We have been consuming it last 7+ years and havent faced any issue. Also, if you are not comfortable, you can always heat the milk to boiling point. Its important to know where your raw milk is coming from. If you are not sure about their hygiene, better safe than sorry! --DK

You can but if you want "Raw milk yogurt" you dont. If you want to heat it to 180F, make sure to cool it down to around 110 before adding the starter. --DK

Will do so. Thank you :) --DK

Its the cream. Either you can store it in the fridge to make butter out of it or use it where you would use cream –DK

To each their own :) --DK

That's a good question. I am not really sure. I have placed it in a still place to set. --DK

I think it should be totally OK for consumption. But depending on your weather, it might taste totally sour if humid/hot in which case, you can use it in your cooking. --DK

Raw milk would not spoil but would get sour. So the next stage would have been that of Kefir and then it would have naturally turned into yogurt. I dont know what stage it was in, but you could easily make "Cream Cheese" with it. You can make cream cheese when the milk turns into a runny yogurt consistency - takes anywhere between 24 hours to 2 days depending on the climate of raw milk left at room temperature. Drain using cheesecloth and that cream is the cream cheese. Don't throw away the drained liquid - whey is pure gold. --DK

Its unfortunate to be in a situation when I have to say it, but isnt the "real thing" just so life giving? Cannot pinpoint a specific reason - but you know that "its just the thing!" :) --DK

I mention it in the post - milk heated upto 110 (only) is still raw --DK

No, its totally OK. Just allow the milk to come down to 110 when you stir in the starter. Its not necessary to use raw milk yogurt the first time around. The milk is raw until you either Vat or HTST pasteurizer it. --DK

Preheat the oven, switch it off and keep your yogurt to ferment in there. It works all the time. You can also keep the oven lights on for 100% success rate. Wrapping the vessel with a thick cloth (like a sweater/shawl) works equally well. The first time I made yogurt, I used store bought yogurt. You need to buy the ones which does not have any additives/thickeners etc. Just yogurt with live cultures. It works pretty well. Or opt for Indian restaurant ones that make their own yogurt --DK

Not more than so many other things that we subject our bodies to on a day to day basis :). But then as I already specify, you can boil if you prefer that way.--DK

Heating it to 110F = warm. As for lowering the temperature to 110 - its for the milk that you have heated more than 110F. I mention this specifically 'cos if you heat Raw milk to only 110, it is still considered as "RAW" and not "Pasteurized". So if that is a concern then boil the milk, cool it down until the temp reads 110F and then add the starter. Do read the lines again, slowly. It probably might not be as confusing as you thought. In case of any more questions, pls get back to me and I will try to explain it to you. --DK

That's whey and is v nutritious. But you can drain it using cheesecloth. The result would be thickened yogurt. The longer you drain, better the thickness which would result in what is called as "Greek Yogurt" --DK

Just refrigerate. --DK

aaah! Got it. I just mash it with a ladle or at some time, blend it with my hand grinder. But yes, I have this at home that I use regularly while making spiced buttermilk. At some point, I also used it to churn butter from cream that I used to collect from homemade yogurt. Thanks for the links and more explanation. Appreciate it. --DK

Err, is that comment for me? 'Cos I certainly am not using one. --DK

Will certainly do so Radha. Thank you :). One small clarification - Did you indeed mean churning Dal? If yes, can you please explain what you mean by that? --DK

Your next best bet would be Vat Pasteurized, Cream Top (non homogenized) milk :) --DK

Beautifully explained. Thank you. Good (and sad )to know that Indian Gov is importing such cows. Natural is better in my opinion. Our land is better off without dumps from other countries. --DK

None taken. Pls refer my notes both on top of the recipe and the one below that will answer your question - Points worth knowing and Point to consider before making Raw Milk yogurt. I would also like to add that this is "Raw Milk" yogurt and not regular yogurt as available in commercial tubs in US and India. This is at its most natural state with no addictive or thickeners, hence unadulterated. --DK

Please refer my reply to Veena. And also refer my Tip 2 for getting the starter. Raw Milk is indeed illegal in many US states, which is why I mention the alternatives in not only Tip 1 but also in "Points worth knowing" section before the recipe. --DK

Aaah, interesting. I hardly use M/W for my cooking, but I am sure it will be useful for those who do. Thanks for the details Manu --DK

Yes, Raw Milk is milk straight from cows without undergoing any kind of processing. I will do a post on that soon Bhuvs :) --DK

I used Whole Milk Yogurt (no additives, just read the ingredients) from my local Indian store to make my first batch. From then on, its been my own yogurt as a starter for the next batch. Arent there loads and loads of Indian restaurants in London? I am sure one of them would have a good starter. Hope you get a good starter - for all this effort, you deserve a batch :) --DK

I will do a separate post on this with all the details.But before that, have to say that, first you have to make sure that your Milkman is following good organic practices - go to his shed and give it a check. Raw milk has immense nutrition, but then again - this milk even if pasteurized at home (that is boiling at ideal temperature) is eons better than buying UT and other store pasteurized milk (whop boil it to 300F+ temperature to maintain long shelf life )thereby killing any beneficial factor from it. I do mention in the post that you can boil your milk - no need to use raw, just make sure to bring down the temperature to 110F before adding the culture --DK