# Will my yogurt be safe to eat?



## mollydog (Jul 25, 2012)

Hi, I'm a newbie and am desperate for some advice.  Last evening when I was making dinner, I started to heat skimmed store bought milk (not raw) to make yogurt, about half a gallon of milk.  I got distracted and boiled the milk.  Then, I got distracted some more and went to bed.  My starter from my last batch I left out on the counter as well as the boiled milk.  I'm very upset because it's so much milk to waste.  Thinking I have nothing to lose at this point, I tasted the milk this morning, and it seemed fine, just sweet.  I hadn't added anything to it when I boiled it.  Without reheating the milk, I mixed in the starter, dry milk and a little sugar.  I put the milk in the little jars to incubate in the yogurt maker and left for work.  My kitchen was probably 70 degrees last night.

Is this batch a lost cause?  Should I dump it?  Or do you think it's still safe?

Thanks!


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## sparrowgrass (Jul 25, 2012)

I think you will be just fine. Love your cooking style, reminds me of me.


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## CharlieD (Jul 25, 2012)

I think you will be fine as long as yogurt comes out of it. I never heard of making yogurt from boiled milk. The very reason you’d boil the milk so it doesn’t spoil, and what is yogurt if not a spoiled milk.
But, I am interested in your starter idea, can you please elaborate more.


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## Oldvine (Jul 25, 2012)

I think you're OK.


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## mollydog (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks, for your help! I'll let you know whether the yogurt turned out okay when I get home.  

Charlie, technically, you're not supposed to boil the milk, just heat it enough to denature the proteins so it'll gel.  Milk has no lactobacillus in it so you have to add it, e.g., from a previously made batch of yogurt.  Is that what you're looking for?


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## CharlieD (Jul 25, 2012)

You were talking about dry milk and sugar, but I think I simply misunderstood you.


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## mollydog (Jul 26, 2012)

*Update*

I checked my yogurt last night after dinner.  Didn't look as smooth as before, but it wasn't curdled.  Kind of looked "broken" like it was incubated too long.  I put it in the fridge to set.  Later in the evening, I tasted it.  It was fine.  Yay!  The only problem was that I had forgotten to strain out the skin that had formed when I boiled the milk so I ended up with bits of it every few spoonfuls.  It was like eating parchment paper.  Ick.  Oh well.  This yogurt maker has some quality control issues.  

Thanks for your help!


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## mollydog (Jul 26, 2012)

CharlieD said:


> You were talking about dry milk and sugar, but I think I simply misunderstood you.



Sorry, Charlie.  I put in dry milk for body because I use skim milk, which would otherwise make the yogurt runny.  The sugar, some people say, helps feed the bacteria.  I add it to keep my kids from adding too much of their own


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## CharlieD (Jul 26, 2012)

got it, thanks.


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## sparrowgrass (Jul 26, 2012)

Yeah, you do have to strain if you have boiled the milk--sorry, I should have mentioned that. My bad. 

Maybe try an immersion blender on your yogurt to break up the skin? Or a food processor?

(My latest dumb trick--bought a carton of sour cream and a package of cream cheese on Tuesday, and left it in the truck til I discovered it this morning. It was only 100 degrees yesterday--think I should throw it away? )


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## PrincessFiona60 (Jul 26, 2012)

sparrowgrass said:


> (My latest dumb trick--bought a carton of sour cream and a package of cream cheese on Tuesday, and left it in the truck til I discovered it this morning. It was only 100 degrees yesterday--think I should throw it away? )



There is no way I would even think of keeping it...  But then, you can hand me a carton of fresh milk, if you ask me if it's spoiled it will smell bad to me.  I have a smelling "blind spot" when it comes to milk products.


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## GLC (Jul 26, 2012)

I think it's worth remembering that fermented milk products are very ancient foods and have been around long before refrigeration and very often in the hottest climates of India and Persia, simply because they are ways to extend the useful life of the milk. What you get depends on the species of bacteria that dominate. The desirable ones are desirable on account of the taste and texture they produce. The bad ones are bad because they taste bad. (Although what tastes "good" and "bad" can be far from universal.) 

Once the native lactose in the milk has been consumed and lactic acid produced, the product is pretty stable. Mass-produced products begin with pasteurization to kill any native bacteria before the working bacteria are added. So there's not much undesirable bacteria left and not much food left for any bacteria. Yogurt is produced at about 112F, so being left in a hot car for a while is not going to do much to something where the lactic acid production has already run its course. 

Cream cheese and sour cream are produced in similar ways and are similarly stable, although cheeses may suffer in physical ways under heat.


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## Barbara L (Jul 26, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> There is no way I would even think of keeping it...  But then, you can hand.
> Ask James--I say the same thing all the time! If you ask me to smell the milk, it is going to smell bad! Milk is one of those things I love to drink, but it isn't something you want to smell.  (Edited to add: For some reason my cursor is jumping all over and it wiped out the last part of your quote. Weird!)


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