change the brand of milk you are using.
For our own yoghurt making, we use Scenic Rim unhomogenised milk even though you do get some creamy lumps on the top of the end product. If we don't want to heat treat the milk we use Devondale long-life milk as this has never let us down.
Comments
2 comments
After warming up the milk on stove, and then letting it cool.
How to know if the temperature is right before cooling too much?
Thanks!
Hi Vera.
It is best to use a thermometer like this one -https://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/thermometer-200-mm
I hope this helps.
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