Good lord! What did I make?

Had 2 or 3 cups of yogurt mix left over after filling my yogurt maker and decided to try a suggestion from the comments section of "Homemade Yogurt" by using the crockpot on Keep Warm. I put an inch or two of water in the bottom of the pot, put the mason jars of yogurt-to-be in the pot and walked away. In three hours I returned to find a hideous, rubbery, nasty goo bubbling away in the jars. Now that it's cooled, the glubbery mess is separated from clear fluid in the bottom of the jar. What happened? What did I make? Food chemists? What is that?

drkate
  • Posted by: drkate
  • March 7, 2011
  • 3018 views
  • 7 Comments

7 Comments

innoabrd March 8, 2011
When I was in the Peace Corps I made my own yogurt in a thermos. Once, I somehow ended up with cream cheese. No idea how, and never replicated it, but I swear it was just like Philadelphia!
 
susan G. March 7, 2011
Yogurt cheese?
 
Burnt O. March 7, 2011
Congratulations - you made cheese! Agree with panfusine. Rinse it, salt it, wrap it in a couple layers of cheese cloth and put it in a colander with a bowl under it to catch the liquid, and put a big 28 0z can of tomatoes or juice on top of it to squeeze out the excess moisture. It's like paneer, or queso blanco. Crumble it into omelettes, salads, pasta or veggies.
 
aargersi March 7, 2011
Glubbery mess makes me think of Jabba The Hut. Which is not at ALL helpful, but kinda funny!!!
 
Panfusine March 7, 2011
its basically curdled milk.. Depending upon how long the mix has been there (3 hrs) , it probably hasn't got that characteristic Sour smell all that much. If the solid milky part isnt slimy, you could rinse it off in a sieve & use it as a cheese (in lieu of crumbled paneer) in an North Indian dish. I usually use the whey (the clearish liquid) to knead it into dough for Roti. Makes for a really soft texture in the unleavened bread.
 
Greenstuff March 7, 2011
My Miss Muffet guess is that it was too hot, and your curds separated from the whey.
 
nutcakes March 7, 2011
Were these directions posted on food52.com? If so there is a new feature where you can ask at the recipe site, so your foodpickle questions links to the recipe.

Until a food chemist comes along, it just sounds to me like it was cooked too hot and you have curdled milk protein separating from whey. But I don't know anything about it. Just commenting since you have no answers yet.
 
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