Essential guide to yogurt starters and yogurt makers in Australia

Yogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.

No matter how you spell it, here’s my guide to making your own at home.

You can make home-made yogurt with goat, sheep or cows milk and select your own live cultures for fermentation. It is also possible to make yogurt from coconuts, soy and nut milks. Yogurt needs to incubate for 24 hours or more so that the fermenting bacteria consumes all of the lactose and therefore is easier to digest.

There are two ways to start off making yoghurt at home. The first way is to use a store-bought yogurt and the second is a yogurt starter.

Yogurt

This Australian yogurt is suitable for your first batch:

• Farmers Union Greek-style natural yogurt (contains bifidus)

Yogurt Starters – Australia

Yoghurt starter contains cultures of bacteria that are used to inoculate the milk and begin the fermentation. The bacteria to look for in a yoghurt starters are:

• Lactobacillus bulgaricus
• Streptococcus thermophilus
• Lactobacillus acidophilus (optional)

Here are some of the safe yogurt starters available in Australia:

• GI ProStart Dairy Free Yogurt Starter by Gi Pro Health is available from GAPS Australia. It is sent in cold pack.
• Yogurt culture by Green Living Australia
• Natren Yoghurt Starter available direct from Natren. You can also find it in the fridge at Mrs Flannerys Natural Grocers.
• Yogurt kits by My City Garden, includes instructions for making a vegan coconut yogurt

Here are some of the safe yogurt starters available overseas:

• Natren Yogurt Starter, 1.75-Ounce
• GI ProStart – non-dairy
• Culture Starter by Body Ecology

Yogurt Makers – Australia

Your yoghurt maker needs to be designed to maintain the ideal temperature for making SCD and GAPS yoghurt. It also needs to be able to ferment for 24 hours.

There are two suitable yogurt maker available in Australia:

• Yogurt maker from GAPS Diet Australia
• Electric Yoghurt Maker from Green Living Australia

Some people use their dehydrator to make yogurt.

If you are overseas look out for the Yogourmet electric yogurt maker (available from Amazon with starters, or Lucy’s Kitchen Shop).

Note: If you are following the SCD, then it is sometimes recommended to avoid the Bifidus strain as it may cause a strong die-off reaction.