The Ultimate Probiotic Yogurt Maker is not only the perfect device for dairy yogurts, but you can also make delicious plant-based yogurts!
Plant-based yogurt can be trickier than dairy yogurt. This is because different plant milks and creams can have different amounts of water, fat and protein. Plant-based products can also have preservatives, emulsifiers and other ingredients that can interrupt the culturing process.
With this in mind, there are a few more things to take note of when making plant-based yogurts, but if you follow our recipes exactly, you can make a delicious yogurt.
To make your plant-based yogurt, you will have to use a plant-based yogurt starter. These have different probiotics than dairy starters that will work best for plant-based yogurts.
When selecting a starter culture for plant-based yogurt, opt for one that contains:
Multiple strains of bacteria from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains.
Strains made to be used with plant milks.
It is best to use a specialist plant milk yogurt starter for optimal results, however, we do have some recipes for making specific probiotics in plant-based yogurts.
Yes, it is possible to use a portion of a previous batch as a starter for your new batch of yogurt. However, using a fresh starter culture each time can help ensure more consistent results in terms of texture and flavor.
Making plant-based yogurt can be trickier than dairy yogurt. This is because different plant milks have different ingredients, proportions and ferment different probiotics. It is very important when making plant-based yogurts that you use good quality plant milk with the right ingredients and you are using the right probiotics. Using the wrong plant-based milks can leave you with watery and runny yogurt.
When choosing a plant milk to make yogurt from, consider the following:
Taste: Plant milks have varying flavors that will carry through to the finished yogurt, so it’s important to use a milk you like the taste of.
Sufficient body for fermentation: Many store-bought plant milks contain over 90% water, which makes thin or jelly-like yogurt. Look for plant milks that have more than 2% fat and protein.
Preservatives: Plant-Based milks can often have preservatives. These interrupt the culturing process of your yogurt. The most common preservatives in plant milks are: potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, calcium disodium EDTA, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and citric acid. Make sure your plant-based milk doesn’t have any of these ingredients.
Fortifying options: If you want to use milk that doesn’t have enough fat and protein, or you prefer thicker yogurts, try fortifying your milk. You can do this by blending in extra nuts, seeds or nut/seed flours or by adding coconut cream to your milk.
Because of all of this, for each of the recipes we will have recommended milks. Using these milks will ensure your yogurt turns out nicely.
When culturing plant based yogurts, be sure to use plant based probiotics. For each recipe, we will suggest the probiotics that we think work best.