YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING ITEMS

• A yoghurt maker, or a jar large enough to hold one litre of milk
• A stainless steel pot, or glass jug if planning to heat the milk in a microwave
• A Dairy thermometer
• An esky to put the jar in, or a blanket and a warm spot if you do not have a yoghurt maker
• A whisk

YOUR INGREDIENTS

• Approximately 1 litre of Coconut Cream
• 1 tablespoon or so of sugar or alternative food source for the culture, such as honey.
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of Classic Pectin
• 1 dose of Yoghurt Starter Culture

Note: The amount of culture used for one litre is VERY SMALL.

DIRECTIONS

Pour 1 litre of Coconut Milk/Cream, poured into your yoghurt maker bowl, or saucepan.

Add 1 tablespoon or so of honey/sugar, and mix in thoroughly.

The sugar, honey, agave nectar, maple syrup or golden syrup, is added as a food source for the living culture. If your Coconut Yoghurt is too sweet, you can try reducing the amount, but this is a bit of a balancing act between too sweet, and the culture not having enough complex carbohydrates to eat.

Into this whisk the Classic Pectin, adding the pectin, sprinkled in small amounts on top of the coconut milk/cream.

Pectin added to liquid will clump very easily, so do this carefully, if using sugar as the food for the culture, mix the pectin and the sugar, and this will help make mixing it in easier. The Pectin acts as a thickener, and is essential, although alternative thickeners may be used.

The feedback is that not all pectins work as well as the Classic Pectin, check the ingredients of your pectin, and if there is a list, then any one of those other ingredients may change the outcome. The only ingredient in our Classic Pectin, is pectin.

We have also recently had some feedback that indicates not all coconut milks/creams are created equal, if at first you don’t succeed, I recommend trying different coconut creams.

Bring your mixture to 40° C. Add the culture and mix well.

Maintain the milk mixture between 37° and 43° C for 18-24 hours.

COMMENTS

The firmness and consistency will depend on the amount of pectin used, this can be varied to your personal taste.

You may also have different results depending on the brand of coconut milk/cream used.

This coconut yoghurt, like the almond yoghurt below will have varied results based on the quality of the ingredients, and the amounts used. You should experiment until you have an end result you are happy with … just like we did.

A NOTE ABOUT YOGHURT MAKERS

An electric yoghurt maker will maintain the heat very well, but may creep up in temperature as previously mentioned.

The Electric Yoghurt Maker has been built to maintain the correct temperature range indefinitely.

A thermos style yoghurt maker will have directions on maintaining the heat. The only change required here is that in anEasiYo system for example, you should not fill the external container so high with boiling water, as to have it come in direct contact with the yoghurt container as this may scald, and kill some culture. Just fill it to the level of the hole in the baffle, and this will give you the benefit of a heat reservoir, without risking scalding or killing the culture.

If you do not have a yoghurt maker, then place your jar in an esky and add warm water, but do not have very hot, or boiling water, in direct contact with the jar. You can also wrap your jar in a blanket, and place it in a warm place; on top of the hot water heater works well in my laundry.

CHECKING YOUR YOGHURT

To check if your yoghurt is ready, press a spoon into the surface of the yoghurt and see if the impression of the spoon is left. If so, it is done.

Chill for a few hours, then mix in fruit, jam, or even trail mix, as the yoghurt is served, or eat plain, over homemade apple pie perhaps.

ADDING PROBIOTICS

You can also add a probiotic culture if you wish. This must be done at the same time that you add your yoghurt culture.

CLEANLINESS

As with making any fermented milk products, cleanliness is vital in yoghurt making. Make sure that you thoroughly clean and sterilise all your utensils before using them. By heating milk to 40° C and then keeping it at that temperature you are deliberately creating the perfect environment to grow bacteria. Just be sure that you are only growing the bacteria (starter culture) that you have introduced, and not some other bacteria that blew in on the wind.