Starters

Make yoghurt at home that puts the supermarket to shame. Choose from thermophilic starters for Greek and Bulgarian yoghurt (40-45°C), mesophilic starters for mild yoghurt at room temperature, or vegan starters for plant-based yoghurt from soy, oat, or coconut milk. All cultures are guaranteed to work and can be recultured.

Making your own yoghurt is one of the simplest and most rewarding forms of fermentation. A litre of milk, a starter culture, and a bit of warmth — that’s all it takes. But behind that simplicity lies a fascinating bit of microbiology that makes the difference between a bowl of disappointment and the best yoghurt you’ve ever tasted.

It all starts with choosing the right culture. Thermophilic starters work at higher temperatures (40-45°C) and produce the kind of yoghurt you know from Greek and Bulgarian traditions: thick, creamy, with that characteristic mild tang. These cultures rely on bacteria like Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Mesophilic starters ferment at room temperature (20-30°C) and produce a milder, sometimes slightly thinner result — think Scandinavian filmjölk or viili. The advantage? No yoghurt maker or thermometer needed.

And then there’s a third option: our vegan yoghurt starters. Specially selected bacterial strains that thrive on plant-based milks — soy, oat, coconut, almond — producing a result that not only looks like yoghurt but actually tastes like it. No thickeners, no additives. Just bacteria doing what they do best.

All yoghurt starters in this category are guaranteed to work, and most can be recultured indefinitely: simply set aside a spoonful from your current batch as the starter for the next. Cheaper than store-bought, tastier than store-bought, and you know exactly what’s in it.