Welcome back to my kitchen, where the magic of gut healing meets delicious food. Today, I’m diving deeper into the science and process behind my homemade SCD yogurt, made with carefully selected milk and probiotic-rich starters. This isn’t just yogurt—it’s a 16-strain powerhouse, combining nutrient-dense milk with probiotics to create a product leagues beyond store-bought options.

What is SCD Yogurt?

SCD yogurt refers to Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)-compliant yogurt, which is made by fermenting milk for a full 24 hours to eliminate nearly all lactose. The SCD diet is designed to support gut healing by removing complex carbohydrates and fermentable sugars that can disrupt gut bacteria balance.

Why Ferment for 24 Hours?

  • Extends fermentation time so probiotics consume nearly all lactose (making it easier to digest).

  • Increases probiotic content exponentially compared to regular yogurt.

  • Produces a gut-healing food that fits into SCD, GAPS, and other gut-healing protocols.

With the right milk and powerful probiotic strains, SCD yogurt becomes a therapeutic food, supporting digestion, gut lining repair, and overall immune function.

Why Homemade Yogurt?

Store-bought yogurt is convenient, but it doesn’t come close to homemade in terms of what I’m trying to make:

  • Probiotic diversity: Most commercial yogurts contain 1–3 strains, while my recipe has 16 strains.

  • Probiotic count: Commercial yogurts average 1–20 billion CFU per 100g, whereas my yogurt has an estimated 150–300 billion CFU per 100g.

  • Control over ingredients: No added thickeners, preservatives, or sweeteners.

The Ingredients

To supercharge my yogurt, I used:

  • 1.5L (6 cups) Cold Pressed Raw Milk

  • 50g (¼ cup) Rokeby Probiotic Yogurt: Contains 15 diverse strains, including Lactobacillus fermentum, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus helveticus, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

  • 50g (¼ cup) Jalna Yogurt: Adds gut-health staples like Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Streptococcus thermophilus.

Why I Chose (Raw) ‘Made by Cow’ Milk As the Base

Made by Cow milk isn’t just raw milk—it’s cold-pressed raw milk, treated with a patented high-pressure process (or so they tell me) instead of traditional heat pasteurisation. This process:

  • Destroys harmful bacteria just as effectively as heat pasteurisation.

  • Retains more natural nutrients because there’s no heat to degrade the vitamins, enzymes, or proteins.

  • Minimises intervention, preserving the milk’s natural cream-on-top texture and rich flavour.

While I did heat the milk to 80–85°C for yogurt-making, starting with minimally processed, nutrient-dense milk ensures the final product is superior in both taste and nutrition compared to store-bought pasteurised milk.

Does Heating Raw Milk Remove Its Benefits?

Since I heated the raw milk to 80–85°C for 10 minutes, I essentially pasteurised it. While this does eliminate some of the raw milk’s natural enzymes and bacteria, it’s still far superior to using standard store-bought pasteurised milk.

Even though some raw milk benefits are lost, the final product still retains the superior fat, protein, and mineral content that make it far better than using ultra-pasteurised, store-bought milk.

Probiotic Superpowers: What’s That Growing Inside My Yogurt?

I used starters from 2 existing yoghurts that I had in the fridge! By combining Rokeby’s 15 strains and Jalna’s 3 strains, my yogurt packs 16 unique strains of probiotics:

Why Did I Use Starters from Store-Bought Yogurt?

You might be wondering: why use store-bought yogurt as a starter instead of a dedicated probiotic culture or wild fermentation?

Here’s why I specifically chose Rokeby Probiotic Yogurt and Jalna Yogurt as my starter cultures:

1. They Provide a Diverse, Proven Mix of Beneficial Strains

  • Many dedicated yogurt starter cultures contain only 2–4 strains (e.g., Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus).

  • Rokeby contains 15 strains, and Jalna adds 3 more, giving me a total of 16 probiotic strains—far more than most powdered starters.

2. Commercial Yogurts Are Already Adapted for Dairy Fermentation

  • Some probiotic powders contain beneficial strains but are not ideal for milk fermentation.

  • Store-bought yogurts already contain bacteria that thrive in dairy environments and have been tested for stability and effectiveness in yogurt-making.

3. More Affordable & Accessible Than Specialty Starters

  • High-quality probiotic yogurt starters (like Custom Probiotics or Yogourmet) can be expensive and require ordering online.

  • Rokeby and Jalna are easy to find in Australian supermarkets and provide just as many (if not more) strains than a specialty starter.

How I Made It

  1. Heat the Milk:
    I slowly brought the milk to 80–85°C (175–185°F) and held it there for 10 minutes.

  2. Cool the Milk:
    I cooled it to 40–43°C (104–110°F), the ideal temperature for probiotics to thrive.

  3. Mix in the Starters:
    I combined 50g Rokeby Yogurt and 50g Jalna Yogurt, then whisked it into the cooled milk.

  4. Ferment:
    I poured the mixture into my yogurt maker, set it to 38–43°C (100–110°F), and let it ferment for 24 hours.

  5. Chill:
    After fermentation, I transferred the yogurt to the fridge to chill for 8 hours.

How Does It Compare to Store-Bought Yogurt?

Final Thoughts

This yogurt is more than a snack—it’s a functional food that works hard to support your health. Whether you’re healing your gut, boosting immunity, or simply looking for a delicious and nutritious treat, homemade yogurt is the way to go.