What Kind of Yogurt Starter to Use?

What Kind of Yogurt Starter to Use?

Yogurt starter contains cultures of bacteria that we use to inoculate the milk and begin the fermentation. The bacteria that we should have in our yogurt starters are Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus acidophilus (optional). In fact, without the first two strains we can't really call it yogurt.

The strain we must avoid in our SCD yogurt is Bifidus, as it has been found to cause bacterial overgrowth in the gut. Bifidus comes in quite a few variations, e.g. Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus Bifidus, Bifidobacterium longum etc. In general, avoid anything that has bifid in its name.
Where you live is one of the biggest factors in deciding the best starter for you. Check out the products in your local markets.  Examples of commercial legal starters are: 

• Australia: Farmers Union Yogurt
• Canada: Custom Probiotics Yogurt Starter #1 
• Finland: Genesis Traditional Bulgarian Yogurt Starter Culture for 50 L
• New Zealand: Yoplait Greek Style Natural
• United Kingdom: Woodlands Sheep's Milk Yogurt 450g
• United Kingdom: GI ProStart, Yogurt Culture Starter 
• United States: Dannon Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
• United States: GI ProStart Yogurt Culture Starter 
• United States: Custom Probiotics 3 Strains Yogurt Starter Culture #1

Yogurt FAQ from Elaine 

Milk to use for yogurt

How to drip yogurt

Why Yogurt is important

How to make yogurt