Yogurt Starter Cultures - Pack of 12 Freeze-dried Culture Sachets for Bifido Yogurt (12)

I’ve bought two boxes of Bifido yogurt starter culture and made many batches of yogurt either with a starter envelope or with yogurt made with a starter envelope; the first box consistently produced excellent results. I bought a 2nd box in August 2022 through Amazon (expiry of July 2024) and used the first envelope this week and … nothing. The milk was still milk in my yogurt maker 8 hours later. Used fresh milk, sterilized all my equipment, boiled the milk to the standard temp and cooled before adding the starter … did everything as I always do. Thought, well, there has to be a first failure for everything; tried again, same results. Thinking I got a “bum box”, I wrote to the company to describe the issue; they responded quickly and thoughtfully, working with me to find an acceptable solution. Ultimately it wasn’t clear if the starter was in fact ineffective or if it was my process at fault; however, the company acted in good faith and refunded my money. I would recommend this product and this business.

This product (my recipe below) contains healthful cultures my research says you should be eating, especially during and after oral antibiotics. These starters are super dependable in my hands. There are instructions for re-use, but I use new cultures each batch. Even so, it gives me better than store yogurt at less than half the price. I use the yogurt in everything from cereal to smoothies and as a topping. I use a gallon of this yogurt every few weeks. If you are what you eat, I'm now cultured. I boil each gallon 1% milk with 2 cups nonfat dry milk and 2T gelatin. I use organic milk when available. When temp drops to 114F, mix in well two envelopes culture and keep 105-114F 7h. Perfect sterility not required but I am careful not to contaminate it. If you like tartness, you can leave it at room temp overnight. I prefer it within an hour or two of completion. To check if it's finished, you can see the yogurt has withdrawn a little from the whey and acts solid on tilting the culture vat. After testing it set (it always has for me), I scoop into quart take-out containers and refrigerate. At this point, it is heavenly. My worst batch, I used slightly sour milk. Yogurt was more goopy than usual, faintly butyric acidy, but still better than store bought.

If you get your conditions standard, you can have a routinely good product. Change anything and your product quality may vary widely. These are good probiotic strains. Of course, I have no way of knowing what's in the sachets. Also, I generally add a new sachet and 2-3T set aside from the prior batch to my 8 liters 1% milk with gelatin and powdered milk; the culture grows faster with prior batch added, it doesn't consume as much starter (using 1 instead of 2 sachets), and takes many more cycles before product is unpleasantly acid.

Why the yogurt is not smooth? looks lumpy, I use the yogurt maker to make it, tried another yogurt starter, it was good. Then changed to this one, but the result is not good. Someone can answer my question?

This culture makes exceptional yogurt if you prefer mild flavor. NOT tart. Very smooth. My recipe: Add two scoops of dried milk powder to a gallon of whole milk, mix thoroughly; heat to 175F-185F for several hours, NO HIGHER. This cooking relaxes the proteins and does much more than merely kill bad bacteria. Cool rapidly in an ice water bath to 110F. Add the culture. I also add a cup of honey per gallon. Let ferment for 1-2 hours. This allows the bacteria to proliferate throughout the milk and dissolve better. Then, decant into serving containers and continue curing at 110F for 8-24 hours. I use a countertop roaster oven. Refrigerate. Enjoy!