Slim [and others] question..How to Be Dairy Free....

[Guest guest]

, " Thia .... " <bipolyf wrote:

>

> What is piima?

>

 

Various discussion and sources are around the web, if you want to

google. I'm using the " Fermented Treasures " piima culture. Although

the people there have a definite " anti-soy " viewpoint, something like

a prejudice you can too often find among dairy people. Their culture

works really well, anyway.

 

Discussion, according to:

 

http://www.thesoydailyclub.com/SFC/dairy48.asp

 

HISTORY OF SOYMILK PIIMA AND VIILI

 

Piima and viili are two traditional cultured dairy milk products,

which have long been very popular in Finland. ... The earliest known

published reference to piima was by Linnaeus in 1737, when he took a

trip to north Sweden and Lapland. ...

 

The earliest known attempt to make these Finnish cultured foods using

soymilk dates from 1978, when Pat Connolly, who had long been selling

piima starter culture in the U.S. (La Mesa, California), made soymilk

piima at home, using a recipe for soymilk from The Book of Tofu. She

reported in a letter to Shurtleff that soymilk piima was ready sooner

than dairy milk piima, had a thicker and better consistency, and was

liked by all who tasted it; 1-2 tablespoons of piima per pint of

soymilk were incubated at about 27°C (80°F). Thereafter she advertised

that her starter could be used to make good soymilk piima.

 

http://www.fermentedtreasures.com/yogurt.html

http://www.fermentedtreasures.com/yogurt2.html#item3

http://www.moonwiseherbs.com/wildedibles,piimaand%20kefir.htm

 

" Piima powder, for culturing fresh milk, may be ordered by sending a

check or money order for $5.00 to Piima, PO Box 2614, La Mesa, CA

91943-2614. " -- No idea if this is still available, this sale was

started by Pat Conolly, I believe, and if still active might be a bargain.

 

> I tried making yogurt with almond milk once.....it didn't look right

[*lots*

> of separation], and frankly I was afraid to taste it! lol.

 

Separation looks gross, but it's actually a natural process (in soy

anyway) used to make tofu, separating the whey (yellow) and the white

precipitate tofu. In a way it lets you know your culture is working,

creating acid, similar to proofing yeast. But the separation is why I

need to add the pectin to my soy yogurt to make it hold together and

stick. The best recipe and discussion for making soy yogurt I've found

is here:

 

http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/593386.htm

 

>I used ....

> commercial almond milk, and am thinking that the thickening I did

achieve

> may have been from the carrageenan more than the culture, but not

sure. May

> try again with home made almond milk.

 

 

I think the carageenan in commercial soymilk is the reason many can

make soy yogurt without putting other stabilizers in the milk. The

pectin people brag that they can gel water, so you should be able to

follow a similar procedure to hold together almond milk too, with

pectin. My soy milk yogurt doesn't set until refrigerated. So a tip is

to mix the culture, even if separated after fermentation, pour it into

smaller containers, then put these in the freezer for 45 minutes to

quickly bring the temperature down before the liquid can separate

again, so the pectin can work.

 

I use 5-7 grams per liter of the low-methoxyl (no-sugar calcium-set)

pectin with my soymilk. I get a uniform, semi-solid gelled result,

like a custard-pudding that cleaves and clings to the spoon, that is

one of my favorite things to eat. But it doesn't quite compare in

taste and mouth texture to the high quality commercial plain dairy

yogurt with cream (that is also whipped and made with pectin).

 

I think the piima tastes better with a complex buttery acid flavor

than the normal yogurt cultures do in soy. But the flavor can get too

strong, I've cut my fermentation back to 10 hours at 80 F. I'm also

interested in ordering some ongoing cheese style cultures. The

home-cheese-making sites do tell you specifically which genus and

species of organisms are in the cultures you're buying, unlike the

more expensive " guru-health " style guys selling cultures.

 

Slim

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for all the advice!

 

When I made dairy yogurt (did this for many years) I had some separation,

maybe 1/4 inch on the surface. But the time I used almond milk, it was more

clear yellow liquid than " solid " in the jar. much more. I was told from a

friend who develops recipes (and is working on a book) that almond milk does

not contain anything for the culture to feed on. Since I didn't taste it, I

am not even sure that I got any culture to grow or not, but I ended up with

a thick creamy white under **much** yellow liquid. He thinks that it was

probably the carrageenan that clotted it, which was my thought too.

 

I still would love to find out if there is a way to get nut milk to

culture.....

 

Maybe I will try out this piima stuff, with homemade nutmilk (without the

carageenen) and see what happens!

 

Thanks!

 

Thia

 

 

On 11/17/06, slim_langer <slim_langer wrote:

 

> Separation looks gross, but it's actually a natural process (in soy

> anyway) used to make tofu, separating the whey (yellow) and the white

> precipitate tofu. In a way it lets you know your culture is working,

> creating acid, similar to proofing yeast. But the separation is why I

> need to add the pectin to my soy yogurt to make it hold together and

> stick.

>