BABY-YOGURT MIX
WHEN SHOULD BABIES START HAVING YOGURTS?
Six months is the age most experts agree on. The main source of probiotics for babies is their mother´s milk. However, even though babies are being breastfed, they can also have a spoonful of our probiotic baby yogurts from time to time to reinforce their own flora. The Bifidus Complex, Bio Vegan and Acidophilus with Bifidus contain the Bifidobacterium infantis, which is the first and main bacteria to colonize the baby colon.
Nursing mothers can also include in their diets our yogurt Acidophilus with Bifidus or our fermented milk Bio Vegan, in order to improve their own flora and the probiotic quality of their milk.
NOTE: Giving yogurt to babies can cause an allergic reaction in babies with milk allergies. Milk allergies occur in approximately 2 to 3 percent of all infants. Goat or sheep milk is less allergenic and much healthier for babies than cow´s milk.
If the baby is not allergic to milk and is not having any mother´s milk at all, it would be convenient to give him or her either a probiotic with some lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium infantis or a spoonful of our yogurts made with sheep or goat milk, once or twice a week.
Fresh or UHT milks are also healthier than powdered milk, because dehy-dration requires very high temperatures for a long time, a process which considerably degrades protein (which may produce more allergies).
It is not recommended to feed a baby only with vegetable drinks or vegetable yogurts.
NOTE: Acidophilus with Bifidus produces a medium texture yogurt. Bio Ve-gan, Bifidus-Complex & L. Casei produce fermented milks. They don’t produce a thick yogurt, but are very rich and healthy from a probiotic point of view.
YOGURT INSTRUCTIONS
1 CHOOSE A DRINK
Milk
All full cream milks ferment well.
-Most brands of good quality skimmed and semiskimmed milk pro-duce a good yogurt with our cultures, but with less consistency.
-Lactose free milks also ferment well since they contain the free sugars present in lactose, broken enzymatically. These milks are sweeter and tend to need less culturing time.
-The better the quality of the milk the tastier the yogurt.
Vegetable drinks
-SOY. All soy drinks produce a thick yogurt and kefir with our cultures. Choose a non GMO brand with no additives and sugars added.
-NON SOY VEGETABLE DRINKS: Most non soy vegetable drinks ferment well with our cultures, but remain almost liquid. To gain thickness, see our thickeners list in section 3
2 CHOOSE A CULTURING MACHINE
General considerations
Temperature varies depending on the room, time of day and season. Get a food thermometer and adjust the machine temperature regulator if necessary. If the machine has no regulator, you can lower the temperature by changing the yogurt maker glasses for bigger jars, covering it with lids and/or cloths, moving it to a cooler or hotter place or room, etc.
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L. Casei, Acidophilus with Bifidus, Biovegan, and Bifidus Complex. USE:
- Standard yogurt makers, with no temperature regulation. They normally work at about 40-42ºC, which is the temperature all these cultures need.
- Adjustable yogurt makers, electrical pots or cooking robots. Regulate them at 40º C.
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3 PREPARE THE DRINK IF NECCESARY: HEAT AND THICKEN
- If the drink is very cold or if it has been kept in the fridge, you can heat it before culturing at the required temperature. Use a food thermometer. If the drink is at normal room temperature, you can either pre-heat it to accelerate the process (you will save about an hour) or use it as it is.
- If you want to add thickness to a vegetable non soy drink, you can use:
COLD THICKENERS
- Mix one third soy drink with two thirds of the other drink. Or half and half.
- Mix it with milk, if you don´t mind having some dairy.
- Add guar gum. Mix drink with 1-1½ tea spoons guar gum in a blender for a minute at room temperature or at about 40º C. Add the culture.
- Blend one or two fruits before or after culturing. Banana, pear, apple or berries work fine. You can also try other fruits, but not citrics.
“HOT” THICKENERS
- Add agar. Dissolve about 1 teaspoon agar per litre at 90º C for 10 minutes.
- Add Tapioca starch or arrowroot starch. Dissolve 3-4 tablespoons per litre at about 90º C for 10 minutes.
- Add kuzu. Dissolve 50 grs per litre at about 90º C for 8-9 minutes.
After thickening drink, cool to culturing temperature and add culture.
4 INOCULATE THE DRINK WITH THE STARTER
First incubation
Add the starter. Use the whole content of the sachet, trying to spread it as much as possible onto the drink. Remove after a few minutes. CLOSE WELL THE LIDS OF THE CONTAINERS.
Re-culturing
Add 5-6 tablespoons of the yogurt you made with our cultures for every litre of the new drink. Non soy vegetable drinks do not re-culture so well as soy drink or milk. Re-culture always into clean jars. Maximum reculturing batches recommended for high probiotic efficacy: 5-6
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5 LET THE DRINK CULTURE
L. Casei, Acidophilus with Bifidus, Biovegan, and Bifidus Complex.
First incubation: Between 8 and 10 hours (or until thickening)
Re-culturing: Between 4 and 6 hours (or until thickening
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6 REFRIGERATE YOUR YOGUR
Put it into the fridge for 4 hours, and it will be ready to eat!
The fermented drink will remain fresh for about a week. To preserve it better, split the yogurt between several jars before putting it into the fridge. This way you will be only opening the jar you are using each time. Change the fermented drink to a new jar if the inside of the old jar gets too dry.
7 SWEETEN IT, IF DESIRED
Fresh season fruit or high quality stevia make the best sweeteners.
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