Help Line
& Frequently Asked Questions

• How should I store my yoghurt culture ?
• Why do we send two Sterile Jars ?
• My cultures have arrived, but the cooler blocks have melted, and everything feels warm, is this OK ?
• Does the Yoghurt Culture contain any dairy ?
• Does the Yoghurt Culture contain any allergens ?
• Why should I heat the milk to 90° C. ?
• Do I have to add the extra milk powder ?
• Can I use Soy Milk ?
• Do I still heat the Soy Milk to 90° C ?
• How much culture do I use ?
• Can I make Yoghurt with just your culture, or do I have to use the ABC1 Probiotic too ?
• Can I clone more yoghurt from the yoghurt I make with your Yoghurt Culture ?
• Why is there a special Soy Culture (SYAB 1) if regular Yoghurt Culture (Y450 B) works with Soy Milk?
• Why is the Soy Culture (SYAB 1) recommended for lactose free milk ?

 

If you have a question, or require help with your yoghurt making, please call (07) 3133 1673 or email Valerie or David with as much information about your question or problem as possible at valerie@greenlivingaustralia.com.au or sales@greenlivingaustralia.com.au

How should I store my yoghurt culture ?
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The Yoghurt and Pro-Biotic Cultures are freeze dried, and require "long term storage" in freezer.

We supply two sterile jars for storage of the cultures ... please see the next "Frequently Asked Question" for more information regarding this.

Why do we send two Sterile Jars ?
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When a cold item is taken from a freezer, moisture condenses onto it, out of the air. This is true of the opened sterile jar with culture inside.

With Yoghurt Culture and the Probiotic Culture both requiring storage in a freezer, and being so concentrated, the storage jar will be opened many times (if kept only in one jar), before being used up .... It is impossible to keep the culture 100% dry.

We recommend keeping most of the culture in one jar, rarely opened, and have another jar with a small amount of culture in, as your working supply.

This also has a side benefit of reducing the chance of the contamination of the culture. If the working stock does get contaminated, at least the main supply is still OK.

My cultures have arrived, but the cooler blocks have melted, and everything feels warm, is this OK ?
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Yes !! Just store the items "as advised" as soon as possible.

To be honest, most cheese making ingredients and yoghurt cultures are shipped to us from overseas, without any cooling, and we just store the items correctly, once they get to us.

What we wish to avoid is anyone getting their yoghurt or cheese cultures, and storing them in the pantry for many months, without even knowing that they needed to be put in the fridge or freezer.

Perhaps we are "overcompensating" with cooler blocks, and labels all over the place, but we do know someone who kept an unopened cheese kit in a hot pantry for two years.

Does the Yoghurt Culture contain any dairy ?
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Sacco's cheese and yoghurt cultures are grown on a dairy based medium. At the end of propagation, the starter culture cells are physically separated from this medium, then concentrated and freeze-dried. Very little, if any of the dairy component ends up in the final starter culture. However because people with allergies to dairy protein can be sensitive to parts per million (ppm) levels, Sacco cannot guarantee that such levels are not present in their cultures, and therefore declare that all of their cheese and yoghurt cultures may contain traces of dairy.

Sacco has just introduced a specialist Soy Culture, actually grown on a Soy base, so as not to contain any dairy at all.

Does the Yoghurt Culture contain any allergens ?
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We have recieved an "Allergen Declaration" from Sacco, who supply our Yoghurt and Pro-biotic cultures.

This document is in relation to the "dairy cultures" and not the SYAB1 Soy culture, and can be downloaded ... HERE ...

Why should I heat the milk to 90° C. ?
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Heating the milk to 90° C for a short time breaks down a protein in milk, enabling the culture to do its work better, making a thicker heartier yoghurt.

If using UHT milk, there is no need to do this as it has already been done as part of the "Ultra Heat Treatment", that UHT stands for.

Do I have to add the extra milk powder ?
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Adding the extra milk powder simply gives the culture more lactose and dairy protein to "eat", this makes the yoghurt thicker and heartier without adding extra thickeners, such as agar-agar or gelatin.

If you wish to make a thinner "drinking yoghurt" simply leave out the milk powder.

Can I use Soy Milk ?
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Yes you can use the Y450B dairy grown culture, but soy milk is low in both protein and sugars, so these need to be added. We have successfully made 1 litre batches of "Soy Yoghurt" by adding 30 grams of Soy Protein and 30 grams of Glucodin .... which are both available on the supermarket shelf.

Our next batch of soy yoghurt will be made with more protein, just to see how this goes .... you too can change the recipe to your personal tastes, just remember to write down what you do, so you can repeat your successes, and avoid any disasters.

You can now also use Sacco's speciallity Soy Culture ... SYAB1 This culture has specifically selected strains of culture chosen for their effectivenes when used with Soy Milk. This culture also works effectively with lactose free milk.

Do I still heat the Soy Milk to 90° C ?
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No. Simply mix the soy protein and Glucodin into the soy milk, and bring the temperature up to 40° C, and add the culture. Then keep your inoculated soy milk warmed to around 40° for about 12 hours, and when it has turned into a nice thick yoghurt refrigerate.

How much culture do I use ?
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Since the sachet holds enough culture for 80 to 100 litres of Yoghurt, you only need a very small amount.

We recommend opening the sachet when you are about to make your first yoghurt. Bring the sachet to room temperature first, this should only take a few minutes, and reduces the effect of condensation causing some of the culture to stick to the inside of the sachet. Cut all the way across the top of the sachet, then concertina it and pour the culture into the sterile jar supplied. Estimate 1/10^th of the contents, and place into the second jar, this becomes your "working supply", label both jars and store in the feezer.

Your "working supply", being being approximately 1/10^th of the original supply of culture, will make approximately 10 litres of yoghurt.

If you have the mini measuring spoons, place all of the culture in one jar, and spoon it across to the other jar ... try the Smidgen. Count the number of spoons, and divide that into 100 ... If, for example you get 10 Smidgens, spoon one Smidgen back into the now empty jar, this becomes your 'working stock' and you should get about 10 batches of yoghurt out of that jar

Can I make Yoghurt with just your culture, or do I have to use the ABC1 Probiotic too ?
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Yes you can use just the Yoghurt Culture to make yoghurt ..... the ABC1 Probiotic is to be used in addition to the culture for those people wishing for an end product that is Probiotic

Can I clone more yoghurt from the yoghurt I make with your Yoghurt Culture ?
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Yes you can clone your next few batches of the yoghurt you make from the yoghurt you make with our culture .... although our culture is only about 20 cents per batch including cost of the culture, and the postage, so is very economical.

Why is there a special Soy culture (SYAB 1) if regular Yoghurt Culture (Y450 B) works with Soy Milk ?
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The Y450 B culture is made on a dairy base, and while it is seperated from the dairy base, there may be the odd molecule of dairy left behind, and some people are so allergic to dairy, this is enough to be a serious issue.

Other people such as Vegans just wish to avoid dairy altogether.

Why is the Soy Culture (SYAB 1) recommended for lactose free milk ?
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Yoghurt and cheese cultures are "lactic cultures", this means they "eat" the lactose in the milk to make a lactic acid, and of course the whole point of lactose free milk ... is just that ... there is no lactose.

The SAYB1 Soy based culture is slightly differrent in it's action, and from our own experimentation we have had great results with lactose free milk.