by Jerri

Someone out there is successfully making almond milk yogurt with agar agar powder, and I want to join the ranks! I’m giving it another go this week! In my first attempt, I tried a heaping teaspoon of agar agar powder (not flakes) added to my homemade almond milk. I heated it slowly to 110ºF, added the culture, and then let it ferment in my Instant Pot. It fermented well, tasting tart, but the thickening did not happen. I successfully experimented with guar gum to thicken it after the fact, and my husband then enjoyed strawberry vegan yogurt for the next week in his smoothies. This time, I’m adding a lot more agar agar powder, but keeping everything else the same. I used my devoted-only-to-yogurt IP seal (below, see the difference between one used for broth/meats/rice/quinoa/steamed eggs, and my yogurt-only seal):  I made my homemade almond milk, it always surprises me how beautiful and bright white it turns out! I assembled the rest of my supplies (remember you can order a Vegan Yogurt Starter from NW Ferments).  Then like the time before, I:

• Preheated the IP by turning it on to the yogurt setting
• Heated the homemade milk in my mama’s Revere Ware pan on the stovetop to 110º
• Added 4 teaspoons of agar agar and stirred well
• Added the culture and stirred well
• Poured it into the IP and let it run on yogurt for 8 hours

The expected result at the end of fermenting was this:  Until I moved it, it looked like a shrunken round thick layer floating on top of water. Here it looks chunked because of the movement to remove the pot from the IP, but it tasted fermented (whew). I had hope that it would thicken in the fridge over the next 12-24 hours, so into a mason jar it went. I shook it up really well, and in 24 hours it looked like this:  Don’t be fooled.there is no thickness to that deceiving top and bottom layer. Hello, guar gum, dear friend to the thickening rescue again! Worked beautifully to mix it up with 2 tsp of guar gum in a blender, and let it sit in the fridge 12+ hours. Hubby now has TWO quart jars of yogurt for his smoothies! NOT GIVING UP. Did more research on success stories. Most said to use just a tiny bit of agar, but heating to higher temps was involved. Some said heat to boiling, some said heat to 190º, some said heat and hold for €œx€ minutes€I opted for heating to 190º and holding for 10 minutes. I have a glass top stove and old, old pan, so holding it at 190º was difficult. I kept it between 189º and 195º for 9 minutes – so fingers crossed agar was not going to be THAT picky (as I have met some really finicky cultures and additive support). So the steps:

• Preheated the IP by turning it on to the yogurt setting
• Added 1/2 teaspoon of agar agar powder to the 4 cups of homemade almond milk in my mama’s Revere Ware pan on the stove top, and stirred well
• Heated to 190º, keeping it at 189-195º for just over 9 minutes
• Cooled to 110º and added the culture
• Poured it into the IP and let it run on yogurt for 8 hours
• Let it cool for 1 hour.
• Put the yogurt in a quart mason jar and threw it in the fridge
• Prayed

The result? A miracle 12 hours later! Look at the separation and chunks, just like cutting the curds in cheesemaking. Gorgeous cuts.   The texture did not look appealing to me, and I knew once I started messing with it, it would likely change anyway I mixed it up and although thinner than before, it was thicker than almond milk and looked more appetizing.  It strongly resembled milk kefir! It is now ready for fruit and a sweetener. Can I make it better? I read that the ½ tsp of agar agar powder is just a guideline. I’m curious what happens if I double it? Or, I wonder if I need to use a lot more powder due to the acidity of yogurt and the volume of milk, so I can skip the high heat and hold time? Here are the directions that came with my powder That’s why I originally thought a heaping teaspoon and just heating to culturing temp would work what do you think?  Until next time, Get Fermented!