Robert Poor’s Weblog

I’ve been remiss in describing the outcome of the previous batch.  Here it is:

Taste Tests

• Sample 081017 A: 800 ml goat milk.  At first I was hopeful for this, but for whatever reason, it didn’t set.  It was slightly thicker than the original milk out of the carton, but not much.  Perhaps goat’s milk is too acidic?  This requires some research.  Confession: I didn’t bother to taste it.
• Sample 081017 B: 800 ml Kirkland Vanilla Soy milk.  As mentioned in the previous post, the Soy Milk did set nicely, which I would have predicted if I’d done some research.  It’s texture is a little different than cow milk — it tends to form larger chunks, but not in a bad way.  Truth of the matter is that I don’t like  soy milk as much as cow milk.  Perhaps I’ll teach myself to like it.
• Sample 081017 C: 800 ml water, 3/4 cups powdered milk.  When I first tasted the powdered milk batch, I really didn’t like it as much as regular milk: it had a subtle “burned” taste to it, which is probably part of the process of making milk into powder, so I relegated it to the back of the fridge.  But when my regular yogurt samples ran low after two weeks, I brought this one out and tasted it.  Surprisingly, the burned taste had faded, so this ended up being perfectly good.  See my note below about the economics of using powdered milk over regular milk, though.
• Sample 081017 D: 800 ml 1% Trader Joe’s Organic Milk, 1/4 cup powered milk.  This one was regular milk with some powdered milk added.  It may have been a little thicker than the other samples, but I would not promise that.
• Sample 081017 E: 800 ml 1% Kirkland Organic Milk.  Good, everyday yogurt.
• Sample 081017 F: 800 ml 1% Kirkland Organic Milk.  Ditto.
• Sample 081017 G: 800 ml 1% Trader Joe’s Organic Milk.  Ditto.  I couldn’t detect any difference between samples E, F (with Kirkland milk) from samples G, H (with Trader Joe’s milk).
• Sample 081017 H: 800 ml 1% Trader Joe’s Organic Milk.  Ditto.

Note on the economics of using powdered milk versus whole milk

In local supermarkets, a gallon of 1% organic milk costs between $5.00 (on a good day) and $6.00.  I’ve been purchasing it for about $5.50.

A 12 oz bag of Organic Valley Nonfat Dry Milk costs about $7.00, and has about 40 tablespoons.  Although the ordinary directions call for 3 tablespoons per 8 ounces, they also suggest using “4-5 tablespoons for a richer taste.”  If we use the metric that 40 tablespoons makes ten 8 ounce servings (80 ounces), that’s just 5/8 of a gallon for $7.00.  If we made a full gallon, it would cost us $11.20 to make a full gallon.  Not a particularly good bargain.

On the other hand, it is possible to buy powdered milk in bulk.  But even then, the prices I see aren’t particularly good: Amazon (HerbalLoveShop.com ?!?) sells 5 lbs for $36.  If 12 ounces of dry milk makes 5/8 gallons of liquid milk, then 5 lbs (80 ounces) will make 4.16 gallons of liquid milk.  That’s still much more expensive than buying a gallon for $6.00.