yogurt with buttermilk powder

Milk (2% fat), Lucerne brand
Instant powdered milk, from the bulk section
Red Mill buttermilk powder
One 150 g (5.3 ounce) container of Stoneybrook greek style yogurt

I split the milk equally into two similar sauce pans and put them on low heat on the stove. As they warmed up I whisked in a cup of buttermilk powder into one and a cup of powdered milk into the other. I tried to keep the temperatures equal while heating, brought both up to to 180F and held at 180-185F for about 6 minutes. I let both cool on the stovetop to about 118F and added half of the starter to each. I transfered to 1 qt canning jars and incubated in the oven with a 100 watt bulb as the heat source. The oven temp was a steady 110F for the first 2 or 3 hours, but in the morning it had dropped to 103F, which is not too bad. Total incubation time was about 13 hours.

Both batches were noticably thicker than basic yogurt, more solid (especially the powdered milk batch), but not quite the consistency of Fage or other commercial greek style products. The amount of added milk solids I used was less than some recipes I found, so I expect adding more would get you closer to that Fage consistency if that's what you like.

There was a big difference in taste. The powdered milk batch was pretty much like standard yogurt, but thicker. The texture was a tiny bit grainy, but that may be due to my technique, as most of the time it turns out that way for me. But still it was less so than many commercial brands. The flavor was identical to the Stoneybrook used as starter but a bit subdued, possibly due to the relatively short incubation time, small amount of starter, and temperature on the low side.

As for the buttermilk batch, this is something special! Sitting in the fridge is the smoothest yogurt I've ever made. The mouth feel brings to mind a really good creme brulee without the sugar. Perhaps that's because there's some fat (2 g per cup) in buttermilk powder. Or something else. Who cares? The trade off, however, is flavor. The buttermilk batch was noticably milder, but not so much you would call it bland. It could even be a good thing if you like your yogurt on the mellow side.