Barb Hodgens
Barb Hodgens

Barb Hodgens loves to cook with alternative, healthy whole food ingredients, with a focus on gut health. Barb has overcome her own gut health issues through healthy eating. Share your ideas, comments and photos at the end of this post :)

goat milk yogurt

GOAT MILK YOGURT - A GENTLE ALTERNATIVE.

People who are sensitive or intolerant to cow’s milk often find goat milk more easily digestible. Goat milk is close in structure to human milk, so it is no surprise that people tolerate it well. Goat milk is also the preferred dairy milk used to make homemade 24-hour yogurt on GAPS and SCD gut healing diets. 

There are several differences between cow and goat milk but the most significant are the proteins and fats. Most people who are aware of dairy sensitivities are consuming milk from cows that produce the protein A1 casein, which can be inflammatory and hard to digest. Goat milk contains A2 casein and different fats that are easier to break down and digest. A2 casein is also found in sheep and camels milk. In Australia, we are also lucky enough to have A2 cow milk available.

goat milk yogurt

TROUBLE SHOOTING GOAT MILK YOGURT

Making perfectly set cow milk yogurt is failsafe in the Luvele yogurt makers but goat milk yogurt can be a bit trickier. The different composition of fat and protein in goat milk results in a runnier yogurt. If a probiotic rich, fermented food is all you are after, then you will not mind the naturally thin drinking yogurt consistency of homemade goat milk yogurt. If thick and creamy yogurt is more desirable, we have 2 extra steps in the method that make all the difference.

goat milk yogurt

HEATING GOAT MILK

The process for making homemade 24-hour goat yoghurt is similar to cow milk yogurt except that you must be extra careful when heating the milk. We found that goat milk that had boiled produced a runnier yogurt than milk that only heated to approx. 85 C ° /185 F°. A thermometer is essential.

HOLDING THE TEMPERATURE (Optional step)

Heating goat milk denatures the proteins so, holding the temperature for a longer time, produces a firmer yogurt. Holding the milk at around 85 C ° /185 F° for 20 - 30 minutes is ideal but it’s a complicated and stressful task to prevent it from scorching or boiling. The double boiler method works well as the boiling water is a barrier from direct heat.

STRAINING THE YOGURT (Optional step)

Straining goat yogurt after it has chilled removes some of the whey, leaving the fats and proteins behind. The longer the yogurt is strained, the thicker the yogurt will become. We strained our goat milk yogurt for 2 hours. You might also like to try straining the yogurt overnight to make goat milk labneh cheese. 

goat milk yogurt

goat milk yogurt

goat milk yogurt

goat milk yogurt

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goat milk yogurt

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