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Fermented milk from Turkey

Yoğurt (Turkish yoghurt)yoğurt

Turkish yoğurt is milk heated hard, cooled and seeded with yogurt from the previous day or a pure culture, then held at 42–45 °C until it sets. Turkey's food codex defines yoğurt by its two starter bacteria, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus.

Fully documentedFermented milk2.5 h – 3.5 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceTraditional method from FAO's survey of Near East yoghurt, which lists Turkey; scale the starter to the milk.
Cow, sheep, goat or buffalo milkThe codex allows these four milks[tgk2022]
Yogurt from the day before, or a pure culture2.3 % of the milkRate given for traditional Near East yoghurt, including Turkey[fao-tmp]
Starterbackslop (yogurt from the previous day) or a pure culture of S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.5 h – 3.5 h

Start
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80–90 °C

What changes: The milk is held hot for half an hour

Step 1 of 5
Heat the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
80–90 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii

Output: hot milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills most of the milk's own bacteria

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Turkish yoğurt is milk heated hard, cooled and seeded with yogurt from the previous day or a pure culture, then held at 42–45 °C until it sets. Turkey's food codex defines yoğurt by its two starter bacteria, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Made in 5 steps over 2.5 h – 3.5 h. The longest step, hold warm and let it set, takes 2–3 h (FAO 1990) and runs at 42–45 °C (FAO 1990). Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 hReported[fao-tmp]Hold warm and let it set
Temperature42–45 °CReported[fao-tmp]Hold warm and let it set

What makes this one different

Turkish yoğurt is set from heated milk seeded with the previous day's yogurt or a pure culture (FAO's Near East yoghurt entry, which lists Turkey). Turkish law reserves the name for milk soured by both S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus, and süzme yoğurt must reach 8 % protein.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Süzme yoğurtStrained yogurt; the codex sets at least 8 % protein, reached by standardising the milk or by removing whey.
  • Yogurt with a named cream-forming stepThe codex requires production steps such as homogenisation or cream-forming (kaymak) to be named together with the product name.

Safety

The milk is heated before souring, and the finished yogurt is kept below 6 °C, as the codex requires.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

FAO's survey says the yoghurt of the Near East originated from central Asian and Mediterranean countries, mainly Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria and Romania. The Turkish food codex communiqué 2022/44, published on 30 November 2022, replaced the 2009 fermented milk communiqué.

  1. [tgk2022] Türk Gıda Kodeksi Fermente Süt Ürünleri Tebliği (Tebliğ No 2022/44), Resmî Gazete 32029, 30 November 2022 (FAOLEX copy)spec
  2. [cxs243] Codex Alimentarius, Standard for Fermented Milks CXS 243-2003spec
  3. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, part II, Acidified milks (Near East yoghurt, incl. Turkey)gov
  4. [kiraz2024] Kiraz D., Özcan A., Yibar A., Dertli E. 2024, Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Streptococcus thermophilus isolates from traditional Turkish yogurt (MLST), Archives of Microbiology 206 (abstract)paper