by Gutted on Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:41 pm
Store bought yoghurt is almost certain to have a low bacterial count due to them requiring it completed as quickly as possible for commercial and profit reasons.
Home made yoghurt is always going to be far superior unless you really screw it up. By all means begin by using a store purchased yoghurt as a starter and begin from that and then culture that for further fermentations as it should provide a superior result with a higher bacterial content.
I have used capsules eg 5 billion CFU as a starter and found them to take around 12 to 14 hours to complete a set and firm yoghurt and by comparison using just a 1/3rd of 200ml pot to start the next batch of 7x200ml pots completes in around 3 to 4 hours! To me that indicates just how much stronger my yoghurt is as the number of CFU must be substantially higher. I have seen capsule manufacturers claim that their capsules are much stronger than commercial yoghurt. Maybe, but it's laughable to suggest that they are stronger than home made yoghurt.