u/blueduck762

I'm looking at videos of what this yogurt is supposed to look like, and it seems to be a little less ropey. I'm wondering what I might be doing wrong. I'm using my goat's milk, I put it in the Instant Pot on the boil setting, let it cool, then I add the Caspian Sea culture to it and let it sit unti it thickens. This is my third batch.

To answer more of the questions from the automod:

• I used whole goats milk from my goat, I started with a cup and moved up to two cups.
• Caspian Sea starter. TBS per cup of milk.
• I heated my raw milk up with the boil setting on the Instant Pot. I believe it goes a little bit above 160. Online it says it goes to 180, but I've never seen it get that high when I take a thermometer to it.
• I cool it down. It's within the range for a mesophilic culture.
• Room temp because the Caspian Sea is mesophilic.

I was under the impression that many would simply retire their old ewes and let them live the rest of their lives in peace, assuming that you are able to feed them and whatnot, but I saw someone on FB post a picture with the caption: "a beloved ewe who was retired to the freezer this year". What do you guys do? No judgment, just wondering what's standard practice.

I've been looking for a starter, and I came across a post on here saying that with traditional yogurt making, you heat the milk up so that the thermophilic bacteria that's naturally in the milk survive and then fermenting with that would create yogurt. I'm having trouble finding information from people actually detailing this process. Would this be possible? I have a goat and I'm wanting to make some yogurt and while I can get a starter, I would like to know if this is an option as well. Thanks!