I have been wanting to make my own plant based yogurt for years, and finally got to it, and am loving this new addition to my list of great things to eat! While one can make plant based yogurt from a variety of things, I decided to go with soy milk for the highest protein with lowest fat content, and while it may take a bit of experimenting, once you make that first really great batch you will be hooked! Who wants to buy factory made, not so great tasting food when you can make it yourself with not that much effort? Keep on reading for the exact recipe, what I learned by trial and error and what supplies I use.
What Kind Of Equipment Do I Need?
You need the following tools:
• a pot to boil the soy milk
• an immersion food thermometer
• a yogurt maker, instant pot, or way to keep yogurt at a warm temperature for 12 hours (some folks can do that in their oven) I have been using an inexpensive (about 120 shekels ordered from China) yogurt incubator which is basically a rectangular container that sits in a bath of water whose temperature and number of hours is regulated digitally. The only downside to this is that it makes a quantity (can use about 1.5 liters of soy milk) that would be small for a family, but great for just me for a week’s worth.
All About Yogurt Starter:
• There are a number of powdered yogurt starters on the market, but you don’t need to buy one! I also did not see one that was both kosher and non-dairy, so that ruled out that.
• You can use store bought yogurt to make your own yogurt (which is what I did at first, with not great success) but yogurt made that way can only be saved 3 or 4 times for future batches, (since apparently the bacteria is not strong enough having been industrially processed) so not recommended
• Use probiotic capsules for your first batch and then use a few tablespoons from your previous batch for every future batch. I used lactobacillus acidophilus capsules as they were readily available in a kosher variety
All About Soy Milk:
• Choose soy milk that is organic and with as few ingredients as possible, meaning preferably only water and soy, and definately not sugar. If you can find high protein soy milk, great!
• The first brand I used did not produce great yogurt, the second brand (Harduf brand in Israel) does continue to perform really well, and I realized it might be because the successful brand has half the amount of salt!
• Yes, you can make your own soy milk if you like, I’ll get there!
Recipe For Homemade Soy Yogurt From Soy Milk:
- Using capsules: Open 4 capsules lactobacillis acidophilis or other probiotic (assuming standard strength around 2.4 billion CFUs each) per 1 liter (4 cups) of soy milk.
- Using loose powder: Use about 1 teaspoon of pure acidophilus powder per 1 liter of liquid.
- 1 liter of organic soy milk with as few additives as possible and no sugar
- 1 tablespoon silan for first few batches
How To And Tips for Making Soy Milk Yogurt
• For first batches use no more than 1 liter soy milk to avoid waste.
• Boil soy milk for 20 minutes, just barely boiling, and stir frequently to avoid a huge balloon (it happened, yikes) or too much of a skin.
• For first few batches add a tablespoon of silan to help bacteria improve their strength. This results is slightly brown yogurt which is less appetizing, so you may opt to discontinue this practice and sweeten when eating if desired.
- Temperature: Cool your boiled or heated soy milk down to 38°C–42°C (100°F–108°F) before stirring in the acidophilus powder. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the bacteria. For future batches only add yogurt starter at no more than 45C temperature, and bring yogurt starter to room temp before adding to hot milk.
- Incubation: Keep the mixture warm at around 38°C–42°C for 8 to 15 hours (using a yogurt maker, an Instant Pot, or a warm oven/proofer) until it sets. DO NOT touch the yogurt while it is setting, meaning up until 10 hours or so, as this can prevent it from setting, this happened to me and I got soupy yogurt. After roughly 12 hours (this is how long I incubate mine) taste your yogurt and see if you like the taste, and if so halt the incubation period by placing container in the fridge.
- Cooling Time: Yogurt should be placed in the fridge for at least six hours to cool and firm up just a bit.
- Save starter: Once your first batch is ready, reserve 2 tablespoons of the finished soy yogurt to use as the starter culture for your next liter—you won’t need to use fresh capsules again for future batches. This starter can even be frozen.
- Yogurt Taste: The first few batches may not taste amazing, but were still better than the store bought yogurt. After about 4 or so batches the yogurt will start to taste much better, trust me!
Do your research, though my guidelines will be great for starting out, and hopefully you’ll be making delicious homemade soy yogurt in no time! It is truly worth the small effort.
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