topic Re: Question about Yogurt in Kitchen

Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 00:07:44 GMT

For those who cook with yogurt in place of sour cream, coconut cream, etc., how do you get it from turning into pebbles?

I made a dish that called for 1/2 cup of coconut cream. I subbed plain, fat free yogurt. When I added it to the vegetables, it immediately turned into tiny pebbles. There was no sauce, just the liquid from the veggies. We haven't tasted it yet.

Re: Question about Yogurt

kittyloo — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 00:49:35 GMT

I sub yougert for sour cream all the time. I've never had that happen. Was the yougert old/sour. Sounds like its curddling. I'm trying to think of a instance when it's done that. Even if you had lemon juice in it, I've mixed that with the yo many times. Soured yougert is the only thing I can come up with....sorry

Re: Question about Yogurt

Citrine1 — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 00:55:14 GMT

I, too, substitute yogurt for sour cream in many recipes and have never had that happen. I always use fat free greek yogurt; I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I don't know what is causing you to have this problem. Are you adding cold yogurt to a hot dish? Maybe it isn't being incorporated slowly enough (?)

Re: Question about Yogurt

kittyloo — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:28:06 GMT

I always use the Greek fat free as well. Shouldnt make a difference.

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:32:56 GMT

@kittyloo wrote:
I sub yougert for sour cream all the time. I've never had that happen. Was the yougert old/sour. Sounds like its curddling. I'm trying to think of a instance when it's done that. Even if you had lemon juice in it, I've mixed that with the yo many times. Soured yougert is the only thing I can come up with....sorry

Curdling! That's the word I was looking for!

I bought the yogurt on Saturday, so it wasn't old.I added the lemon juice after it curdled, as per the recipe.

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:35:57 GMT

@Citrine1 wrote:
I, too, substitute yogurt for sour cream in many recipes and have never had that happen. I always use fat free greek yogurt; I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I don't know what is causing you to have this problem. Are you adding cold yogurt to a hot dish? Maybe it isn't being incorporated slowly enough (?)

I used plain yogurt, not Greek; and I plopped the cold yogurt into the boiling dish.

So many mistakes. This is the first time I'm using yogurt.

Re: Question about Yogurt

Poodlepet2 — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:52:04 GMT

I would really like to ask a pro about this because it has happened to me. I can use yogurt in place of sour cream in just about any recipe that calls for sour cream BUT if it's a hot dish-such as beef stroganoff, yogurt will not work. Low -fat sour cream works just fine, but I would really prefer to use yogurt. As I write this, it just occurred to me that what may be happening when yogurt hits high heat, is that the proteins in it are coagulating...I can't think of any other reason....

Poodlepet2

Re: Question about Yogurt

IamMrsG — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:56:31 GMT

If liquid is too hot, dairy products will curdle when added to it. Eggs will scramble (cook). To prevent this the technique is called tempering. First you add a small amount of the liquid from the dish to the dairy or eggs. Stir well, then add the pre-warmed dairy or eggs to the rest of the dish.

Re: Question about Yogurt

feline groovy — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 03:02:53 GMT

@HonnyBrown wrote:
@Citrine1 wrote:
I, too, substitute yogurt for sour cream in many recipes and have never had that happen. I always use fat free greek yogurt; I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I don't know what is causing you to have this problem. Are you adding cold yogurt to a hot dish? Maybe it isn't being incorporated slowly enough (?)
I used plain yogurt, not Greek; and I plopped the cold yogurt into the boiling dish.

So many mistakes. This is the first time I'm using yogurt.

Greek yogurt will give you twice the protein, and sticks to your ribs better than regular.

Even when it's low-fat or fat-free.

8-)

Don't beat yourself up, babe; mistakes are how we learn.

And sometimes how we come up with better alternatives. ;-)

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 16:56:21 GMT

aw, groovy thanks!

Hubby tasted the dish and loved it. I bought a big vat of yogurt thinking that I would be making different thai dishes that call for coconut cream. I guess now I will work on my tampering method.

Re: Question about Yogurt

SharkE — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 17:26:11 GMT

Sorry , can't help you never touch that stuff.

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 18:25:51 GMT

Hey sharke! How are you?

I had a bunch of mushrooms I needed to use. One of my favorite dishes is a thai ginger-mushroom chicken. I had all the ingredients, but I didn't want to use coconut cream because it's very fatty and high in calories.

I thought, why not use yogurt! I got a big container from the market, along with some Cotton Candy grapes.

The marinade I used the yogurt for turned out great, but then again, it was a cold marinade.

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:10:20 GMT

I went to the Chobani website and looked at their recipes (quite nice, by the way). They have a review section, and a number of people had the curdling issue. They, like me, addd the yogurt to a hot dish.

Re: Question about Yogurt

Sooner — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 22:00:04 GMT

If you have regular yogurt and want greek yogurt, just put a paper towl in a fine strainer, dump the yogurt in and put in the fridge for an hour or two--until it gets as thick as you want it. "Greek" yogurt is just strained yogurt. Let it sit long enough and you will have a cream cheese like product so add herbs, salt and pepper and whatever you like and use it for a great spread on bread!

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:19:38 GMT

sooner, thank you for the tip!

Re: Question about Yogurt

Citrine1 — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 21:39:35 GMT

@HonnyBrown: Thanks for the tip about recipes at the Chobani website. Don't know why I never thought to look there, but I'm anxious to check it out and see their recipes!

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 14:23:36 GMT

No problem, citrine! I do that frequently to get new recipes; especially if I have an ingredient that I only use for one dish.

Re: Question about Yogurt

millieshops — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 14:32:46 GMT

@HonnyBrown And if you don't already, mix some of that fat-free plain yogurt with some sugar-free applesauce, sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon and enjoy a guilt-free dessert.

I rarely cook, but I like fat-free plain yogurt enough that I buy it in Costco quantity even though I eat alone most of the time.

On the other hand, I've never tried any recipe with coconut milk or cream. One of these days ....maybe.

Re: Question about Yogurt

debcakes — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 01:47:05 GMT

@IamMrsG wrote:
If liquid is too hot, dairy products will curdle when added to it. Eggs will scramble (cook). To prevent this the technique is called tempering. First you add a small amount of the liquid from the dish to the dairy or eggs. Stir well, then add the pre-warmed dairy or eggs to the rest of the dish.

I also think this is the answer. I was going to say that you can't add the yogurt when the dish is too hot. I substitute yogurt quite a bit and have never had this problem. Check the ingredients in the yogurt. Maybe they have added some kind of filler or stabilizer that is causing it.

Re: Question about Yogurt

HonnyBrown — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 22:28:05 GMT

@millieshops wrote:
@HonnyBrown And if you don't already, mix some of that fat-free plain yogurt with some sugar-free applesauce, sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon and enjoy a guilt-free dessert.

I rarely cook, but I like fat-free plain yogurt enough that I buy it in Costco quantity even though I eat alone most of the time.

On the other hand, I've never tried any recipe with coconut milk or cream. One of these days ....maybe.

Millie, thank you!!!!!! I have some fresh apples to use up so I can buy some Staymans. That will be the perfect way to empty the fridge.

The first time I made a thai curry, I followed the recipe exactly and bought coconut cream from the co-op. It was a powder...yuk! But the dish turned out pretty good. When I saw coconut cream in a soda can at Trader Joe's, I stocked up.