Bulgarian Yogurt Starter (Makes 16 Gal / 60 L)

First of all, it was ordered in the summer and sat in my mailbox for 3 days before I picked it up. This might have been a problem in killing some of the bacteria. Not sure... I don't really have anything to compare it to.That being said I ordered the one gallon and used it for a full gallon of 2% milk. After 24 hours in the incubation, it was still very very runny so I let it sit for another 12 hours.This of course made it more tangy but slightly more thick. I triple-strained it for about 4 hours, scraping the inside of the bag out so the running stuff in the middle could get to the outside of the bag periodically.This is what gave me my thick consistency and removed a lot of the runny whey. I usually do this with all of my homemade yogurt because I like it thick and with a higher protein count.Since I left it for an extra 12 hours in the incubation, it was very very tangy but I did get the consistency I was looking for finally. I should have started with a half a gallon to see if it would have worked better. The bacteria was alive and I did get yogurt, but if I had just done one gallon for 12 hours it would have been extremely runny and not set. Now I have starter for my next batch from this batch which I hope will be a little stronger and I can do my regular timing on it.*** Update!!! I have been using the starter for this yogurt now for almost a year. This is BY FAR the best yogurt! The culture got stronger each time I used it and is now a full-bodied, not tangy at all, smooth as cream, buttery yogurt. It's amazing! I've given a start to 2 family members who love it as well and my other family have ordered some. It DOES take time, but it gains strength! So glad I waited it out and kept using it! Seriously delicious and unlike anything I can find in the stores. The closest I could find was "Fage"? but this is still the BEST!

I started making my own yogurt about a year ago, using plain Greek yogurt I got from the store for the starter. I just tried my first batch of yogurt made with this Bulgarian Yogurt Starter, and it's the best batch of yogurt I've made so far. Really rich, smooth, and creamy, the right thickness, nice depth of flavor, and that perfect balance of sweet & sour. Your results may vary depending on how you make yours, but I didn't do anything different from how I normally make yogurt — aside from the starter — to get these results.One thing that is a source of confusion for some people is that, to get the stated amount of yogurt from the amount of starter you buy, you have to make a batch large enough to use the entire packet of starter. If you only make your yogurt a quart at a time (like I do), that "8 gallon" packet will really only make 8 quarts. However, it was consoling to learn that, just like with any yogurt, I could reserve small amounts of the yogurt I made with it to use as starter for future batches. So one way or another, I'll be able to get that 8 gallons of yogurt — and probably much more — from the one packet of starter I got.

This makes delicious soy yogurt that is thick, creamy, and with a consistency similar to Mexican flan. I found no need for added thickeners using soymilk (which has a higher protein content that most other non-dairy milks.) The company provides recipes for other non-dairy milks which I have not tried. (The recipe booklet was supposed to come with the starter but was missing in my order. I called the company and they promptly sent me the pdf.)Bulgarian yogurt is a thermophilic starter, which means it works better with warm milk. I simply heat the soymilk (I use TJ's organic, unsweetened, unfortified soymilk that contains only soybeans and water), cool it to the proper temperature, mix the powdered starter first in a cup of the warm soymilk, then add it to the rest of the soymilk. I pour it in a yogurt maker, let it incubate for six hours and viola, a thick, tasty non-dairy yogurt with live cultures.I found a yogurt maker for $4 at a thrift store. The company, however, provides instructions for making the yogurt without an electric yogurt maker. It uses a jar, a towel/blanket and an insulated box such as a microwave (not turned on, of course).This is a multi-use heirloom culture which means you can use some of the yogurt to start another batch. So long as you keep up with the yogurt-making so the yogurt you are using as a starter is fresh, you can make endless batches from a tiny amount of the initial culture powder. Store the starter powder in the freezer as a back-up and you won't need to buy more for a very long time. (The stated shelf-life for the package is two years.)When I was researching yogurt starters, I found most of the non-dairy yogurt starters were "direct set" starters meaning you had to use starter culture powder for each new batch of yogurt. This requires continually buying yogurt starter which can get expensive. I bought this Bacillus Bulgaricus yogurt starter seven months ago and have barely made a dent in the amount in the package. Most of the time, I just use some of the previous batch to make a new batch.I heartily recommend this yogurt starter and if I ever need more, I will buy it again.

This is the only yogurt starter I have ever used, and it's so good, I don't think I'll ever use another. Before, I had started all of my batches of yogurt using a bit of plain, commercial yogurt, but a starter is far superior. The finished result has that desirable tang, but still maintains the creaminess and natural sweetness of the milk. I had originally ordered a small pack my first go-round, but this time I ordered the 30L size. Please keep in mind that the packages are deceptively small. It is dried starter, after all, and a little goes a long way! Do check out the website listed on the label for all of their useful tips. I have given up using a thermometer to gauge the temp of my milk using the tips they provide, and I have never had a failed batch. I use approximately 5 cups of milk per batch and mix in 1/4 tsp of starter. For this amount of milk, 1/8 tsp would probably be sufficient, but I like having that extra zing.

Made it in instapot....turned out fantastic, we used 3% homo milk to get thicker consistency.The complaint we have is the package says 4grams. But when we weighed the contents of the package there were only 3grams. That's 25% less than what we paid for. It's already expensive so that makes it 25% more expensive. :( We are not happy about that, but happy about how the yogurt turned out.