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 :)

ProGood probiotic homemade yogurt

INCREASE YOUR GOOD GUT BUGS WITH PROBIOTIC YOGURT!

Homemade yogurt is well known as one of the best sources of good bacteria for the gut. There are numerous studies published worldwide on the health benefits of eating yogurt, and closer to home, our customers continually share powerful healing testimonials celebrating the role of homemade yogurt. 

With advancing understanding of the effects of probiotics on health and wellbeing in current years, the Luvele kitchen has become especially curious about the possibility of making yogurt even more ‘lively’ by adding a ‘probiotic’ rather than a traditional yogurt starter culture.

The seeds of our curiosity were sewn when we began experimenting with the probiotic Lactobacillus Reuteri to make yogurt. Studies claim L.Reuteri has impressive health benefits. Unfortunately this strain of probiotic doesn’t naturally grow in dairy milk so making yogurt has always been a challenge. However, this non-traditional method drew a great deal of interest from yogurt lovers and gut healers alike. It was clearly a natural next step to ask whether there was a comparable probiotic product that would not only readily proliferate but guarantee a reliable yogurt texture too. Well, we’ve found our product and we luv that it is Australian made.

ProGood Probiotic Yogurt

PROGOOD PREMIUM PROBIOTICS

The ProGood formula was invented by John Ellerman (BSc, MASM, Consultant Microbiologist) and is based on over 8 years of research at the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Food Industry Innovation involving researchers from The University of NSW & the CSIRO, which resulted in:

  1. Isolating a selection of the best possible Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis bacteria.
  2. Incorporating a selection of prebiotic fibre ingredients. (‘Prebiotics’ is another name for fibre that feeds probiotic ‘good’ bacteria). In this case, arabinogalactan and inulin from the Jerusalem artichoke were used. These prebiotics resist digestion but significantly multiply the probiotic cultures when they enter the intestinal tract.
  3. Synergistically combining prebiotics and probiotics to gain a much higher level of probiotic culture in the intestine. When both are taken together they create 50 times the amount of good bacteria which equates to 1.5 trillion good bacteria per dose. In yogurt this will be considerably more again.

HEALTH BENEFITS 

Doctors and patients report life changing results. Conditions that may benefit from ProGood probiotics include Asthma, Hayfever, Eczema, Stomach Ulcers, Constipation, Diarrhoea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Crohn’s Disease, Heart Disease, Alzheimers, Obesity, Diabetes, Autism – autistic children have a different range of bacteria to the norm, Fibromyalgia, Prostatitis, Schizophrenia, Depression, Chronic Fatigue, Epstein Barr virus (Glandular Fever), autoimmune diseases & MS.

For more information, listen to this super informative podcast between Aussie, gut-health advocate, film maker and storyteller Kale Brock and the creator of ProGood Probiotics, John Ellerman.

 

WHICH PROGOOD PRODUCT IS BEST FOR YOGURT MAKING? 

Progood probiotics are a powder formula available in a plastic jar or single serve dual sachet. We recommend using the sachets because they are more stable to ship. One box contains 15 x 5g dual sachets. Each half of the dual sachet contains separate ingredients. The probiotic culture sachet contains 30 billion cells of good bacteria. The booster sachet contains a blend of prebiotic fibre. Use the entire dual ProGood sachet in place of a traditional yogurt starter culture to make 1 – 2 litres of yogurt.

ProGood probiotics are sold online and can be purchased here.
Use the code PGLUVELE for 10% off. 

TIPS TO GET THICK SET PROGOOD PROBIOTIC YOGURT

The great news is ProGood probiotics are naturally dairy loving, so they will thicken dairy milk into yogurt and can be used in place of any traditional yogurt starter culture. We followed the same preparation steps as our failsafe cow’s milk, 24-hour yogurt method on our first sample but the consistency of this yogurt was on the thin side. After experimenting with techniques to improve the texture we found that adding dry milk powder to the milk before heating enriched and thickened the yogurt texture.

Always use organic dry milk powder that is 100% pure and without additives. For best results we also recommend holding the milk at 82° C (180° F) for 10 - 20 minutes with this method.  

ProGood Probiotic yogurt recipe

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • ProGood is not a drug or a prescribed medicine so you can’t eat too much.
  • ProGood probiotics must be stored in the fridge to make sure the product stays as effective as possible. 
  • ProGood probiotics and yogurt is safe for pregnant woman and children over 1 year old.
  • ProGood is grown in a non-dairy medium so is suitable for making Vegan, plant-based yogurt as well as dairy yogurt. 

    PREPARATION 

    Before you begin it is important to sterilise the Luvele yogurt making glass jar, lid and any utensils you use, in boiling hot water. The danger of not sterilising is that other bacteria may overpower your culture and affect the quality of your yogurt.

    INGREDIENTS

    1 x dual sachet of Premium Progood Probiotics
    1 – 2 litres of organic full cream milk 
    1/3 cup organic dry milk powder per litre of milk (optional)

    METHOD

    1.    Measure milk
    Measure the appropriate quantity of milk to fill your Luvele yogurt maker and pour into a large, clean saucepan.  

    2.   Add the dry milk powder (optional step but does guarantee thicker probiotic yogurt)
    Measure out 1/3 cup of dry milk powder per litre of milk and add it to the saucepan of milk. The dry milk powder will sit on the surface of the milk and form clumps. Do not worry. Once heated the dry milk solids dissolve and incorporate.

    3.   Heat and hold the milk for 10 minutes or longer
    Important: If you added dry milk powder stir the milk with a wire whisk as it heats so that the milk powder doesn’t settle and burn at the bottom of the saucepan.

    Heat the milk to 82° C (180° F) Use a thermometer. The milk will swell and rise slightly at around this temperature. It can be a challenge to hold the milk at a high temperature for so long. Don’t get too caught up on the precise temperature. If the milk accidently boils briefly, don’t panic – reduce the heat and continue. Tips: Use a wok ring to create a distance between the flame and pot or use a double boiler pot filled with boiling water.

    ProGood Probiotic homemade yogurt making steps

    4.   Let the milk cool
    Remove the saucepan of milk from the stovetop and let cool to below 42° C (107° F). It’s fine if the milk cools down well below 42° C or even goes cold, it just mustn't be too hot. Temperatures above 43° C will kill the ProGood probiotic bacteria.

    As the milk cools, a layer of skin will form on the yogurt. There is no harm leaving it in - it does not produce lumpy yoghurt. 

    5.   Pour the milk into the yogurt making glass jar 

    6.   Add the ProGood probiotic
    Tear open one ProGood dual sachet and pour the entire contents into the milk. Stir with a wire whisk to incorporate.

    ProGood Probiotic homemade yogurt making

    7.   Incubate the milk.
    Put the lid on the glass jar and place into your yogurt maker. Pour water slowly into the base. The water must not be filled over the ‘tall line’ indicated on the inside wall of the maker. Place the cover lid on top. Use the digital control panel to set the temperature to 38° C (100° F), the time to 24-hours and then press ‘confirm’ to begin incubation. 

    8.   After 24 hours the fermentation is complete.
    Switch the yogurt maker off. Condensation will have collected under the cover lid. Take care removing it and allow the water to drip into the water bath, instead of your bench!

    9.   Refrigerate
    Remove the yogurt jar from the water bath. Straight from the maker the yogurt will be runny and warm. Do not stir the yogurt. Depending on the milk you used, there may be a layer of cream on top of the yogurt. Place the jar in the fridge for at least 6 hours to chill and set.

    Note: when dry milk powder was used we found that after refrigeration the yogurt curds distinctly separated from the water content (whey) in the jar and we were able to easily pour out the whey leaving only thick tub-set yogurt in the jar.

    PIN THIS RECIPE

    ProGood probiotic homemade yogurt recipe