as always, you mamas inspire me. so the recent threads on homemade yogurt have spurred me to give it a try, maybe. i actually owned a yogrut maker a few years back-- this is when all ds would eat was soy yogurt, so i thought i'd save some money-- and i gave it away as i never used it, not once.

so now we're on an allergen-free diet, and both kids did not show sensitivites to goat's milk. so i think i'd like to introduce that to their diets, but don't know how to get started.

i haven't seen any goat's milk yogurt anywhere, so i can't buy that and use it for a starter. and the commercial starters i've seen are dairy (cow) based.

could i use dairy yogurt as a starter, just for the first time, and hope that eventually, after a few batches and i'd been using the goat's milk yogurt i made after the first batch as a new starter, the dairy effect would be minimal?

any ideas? thanks!
alycia

Are you still eating soy? You can use soy yogurt as your starter as long as it has live active cultures in it.

If the kids are not allergic to dairy you could use the cow milk based yogurt. It is my understanding that once in yogurt form it is easier to digest.

The directions to my yogurt maker say that you can only use homemade yogurt as a starter once. The second time it is not as effective. I am not sure why but that is what it says.

The reason there is no goats milk yogurt right now is because it is goat season and the mama's are having babies and the supply is low this time of year. Soon there will be yogurt available though.

Hope that helps you and not to confusing.

sophia, thanks for the response!

no, we're not eating soy still. we're avoiding it.

i can't find goat's milk yogurt anywhere around here, no matter what the season.

we're avoiding dairy with both kids, too.

so i'm back where i started.

also, i read differently. i read that you *could* keep using yogurt over and over after using a starter once. i know some people don't even ever use a starter!

any advice, mamas?

Redwood Hill Farm makes goat's milk yogurt:
http://www.redwoodhill.com/yogurt.htm

That would be a good starter, I am sure.

I just got my yogurt maker yesterday and am anxious to try it. My directions also say to only use the homemade as a starter once.