Making Yogurt: Will it set?

People say you can’t make good set yogurt with UHT milk. Does this prove them wrong? I’m not sure if this is a success since I haven’t been making yogurt for more than a few months.

I used a no-sugar, no-additive commercial yogurt as a starter (pictured) available in the supermarket or convenience store. The milk I used is from New Zealand so it is UHT (pictured).

I have so far been unable to find yogurt bacteria in stores. I haven’t tried very hard but Shopee has them. They’re frozen and frightfully expensive. So I use this Nestle Greek Yogurt, it’s not sweetened or thickened and seems to have a little more protein.

I tried with some imported NZ milk yesterday. It’s refrigerating slowly. Seems a little loose right now but it’s only been in the fridge 2 hours. I’ll post a photo tomorrow. I’ve had success with other batches… but I don’t have a consistent recipe yet.

The ingredients listed are translated: “Water, milk powder, fresh milk, milk fat, whey protein, milk protein, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum”. I can’t find evidence of thickeners, emulsifiers, preservatives, or other additives. Which is nice!

Definitely not a hard set this time. But it is set. The UHT treatment has affected the protein enough to prevent it setting likely Greek yogurt. It works beautifully with other milk!