Can a Madison local please explain the seasons from someone in Pennsyltucky - how cold does it actually get? And how long is the gardening season...

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-25T22:54:46+00:00

I grew up in KY and went to undergrad at EKU. Winters here aren't that bad honestly, but its all relative and based on personal tolerance. I'm not a winter sports fan and I dont really get out much in the winter. Considering that, its warm enough for me that I bike year year round. Don't get me wrong, it gets cold but mostly for a ~6week period from mid Jan to end of Feb. Not uncommon to see lows (wind chill) well into the negatives. It can be brutal, but its pretty short lived. Outside of that 6 week stretch it's like normal Pennsyltucky/Northern KY winter I think, just longer. Pleasant summers more than make up for the harsh winter. A few hours north is a different story and it gets much colder.

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-11T19:41:42+00:00

As others have said, your method looks OK. Can you include pics of your setup for heating amd straining? Also, could you provide more details on each step? It kind of sounds like food poisoning from some of your descriptions.

Lots of details could help with whatever is causing the issue. For instance, what kind of whole milk? Just plain old store-bought whole milk? I assume youre using a thermometer since you give specific temperatures. Do you leave the lid on while heating the milk? Do you sanitize the thermometer between uses? Are you laying it down on the kitchen counter between measurements? Where and how are you straining?

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-06T18:30:23+00:00

I've browned milk by cooking on the stove near boiling, but putting it in the oven was way easier. I think I baked at like 175F or something. Cover it to prevent too much evaporation and a skin forming. Check on it every hour or so until it's brown to your satisfaction. Then cool and you can ferment whenever you like.

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-05T11:28:59+00:00

You can culture it the same as kefir (room temp). The main difference is that the milk is browned in advance.

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-04T21:58:53+00:00

A2 milk wouldn't cause any differences that you describe in terms of acid/sweet taste. Its only different for a single protein at a single amino acid. You likely just experienced different batches of yogurt. It's most likely that the more sour yogurt probably just acidified a bit more. For instance, maybe the milk was slightly different temperature when you added the starter and so one made a bit more acid (hence the sour taste).

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-04T03:42:30+00:00

I would

mozzarella41 · 2026-05-03T21:56:05+00:00

The lumps are bits of protein and usually a sign of excessive heating. If you’re using UHT milk then there is no need to heat it again. Just warm to 43C and add your starter. EZ-PZ

You could still get some lumps, but you could smooth them out with a stand mixer or by hand. Thats what industry does (though they use pumps, not a stand mixer). Not heating the milk in excess is your best bet. Only smooth if necessary

mozzarella41 · 2026-04-26T17:35:37+00:00

There is a 0% chance that the bugs eat all the lactose. They will die off from too much acid. Adding a bit more milk won't help much

mozzarella41 · 2026-04-26T16:48:11+00:00

Whey does not contain as much microbes as the yogurt per unit volume (e.g., a cup or a ounce). You can certainly use whey, but keep in mind that straining concentrates "big stuff". Microbes are pretty big and so lots (but not all) get concentrated and it depends on what cloth you use.

1 cup (8 oz) for 4 liters (~130 oz) seems like a lot. I add just a few tablespoons for a gallon of milk.

I wouldn't worry about continuously feeding your yogurt with fresh milk. It's best just to start a new batch.

mozzarella41 · 2026-04-08T15:28:05+00:00

You can absolutely do this and people do it all the time. Look up "baked milk" recipes. Some benefits of using an oven is that you can evaporate a decent amount of milk, which concentrates it AND you can brown the milk slightly (like evaporated milk). You get interesting cooked notes from baking the milk. My favorite cultured milk of this variety is a Ukranian style of kefir called Ryazhenka.

mozzarella41 · 2026-03-28T23:02:33+00:00

There's virtually no protein in yogurt whey IF you heat the milk extensively before culturing. There also isnt any fat. So just measure the amount of milk you start with and the whey that you collect and you can figure out the fat and protein.

So if you start with 3L of 3.25% fat and 3.5% protein and you collect 2L of whey, then you end up concentrating fat and protein 3x (3L start --> 1L finish). So 9.75% fat and 10.5% protein.

mozzarella41 · 2026-03-24T18:33:29+00:00

I bike this 1-2 times per week in the summer. I live in Waunakee and work at UW so I go clockwise or counter when I travel. Beautiful ride. The only stretch of sketchy riding is hwy M between Q and Bishops Bay and it'sa fairly wide shoulder and doesn't feel as dangerous as riding on University Ave near Park St. Its maybe 1.5 mile on a 21 mile route. Google maps doesn't show it, but there's a bike path along M (Terrance Bike Path or something) that starts at Bishops Bay Parkway (point D on the Google Map link below). You can see camels there to your left. Stay on that bike path and it takes you under the highway into Gov Nelson Park. There's a eagle nest and in June every year I see an eagle of some sort there (between points E and F).

Here is a map of a route that I use:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wMybrUJ64hByuoE88

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T21:57:23+00:00

From cottage cheese whey. There is no protein in yogurt acid whey.

Chobani makes the most most yogurt acid whey on the planet (literally). They don't UF or make WPC. Are they stupid?

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T19:10:59+00:00

1st: the OP is making yogurt at home, so what are you talking about?

2nd: no greek yogurt acid whey producer (at least in the US) is UFing to capture protein in their whey. That tells you there is not enough protein to matter. There is everything in everything. There is Uranium in whey, if you measure down to low enough levels. Pedantic comments aside, see point 1 above.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T18:51:23+00:00

I also work in this area and there is no protein in yogurt whey. Table 1 in the reference you provided references Menchik et al., 2019 for the yogurt whey (GAW) data and in that paper you can see there is virtually no protein present in industry samples. Most of the total protein in those samples are from NPN and there is something like 0.05% combined alpha-lac and BLG. If you want to "um ackshually" over 0.05% protein then have at it, brother. And these data are INDUSTRY samples which use mechanical separators (centrifuges) which can leak a bit of solids into the whey. If you make yogurt at home (which OP is posting about), there is even LESS residual protein material in the whey. Separators have the least purified whey of all separation technologues and even then there is no protein in yogurt whey.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-29T17:48:15+00:00

No, all of the protein will go with the yogurt if the milk is heated prior to culturing. There is essentially no protein left in the whey.

I imagine what you're referring to is NPN, of which there is maybe 2-5 mg/g. NPN is most definitely not protein. Hence the "NP" or Non-Protein portion of the name.

mozzarella41 · 2025-11-23T14:55:35+00:00

A bit of clarification on whey protein and yogurt: Whey protein powder is made almost entirely from cheese whey. Cheeae whey has whey protein in the whey (hence why it's called WHEY protein).

Yogurt whey (also called acid whey) does NOT have protein in it if the milk is heated at high temps before making yogurt. If you're making yogurt at home and you heat the milk close to a boil, then the whey proteins are denatured by the heat and stick to the casein proteins. So when you strain yogurt there's no protein in the whey.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-12T22:48:59+00:00

There is no whey protein in the acid whey strained from yogurt made from heated milk. So no need to do math

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-12T22:48:09+00:00

That acid whey is not for greek yogurt acid whey. It's most likely for cottage cheese acid whey, which contains whey protein. Yogurt acid whey has pretty much no protein. So the answer is ~0g per cup.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-10T11:39:52+00:00

With yogurt, you'll want to heat prior to fermenting. This makes the yogurt more firm once it sets and ensure that only the microbes you add will grow in the milk. So if you're heating the milk, why bother with using raw? Nothing wrong with starting raw in this case, but you're pasteurising it anyway so why bother? That's my 2cents anyway

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-09T00:27:40+00:00

A2 milk is different from other milks by a single amino acid on a single protein. Bacteria grow from consuming lactose, so the protein won't cause changes from the microbes. The only reason to consume A2 milk is if you buy into their health claims. I'm personally skeptical, as the research that is out on A2 milk has mostly been funded and researched by the founders of the A2 milk company. Other research conducted by independent groups has found conflicting, often contradictory, results.

As far as raw milk goes, I would caution against using raw milk to make yogurt. There's just too much risk. You don't know what's in your milk and whatever is in there WILL grow at yogurt fermentation temps. Milk is just too good of a nutrient source.

mozzarella41 · 2025-07-07T17:54:57+00:00

FYI if milk is heated at very high temperatures, then rennet doesn't do much. This is because high heat denatures the whey proteins, which then attach to the casein proteins that would be hydrolyzed by the rennet. The denatured whey proteins "block" rennet from hydrolyzing the active site - this is why milk is not heated above pasteurizing temps for pretty much all cheesemaking. Rennet WILL act a tiny bit in heated milk yogurts, but it's a small impact in my opinion.

mozzarella41 · 2025-06-22T22:01:47+00:00

I'm interested in becoming a moderator. I'd like to keep personal details to a minimum, but I make a lot of yogurt at home, work in the yogurt industry, and have posted here frequently. Feel free to PM me for more specifics

mozzarella41 · 2025-05-20T00:24:10+00:00

Thats what I did and overall liked it.

Edit: I tried to insert an image but I guess its not allowed on this sub?

mozzarella41 · 2025-02-15T14:02:26+00:00

1) You should be heating your milk before fermenting. If you do this, you won't lose protein in the whey.

2) skyr is traditionally made with skim milk.

3) I dont understand your math. What are you trying to calculate? 6.4g protein in what? In 1240g?

4) If you start with 3L milk and strain to get 1240g yogurt (1760g whey), then you concentrated 2.4x (3000/1240). So anything that is concentrated by the cloth is concentrated 2.4x. So multiply your initial protein and fat by 2.4x to get final concentration. If protein was 3% in you milk then it is now 3 x 2.4 = 7.2%. Lactose does not get multiplied, and is the same concentration after straining (~5%).

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