Recipe: Homemade Soy Yogurt

This soy yogurt is best when using homemade soy milk (recipe posted earlier). It's not an easy recipe, but worth it, especially if you have a yogurt-making machine:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy milk, homemade, fresh, and ice cold
5 cups soy milk, homemade, fresh and very hot
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoon of tapioca starch
3/4 teaspoons agar powder
1/2 sachet dairy-free yogurt culture * OR 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt from last batch - must have live cultures

Directions:
  • Boil/scald everything that you plan to use to make the yogurt.
  • In a large heavy saucepan, whisk until dissolved the 1/2 cup cold soymilk, the tapioca starch, and the agar powder.
  • Add in 2 cups of the hot soymilk, and whisk until it's smooth (no lumps).
  • Cook on medium, stirring constantly, until it is glossy and thickened.
  • Add the rest of the hot soymilk (3 cups) and whisk. Don't let it get too frothy.
  • Cool in refrigerator to the temperature of 115 degrees F (use a candy thermometer).
  • While cooling, mix dried yogurt culture with 1/4 cup of warm soy milk to make a paste OR take out soy yogurt to get to room temperature.
  • Take out of fridge, whisk in the dried yogurt culture paste OR the soy yogurt. Whisk well (or else your yogurt will be grainy.
  • Pour into scalded/boiled jars and containers. Cover.
  • Incubate for 8-10 hours for mild, or 12-14 hours for tart. There are 5 ways to incubate - see below.
  • Taste after 6 hours - time will vary, and will get tarter as it cools. Do NOT stir.
  • Refrigerate immediately for a minimum of 12 hours. This will help develop the flavor.
  • This yogurt will keep for about a week.
  • To make your next batch, keep 1/2 cup of this batch. Again, it needs to be at room temperature before using to make the next batch. You can do this about 10 times (some say 12-14) before you'll need a fresh starter batch.

Five ways to incubate:

  1. Use a yogurt maker! (There are electric and non-electric - follow the directions.)
  2. Use a large oval crockpot. You can fit several pint jars in it, but get the shorter jars. Cover the bottom of the insert with a washcloth or small piece of cloth so your jars won't scratch the insert, and the jars won't be directly on the ceramic. Place in your jars of warm cultured soymilk. Cover. Set to "warm" function.
  3. Thermos: You'll need large widemouth thermoses, with the metal casings. Boil water and pour into thermos, cover with lid, and let heat for 10 minutes. Pour out water. Fill 3/4 full with warm cultured soymilk. Replace lid. Set up a big box filled with thick quilts or terrycloth towels. Nestle the thermos bottles and cover with more quilts or towels. Place in draft-free warm place.
  4. Cooler: Use an electric warm/cold cooler, set on warm, or heat up a styrofoam cooler with big jars of hot water until yogurt is ready to incubate. Take the big jars of hot water out, and replace with small jars of hot water. Place jars of warm cultured soymilk in cooler, without letting them touch the jars of hot water. Insulate the jars with terrycloth washcloths or small towels, then place cover on cooler. Cover the cooler to insulate it. You may need to a take out the jars of hot water, empty, refill, and replace about midway through.
  5. Make and use a "hay box" - here's directions on how to make one: http://www.dancingrabbit.org/newsletter/Newsletter200601_HeyHay.php. Good for using when cooking other things too.

* A few sources: http://www.giprohealth.com/giprostart.aspx, http://www.healthytraders.com/tribest-yolife-yogurt-starter-cultures-bottle-p-3014.html, http://www.juicersforless.com/index.php/cPath/42


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