I Made Coconut Milk Yogurt Yesterday

[Bolt_Upright]

So I use the Yakult probiotic drink that has so many great qualities (lactobacillus casei Shirota, which is both the probiotic used in the PD study that showed it helped with bowel movements and is also anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal. It has been shown to reduce the EBV titers in your system too. If you think PD is autoimmune, this might make a difference).

Well I was down to my last little bottle and my local store was out! What to do?

So I went to YouTube and learned how to make Coconut milk Yogurt. That way I could turn my one little bottle into a week's supply. I looked at a number of methods and kind of combined them into something that worked for me.

I took two cans of full fat coconut milk and put them in a saucepan and brought it to a boil (and immediately shut off the heat).

At this point I should have mixed in my tablespoon of gelatin powder (but I forgot and added it later, which was not great. Gelatin powder is not required.

Then I poured it into a glass bowl and waited for the temperature to get down to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point I poured my Yakult in and mixed it up. If it is above 100 degrees it will kill the probiotic. You can actually use any live probiotic. Some people open the capsules.

Then I put a plate on top of the bowl and set the bowl in the over so it would be undisturbed. I DID NOT turn the oven on. Just getting room temperature solitude.

9 hours later and it is done. You can wait 10 or 11 hours I think, but it was my bedtime.

I think it worked. It tastes good. Next time I will get the gelatin powder in while it is still piping hot!

[chartist]

Bolt,

Doesn't Yakult have a ton of sugar and salt in it? And I think it has glucose on top of that? I tasted it before and judging by the sweetness it tastes sweeter than coke which has a ton of sugar in it? I think that level of sugar seems counter productive as it seems like it will feed the bacteria you are trying to squeeze out?

Art

[rescuema in reply to chartist]

The Yakult bottle is small at less than 3oz with about 10g of sugar. By the time the fermentation is done, the sugar will be gone.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to chartist]

Yakult has 50 calories of sugar. I don't think it has salt. Yakult is the only way to get lactobacillus casei Shirota.

I saw a doctor on FB who said Yakult is good, but too much sugar, so he suggested using it to make yogurt.

[Smokeypurple]

Hmm I used to make yoghurt - this is a useful reminder of how easy it is.I make organic soya milk kefir to put on my breakfast every morning, perhaps I can add extra probiotics.

Is the boiling of the coconut milk necessary?

Thanks Bolt

[Bolt_Upright in reply to Smokeypurple]

I don't know if the boiling is necessary. I know with dairy it is. I think if you are adding gelatin powder boiling helps mix the gelatin powder. Some videos don't suggest gelatin powder, but I think the one I watched said the gelatin powder provided more sugar to feed the bacteria.

I would suggest watching a few YouTube videos and finding what works best for you. Good luck.

[SilentEchoes in reply to Bolt_Upright]

You should bloom the gelatin first. How much did you use?

SE

[Rhyothemis]

I tried using Yakult as a starter with 2% cow milk in my Instant Pot, but it did not seem to do anything.

I love Yakult. It is one of only 2 things that really works for my constipation (the other is teff porridge). I also notice an improvement in mood and sleep if I have 2.

I don't think 1 Yakult a day is too much sugar; 2 is pushing it, though. Due mostly to cost and supply issues I just drink 1 per day.

[SilentEchoes]

Thanks for the instructions!! My attempt to make yogurt always fails. Love that it's coconut milk!

SE