Coconut Milk Yogurt Success!

amberlink09 · Post by **amberlink09** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:58 am

Hey guys,

After a little bit of tweaking I've managed to get a really good, thick, creamy coconut milk yogurt in the crockpot. It is based off of this recipe: http://www.lexieskitchen.com/lexies_kit ... ecipe.html

Ingredients
3 cups of coconut milk from the carton
2 cans of full fat coconut milk (I use whatever is cheapest at my store)
1 tsp agar agar (I got mine from the bulk spice aisle at whole foods)
4 tablespoons tapioca starch
2 tablespoons sugar
Yogurt starter of your choice, enough for 2 quarts (can be a regular starter, 1/2 cup of yogurt, or the inside of probiotic capsules)

1. Combine coconut milk in crock pot, sprinkle the teaspoon of agar agar over the top of the coconut milk and set to high. In my crock pot, it took about 3 hours until the coconut milk began to boil/simmer.
2. Stir the tapioca starch with water
3. Once the coconut milk begins to bubble, pour in the tapioca starch and sugar.
4. Stir the starch and sugar into the coconut milk with whisk
5. Leave crock pot on high for another 30 minutes.
6. Turn crock pot off for about 2 1/2-3 hours, until milk cools to 110 degrees
7. Take out about 1/2 cup of milk and mix with starter, then pour back into crock pot and combine well.
8. Wrap crock pot in a blanket or large beach towel and place in oven (turned off) or some place with a constant warm temperature for 8-12 hours.
9. Refrigerate yogurt.
10. Yogurt will be slightly chunky due to the agar agar, but you can solve that problem by mixing it with a handheld mixer for a few minutes.

There you go, dairy free yogurt that is creamy and thick! Best of all, it doesn't get as tart as regular yogurt so you can get away with just mixing in fruit for sweetness.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:29 pm

I am in awe...

Wish I had the time to do this!!!

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:16 pm

Hi Amber,

I am truly impressed! It looks like a weekend project for me but something I'm going to put on my list to try. A huge thanks for posting!

I'm curious what you used for starter? Can you confirm just open some culturelle and put in the contents? Brandy

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:25 pm

Hi Amber,

I read the comments from the link and it sounds like you just open probiotic capsules so when I try I'm going to use what I have on hand. Again, much thanks! Brandy

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:35 pm

This sounds really good Amber. Thanks. Something I discovered when I was making regular yogurt.....my microwave has a sensor temp for reheating leftovers. It stops when it detects steam. It worked perfectly for getting my milk to the 185-190 degrees I needed without bringing it to a boil. If pressed for time it might be a way to speed up the first step. Deb

amberlink09 · Post by **amberlink09** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:40 pm

Yes this is definitely best to try on a weekend. I did it on Sunday with all of my other week cooking. Thanks for the tip about the microwave, I might try that! I started this too late last time and didn't put it to rest until midnight. Of course, this process could also be sped up by using a yogurt maker. I also used to use an electric skillet for SCD yogurt which worked well. I'm in a pretty tiny apartment though and I just have no more room for cooking gadgets!

You can just use probiotic capsules to make the yogurt, I ordered a starter. I think the magic in this is really about the tapioca starch and the agar agar though!

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:15 pm

Thanks for posting this, Amber! I have that bookmarked, and I am glad to know it is as successful as I was hoping!

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:27 pm

Nice!!

One of these days I will try it. Thanks!

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:51 am

This was one of the questions I was going to ask. Has anyone tried making yogurt with coconut milk. Now I know the answer. I have a very busy week but will try it this weekend. Just make sure the milk is not to hot when you add the probiotic or I believe you will kill it.

I recently did some research on yogurt making and found this site. You can order starters there also.

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/media/ ... _eBook.pdf

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:30 pm

I made two quarts of yogurt on Saturday in my crock pot from coconut milk using Yogourmet freeze-dried starter from Sprouts Farmers Market. It is a direct set starter meaning you have to use new starter with every batch you make. It took 10 hours after I put the starter into the milk. Directions that I read said coconut milk takes longer than regular milk.

I tied a string onto a food thermometer and taped the string to the outside of the crock pot so I could monitor the temperature of the milk and keep it at 110 degrees the whole time. I put the pot into a cardboard box and stuffed newspapers around it for more insulation. Then covered it with a large towel. I had the plug pulled outside the box so I could plug it in if needed. Every hour or so I would uncover it and check the temperature. Several times I plugged it in for 10 minutes on warm setting to keep the temperature steady. I set a timer so I wouldn't forget to unplug it. At 6 hours we had to leave as we had tickets to Cirque Du Soleil. I debated what I should do. But I just left it. When we got back at 10 hours, the temperature had dropped to about 85 degrees. I then put it into 10 sterilized cream cheese containers and refrigerated them. The longer it cures the thicker and more tart it will be. Because it had cooled down I could not bring it up to 110 again. I was very pleased with the results.

This morning I ate a half a container and it was very good. I didn't put any fruit in it this morning as I wanted to taste the plain product.

I did not use the agar agar as the above recipe called for. It is a thickener. I did use 6 Tbsp. tapioca starch rather than four. I feel the thermometer is a must. If the milk is warmer than 118 you kill the bacteria and if it gets under a certain temperature is stops working also. Don't remember that number. It was important to keep it between 108 and 112 for the type of starter I used. There are several types of starter and each has somewhat different instructions. The starter I used was recommended for nut milks.

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:03 pm

Y'all amaze me! What creative cooks!

Hugs,

Polly

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:09 pm

Good heavens! I just looked at the comparison chart in the publication chart Charlotte published. Calories in one cup of coconut milk yogurt - 552 with 57 gms of fat. The next highest is full cow's milk at 150 calories, 8 gms of fat.
WOW! I am not making coconut milk yogurt until I loose weight and keep it off (without WD).

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:21 pm

Leslie I saw that too. 552 calories in a cup and thought that can't be right. All I can think of is they based that 552 calories on using all cans of coconut milk which are higher in calories and fat than the cartons.

I was curious so I figured out the calories using the figures from the carton of milk and the two cans that I used and if I figured right I get 141 calories for 6 ounces and 15.7 grams of fat. That is without the small amount of sugar and coconut flour I added. The cans have much higher calories and fat compared to the carton of milk. I don't think the calories are bad but the fat is higher. Tell me it's good fat please.

The purchased cartons of coconut yogurt from Sprouts are 150 calories, 6 grams of fat for 6 oz.

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:05 pm

Charlotte,
As far as I know coconut fat is saturated, therefore, if you are paying attention to cholesterol stuff, not good. I don't care about that anymore since I am not going to curtail what I can eat, nor am I taking statins. So I ignore that.

I have seen the calorie count in the store bought coconut yogurt. There is a huge discrepancy. I would much prefer your figures to be right.

How did the homemade yogurt compare to the store bought?

Post by **tex** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:27 pm

Charlotte,

I wouldn't worry about the coconut fat. Check this out:

Did you know that multiple studies on Pacific Island populations who get 30-60 percent of their total caloric intake from fully saturated coconut oil have all shown nearly non-existent rates of cardiovascular disease?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercol ... 21453.html

and:

Abstract

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is common in India and, recently, an increase in the incidence of CHD was reported from the South Indian state of Kerala. The traditional Indian diet is low in fat content. The high incidence of CHD in Indians is, therefore, in contrast to western studies that have correlated high fat, saturated fat and cholesterol intake to CHD. Consumption of coconut and coconut oil that contain high amounts of saturated fat and are thought to be strongly atherogenic, are believed to be one of the main reasons for the high incidence of CHD in Kerala. To explore this presumed link, we studied 32 CHD patients and 16 age and sex matched healthy controls. Consumption of coconut and coconut oil was found to be similar in both groups. The groups did not differ in the fat, saturated fat and cholesterol consumption. The results imply no specific role for coconut or coconut oil in the causation of CHD in the present set of Indian patients from Kerala. The exact reason for the high and increasing incidence of CHD among Indians is still unknown.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9316363

Tex