Comments on: Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt

By: Dawn Gifford

Dawn Gifford — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:47:09 +0000

Coconut milk yogurt is naturally thinner than store-bought yogurt, and is often thin enough to be drinkable.

The way nondairy yogurt can be thickened (without the guar gum, tapioca starch, etc. used in store-bought nondairy yogurts) is to use powdered pectin (if you can tolerate it), pureed young coconut meat, agar agar, or other natural thickeners until it is as thick as you want it to be.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:15:21 +0000

My first batch was way too watery. There may be two culprits (1) I used my son’s probiotic powder which didn’t work so I will invest in GI Pro Starter. (2) You specified 95-105 degrees for incubation but I used my Euro Cuisine YM100 yogurt machine which heats up to temperatures of 104°F – 118°F (which is PERFECT for milk based yogurt). My machine works really well with Euro Cuisine Yogurt Starter and YoGourmet Yogurt Starter, but I’m wondering if it is too hot for probiotics? Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

By: Dawn Gifford

Dawn Gifford — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:28:07 +0000

Thanks for your comment! I have found that it indeed takes at least 12 hours to ferment the coconut milk to a true yogurt, but you can test it yourself and take some out early to see what works for you. The beauty of fermented food is that it is both an art and a science. Enjoy!

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:02:18 +0000

Thank you for this recipe! I used to make a ton of whole fat yogurt for my so until I discovered he was allergic to both milk and soy. He is okay with store bought coconut milk yogurt so I’d love to make it at home for him. With regular milk yogurt, I used to incubate for ~7 hours but I noticed your instructions call for 24-29 hours. Does it really require that long? My yogurt machine has a timer so I’ll have to reset it halfway through.

By: Dawn Gifford

Dawn Gifford — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:54:02 +0000

Indeed, the added real sugar is absolutely necessary for coconut milk yogurt. Milk is already full of sugar–lactose–which is what the probiotic bacteria feed on, which ferments the yogurt. Coconut milk has very little of its own sugar, so you need to add a bit extra to feed the bacteria and get it to ferment. Nearly all of the honey or maple syrup (DON’T use agave for this!) you use will have been consumed by the bacteria by the time you eat the yogurt though, so don’t worry!

Thanks for commenting!!

By: ronna

ronna — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:04:21 +0000

I can’t wait to try this recipe. I recently made the jump to no dairy after making my own yogurt for years. Is the sweetner absolutely necessary when using coconut milk? I am also trying to cut out ALL sweetners – even honey, agave, stevia, etc.

A couple of hints I’d like to share:
#1: I use a “trouble light” in my oven – with a 75-watt light bulb. Between that and the oven light itself, it maintains a perfect 110 -115 degrees. I don’t know what I’ll do when incandescent bulbs are finally illegal!!

#2: The starter will grow weaker with subsequent batches. I spoon out 2-tablespoon dollops onto a cookie sheet, freeze them and store in a zip-loc baggie. You sacrifice about 8 ounces of yogurt this way but can use it as starter for about 10 subsequent batches! When you run out of the original frozen dollops, start another batch with new starter.

By: Dawn Gifford

Dawn Gifford — Thu, 20 May 2010 23:10:05 +0000

Thanks for sharing your tips! Fermentation is as much an art as a science…

You can also use pectin, agar agar or young coconut meat to thicken the yogurt, blending it like you did with the konjac to remove lumps before refrigeration.

Best,
Dawn
Small Footprint Mama

By: michelle

michelle — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:24:44 +0000

I just started trying this and my first batch was a complete disaster. I was so concerned with keeping the milk at the right temperature and letting it sit long enough to get thick that I went overkill. I think I killed most of the bugs and it got very tart. I was also experimenting with stevia and added too much. However, after some more reseach I have overcome those problems.
To keep the right temperature, I put my two quart jars wrapped in towels inside a stock pot. I also add the water I used to sterilize the milk jars since still warm in two other quart jars wrapped in towels. (the bottom of the stock pot also is lined with a towel) I put the lid on the pot and place it in my oven after removing all but one rack placed on the lowest shelf. To monitor the temperature inside the pot, I use a meat thermometer that has a cord plugged into the outside unit. This keeps my yogurt about 108F for at least 12 hours. If you are having trouble keeping the temperature up you can turn on the light.
To tackle the thickness issue I added Konjac flour to the 4 cans of coconut milk to act as a thickner. I used 3 teaspoons. I am still trying to perfect the best addition method to avoid lumps, but after my last batch had cooled in the fridge I put it all in the food processor. The result was awesome. It became very creamy with no lumps.
The Konjac flour is also food for the probiotics and is 100% soluble fiber. It is a great way to add extra fiber. I used just 3 pinches of stevia for the 4 cans of coconut milk. Now I just pull out what I want to eat and flavor it with one of my many extracts. Orange Creamcicle is my favorite. My husband and 4-year old son also love it.
I hope this helps and I hope to see more tips from people as I continue to perfect my process.

By: Jeff R

Jeff R — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:15:34 +0000

Here’s a link on how to make fresh coconut milk. There are also pages on opening coconuts and removing the meat: http://www.thenaughtyvegan.com/how-to-make-coconut-milk.htm

By: Dawn Gifford

Dawn Gifford — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:25:25 +0000

Wilderness Naturals has been out of stock on the tetra pak for so long now that I either make my own from mature coconut meat or I use Native Forest coconut milk, which comes in a BPA-free can! Happy fermenting!!

-Dawn