by Catherine Haug, October 6, 2011
Yogurt is a very popular snack and probiotic, and can be made at home. However, it has one big drawback for home culturing: it requires warmer than room temperature (105° – 116° F) during the culturing period. (See my photo-essay: Culturing Milk: Yogurt).
Did you know that there are other yogurt-like cultures that can be cultured at room temperature (70° – 75° F)? These come to us from Scandinavia, where early farmers discovered that milk clabbered (cultured) best when the cows ate butterwort.
The cultures
Piimä
Piima (pronounced ‘pee-mah’) is more liquid than yogurt and is typically used as a beverage. See Piima Instructions (from Cultures for Health). The powdered culture can be ordered from Cultures for Health: Piima; liquid piima cream culture can be ordered from Moonwise.
Viili
Viili (pronounced ‘fee-lee-ah’) is more yogurt-like in texture – more gelatinous than piima, and slightly sweet. It is sold in Scandinavia as Viili Yogurt, much like yogurt is sold in the USA. See Viili Instructions (from Cultures for Health). The powdered culture can be ordered from Cultures for Health: Viili or from G.E.M Cultures.
Fil Mjölk
Fil Mjolk (roughly pronounced ‘feel-myolk’ but quickly gloss over both l’s) is Swedish Buttermilk, and can be used to make Creme Fraiche. It is not as thin as piima and not as thick as viili. It resembles kefir in consistency, tho may be a little more thick. See Filmjolk Instructions (From Cultures for Health). The powdered culture can be ordered from Cultures for Health: Fil Mjolk or from G.E.M Cultures.
For more on these cultures, see Nourished Kitchen – Sour Milk: Lessons from Scandinavia
Method
The basic method using powdered culture for all of these is;
- Make the starter: dissolve the powder in a cup of milk or cream and allow to culture. Retain starter for making more, or give to a friend.
- Add a spoonful of the starter to fresh milk or cream, and allow to culture. The product can be consumed; save a small portion to inoculate a future batch. (NOTE: Some raw milk cultures cannot be serially cultured).
What kind of milk can be used?
Pasteurized or raw milk can be used, but special precautions must be taken to use raw milk. (See instructions that come with your culture, on using raw milk). Ultra-pasteurized and UHT milk/cream will not culture.
Soy milk may work for some of these, but not to make the initial starter. Also, it probably won’t work to use part of the current batch to make a future batch (serial culture). See instructions that come with your culture, on using soy.