Plain yogurt
A mild, set yogurt made by inoculating warm pasteurized milk with live-culture yogurt and holding it until it gels. This US extension method uses a short ingredient list and controlled incubation.
Built structures · Incubators and warm holds
Steam oven as an incubator
steam-oven yogurt set-up
A steam oven held at a low setting with the food in a covered container, so cultures incubate in humid, even warmth without drying.
Overview
The oven's steam mode is used as a warm, humid cabinet for a culture. The hot milk-heating step is kept outside the oven, and the culture incubates inside at a low setting, without drying.
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How it works
The steam keeps the air humid and the temperature even. A British Columbia food-safety guideline describes more controlled temperature and humidity in convection steam ovens.
The container's cover keeps condensation and steam off the yogurt. The food lags the oven setting.
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Documented use
Miele Australia's yoghurt recipe: a covered, unperforated steam container at 40 °C for 5 to 8 hours. The page does not name the oven model.
The supplied dossier also reports Miele's DGM 6401 instructions as setting covered jars on a rack at a low-temperature programme.
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Limits
This applies only to ovens with a low steam setting; programmes differ by model.
The jars-on-a-rack variant is proposed, not documented.
Miele says yoghurt cannot be made above 45 °C.
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History
The Miele Australia yoghurt recipe is the documented use. The lidded jars on a rack are a proposed variant. The sources do not date the use of a steam oven for yogurt.
Site
SettingA kitchen: a steam oven held at a low setting, with the covered container of inoculated milk inside.
ClimateHumid, even warmth at about 40 °C from the oven's steam mode, with the hot milk-heating step kept outside the oven.
NotesThe model is not named in the Miele source. Its programmes differ by oven, and the sources give no interior dimensions.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Unwanted bacteria in the milk before culturing
The Miele step heats the milk to about 90 °C before culturing to kill unwanted bacteria. The page's warning gives 'above 90 °C'; the step and the warning differ.
Hazard sourceHeat the milk on the hob to about 90 °C before culturing, and cool it.
Control sourceAbove 45 °C, Miele says yoghurt cannot be made in the oven.
Materials
- 1 Steam oven — Held at a low steam setting, at about 40 °C.
- 1 Covered, unperforated steam container — Holds the inoculated milk. A lid or cling film covers it.
- 1 Hob or pan — Heats and cools the milk before it is cultured.
- 1 Probe — In the container through the hold.
- Heat the milk on the hob, to about 90 °C in the Miele step, and cool it.
- Inoculate the milk and put it in the covered, unperforated steam container, with a lid or cling film.
- Place the container in the steam oven at 40 °C for 5 to 8 hours.
- Probe the container through the hold. A longer hold gives a thicker, sourer yogurt.
Places
Documented for international use, with no single place of origin assigned.
Related
Used for
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Sources
BC Centre for Disease ControlMethod
Guidelines for restaurant sous vide cooking safety in British ColumbiaCited in: How it works