Belle + Bella Non-Dairy Vegan Yogurt Starter - Gluten Free, No Added Sugar, Non GMO - Makes 4 Quarts Vegan Yogurt - 2 Billion Live Cultures - Mix with Any Dairy Free or Dairy Milk - 1 Box

This is my first time making yogurt. I wanted to make yogurt because I can't find fat free lactose free Greek yogurt. I get heartburn from eating any kind of yogurt, besides lactose free, because of a stomach issue I've had for years. It sucks. I used an instant pot to make the yogurt. I heated the milk on the stove and then poured it into a plastic instant pot container to cool then added this product and some tapioca starch. The package says to use corn starch or another thickening agent because dairy free yogurt can be runny. My milk was like 104 or something when I added everything, oops. I cooked it for like 16 hours in the instant Pot and then strained it with a nut milk bag for an hour. The yogurt is great!! Thick and creamy and just the right flavor. I added homemade strawberry jam and ate some, everyone including the baby loves this yogurt! I'm making another batch right now!

Disclaimer: I have been making my own yoghurt since I was a kid, and my mom has been doing the same. I don't ned a recipe or temperatures, because I go by what the milk feels like, and don't own a thermometer. I did not follow the instructions on the package exactly, because I didn't need to. - Results: Perfectly creamy, very very very mildly tangy yoghurt. I didn't leave it out longer, because it will naturally continue to ferment in the fridge, and I didn't want to take the risk of ruining the whole batch by over fermenting. I made a full batch for me (I live alone), which is 2 quarts of soy milk, which should last me about 2 weeks. - If you don't like a ton of whey in your vegan yoghurt, do what I did, and add agar powder to your milk when it's cold, and then bring it up to heat. I used 1/2 teaspoon of agar, because I wanted the yoghurt to be set, but not hard. I still want the yoghurt to easily turn smooth and liquid for when I want a sauce or a smoothie or something. - I used 2 quarts of Silk brand unsweetened unflavoured organic soy milk (in the green carton). I substituted 1/4 cup of the soy milk with Goya brand coconut milk, because I wanted my yoghurt to be slightly more rich than plain soy milk alone. I didn't substitute more than that, because coconut milk does not set up into yoghurt nearly as well as soy does. The proteins behave too differently from dairy milk. Soy milk proteins behave similarly enough that I've always had good results. - I let about 2/3 of the quart (plus the coconut milk and agar) come up to a gentle simmer over medium low heat (because if I heat it at higher heat, the milk catches on the bottom of the pot, and it's difficult to remove, and also the milk tends to over boil when it's on high heat). I wanted it to get ripping hot, so that it's too hot for me to hold my finger in there, but never to come to a full rushing boil. It took me about 1/2 an hour on my stove, because I prefer to bring the milk up gently rather than risk a giant mess on my stove. I then poured in the remaining 1/3 of the cold soy milk, and stirred it gently. I don't whisk it, because that forms foam/bubbles, and that doesn't set up nicely. The bubbles don't go away easily, so it's better to just avoid them in the first place. We're making yoghurt not a latte. - I let the hot milk come down to body temperature. If I can hold my index finger in the milk, and stir it around (the key is to make sure you can stir the mixture, because the cooler milk is on the top, and the hotter stuff is on the bottom) comfortably, then it's ready for the culture. I sprinkled the culture over the top of the surface of the milk, and gently stirred until I saw all the granules dissolve. - I then wrapped the pot with a lid on with an old sweatshirt that I don't wear anymore, to keep the culture warm. My apartment is fairly cold, so I didn't want the cultures to slow down too much. I put the whole works into my (turned off) oven, so that there would be no drafts to interfere with the yoghurt culture going on. - I let the whole thing hang out in the oven for about 7 - 8 hours (can't recall when I went to sleep exactly). When I got up, I took off the sweatshirt, and set the pot on my counter to cool down. It still had a bit of residual heat. You don't want to transfer the yoghurt until the agar has had time to gel up. This won't happen until it cools down, but you also don't want to throw the works into the fridge, because that'll slow the fermentation too much. I let it sit out for about 2 hours, and it cooled completely (remember that I have a cold apartment). Everything was set to perfection. I have seen some people complain that this is an expensive product. This is because they are likely using a fresh packet of starter every time they make a new batch of yoghurt. Don't do this. It is very silly to do. For one thing, the starter has an expiry date 3 years from the day that I got the package. If you store the starter in the freezer, it'll last indefinitely. For another thing, you don't use new starter every time. The old batch of yoghurt IS your starter. The first time you use the old yoghurt as your starter, use about 1 cup of old yoghurt to 2 quarts of soy milk. This is because your bacteria colony isn't powerful yet, and is still getting used to things. The fourth or fifth time you make a batch of yoghurt, reduce the old yoghurt to about 1/2 a cup per 2 quarts. After a year or so, you'll only need like a couple of tablespoons of starter for 2 quarts. I also keep a backup of yoghurt starter in my freezer. I freeze about 1 cup of what I consider to be a "perfect" batch (exact tartness, exact creaminess, exact fermentation time that I'm looking for), in case I or someone else eats all the existing batch that I have, or in case I forget to start the next batch before the current batch goes off. Ideally, you should be making a fresh batch every week, as that's about when the environment in your yoghurt starts to get too acidic for the existing bacteria, and they can no longer thrive. The texture goes off, the flavour goes way off, and nobody's having a good time. If you have the patience for it, make a fresh batch twice a week, and you'll never get a messed up batch. I'm just lazy, and I've been making my own yoghurt a long time, so I know what to look for. I have only ever tried making yoghurt from soy milk, because it's the one that has proteins that behave enough like cow's milk for my liking. I have tried with almond milk, coconut milk, and cashew milk, all with disaster results, /even/ when I add agar. For some reason, it just doesn't come together nicely. If I don't add agar, the yoghurt is a bit runny, and has more whey than I care for. I used to use arrowroot or tapioca starch, but I found that they gave the final yoghurt a weird texture that I didn't care for. Agar is a bit pricey, but 1/2 tsp in a batch isn't going to break the bank for me. Because the starter did exactly what I wanted it to do, in a predictable fashion, I'm giving this a full 5 stars.

Being new to making yogurt I have tried a few vegan starters. I am using full-fat coconut milk as other types of non-dairy milk doesn't work with any of the starters I have used and I can't tolerate soy. I never had a successful batch using this starter or another one I bought here on Amazon. The only success I've had, and still use, is to use about 1/4 cup of plain cashew milk, commercial, yogurt for the starter. It also works well after being frozen. I wrote about success with the non-dairy yogurt. Right, it worked once or twice, slightly, and no longer gives dependable results. Update: September 14, 2023. So, again, I decided to try my hand at coconut milk yogurt. I have watched several videos and it look SO simple, it's got to work! I have purchased 2 different yogurt makers and both of them cooked at a temperature that was WAY too hot... like, one was over 130°F, when max is supposed to be 112°F. I gave up. Now, I noticed that my Instant Pot, in the sous vide setting keeps water temperature exactly as it is set for, according to my instant digital thermometer. So, again, I endeavor to make some coconut milk yogurt. I bought a new batch of Belle+Bella starter and following directions exactly with full fat canned coconut milk and the result is the same.. a big FAIL. I can't get even the slightest amount of tang. It's like I never used a starter at all. I give up! There are other vegan starters and one in particular, I can get a very slight tang to the homemade yogurt, but not enough to waste my money on more coconut milk, starters and whatever. Yes, I have tried using probiotic capsules... nope. Even though they will curdle the coconut milk left in a dish overnight at room temperature (test for active bacteria), they don't make yogurt that well. I have a yogi curse! I am tempted to make a batch using regular milk, just to see if it really would work... but, I can't eat it anyway, so that's a no-go. So, my initial 2-star rating is still a little over rated about how I really feel about Belle+Bella vegan starter. This time, after 8 hours of nothing, I poured all the little jars back into the pot, added a different brand of vegan starter and re-set the Instant Pot for another 8 hours... we shall see, in the morning. I won't be getting up early to check it.. lol. If my review isn't posted, I understand, but I got some off my chest!

Great yogurt starter. I use soy milk that only has soy beans and water, 15 hours Yogurt setting on Instant Pot. Easy Peasy! After I've used one packet, I can use a little of the yogurt I've made for the starter of the next batch. But if I miss a week or so, I need this starter again. Update: I've used this starter for years, but this last batch I've had a pink film on my yogurt twice. Could I have gotten a bad batch? Update: I've now wasted 3 containers of soy milk using that last batch. I will purchase another box and hope that it was just a bad manufacturing run on the last box. I have used this yogurt starter, as I said, for years and never had a problem until this last box. Let's hope it was just a bad batch.