Yoghurt production technology
The milk use during production depends on the type of yoghurt being made. Whole milk or skimmed milk can be used.
Milk is heat treated to denature milk proteins, which gives a more stable yoghurt as well as eliminating bacteria contaminants and reducing the oxygen content of the milk.
For the production of drinking or natural set yoghurt, milk should be concentrated to 18-35 g total solids 100 g, diluted with equal volume of boiling water spontaneously cooled to incubation temperature and the milk fermented.
This method of processing the milk produces good quality yoghurt but, with low fat milk. Homogenization is recommended.
Yoghurt milk heated to 85°C for 20 minutes and incubated for 42° for 3 hours. The incubation may be in stored tanks or in retail containers. In both styles, flavoring can easily be added by a dosing pump immediately before dispensing into the containers used for distribution.
Milk is turned into yoghurt using bacteria called Bacillus lactus. These are added to the milk as a bacteria culture.
The bacteria grow and produce lactic acid that thickens the milk and creates the acidic flavor of yoghurt.
The final product has a pH value of about 4-4.2 and contains 0.7-1.1% of lactic acid. The yogurt is then cooled to 5° C and stored at the temperature.
The variety of products is increased by the addition of fruits and fruit pastes to yoghurt. The addition of fruit or fruit pastes and sugar yields special products.
Top quality yoghurt is smooth, without grittiness or granules and without effervescence.
Yoghurt production technology
