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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan

Dooghدوغ

Doogh is the salted Iranian yoghurt drink. Traditionally whole milk is boiled down over a fire, set overnight with a little old doogh, then diluted, churned in a skin to take off the butter and salted. Dairies now dilute yoghurt to about 40 % with water and 0.7 % salt, heat it briefly and bottle it cold. Made in 5 steps over 1 min. The longest step, heat briefly, bottle and chill, takes 1 min (Rahmati F 2023) and runs at 5–14 °C (Rahmati F 2023). Salt is 0.7 % (Rahmati F 2023). Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step1 minReported[rahmati2023]Heat briefly, bottle and chill
Temperature5–14 °CReported[rahmati2023]Heat briefly, bottle and chill
Salt0.7 %Reported[rahmati2023]Dilute and salt
AciditypH 4.4 → 4.07Measured[rahmati2023]Heat briefly, bottle and chill
Fully documentedFermented milk1 minMore fermented milkMore from IranMore from Iraq

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions are from a tested lab formulation of traditional low-fat doogh (Rahmati et al. 2023). Village doogh has no fixed amounts.
40 % w/wLow-fat yoghurt · From 0.5 % fat milk heated at 90 °C for 15 min and soured with yoghurt culture[rahmati2023]
59.3 % w/wWater[rahmati2023]
0.7 % w/wSalt[rahmati2023]
OptionalVegetable extracts · The usual traditional flavouring[fao-tmp]
Starterbackslop (old doogh) | defined-culture (yoghurt culture in dairies)

Total time across the recorded steps: 1 min

Start
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What changes: Whole raw milk is boiled down over an open fire while it is stirred

Step 1 of 5
Boil the milk down
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: concentrated boiled milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

boiling kills most milk 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

What makes this one different

Ayran is diluted yoghurt. Doogh in its traditional form is the liquid left after churning diluted yoghurt in a skin for butter, made from milk boiled down first. Dairy doogh is diluted more than most ayran, to about 40 % yoghurt.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Whey doogh (industrial)Half of the dilution water replaced by acidified whey inoculated with 2.5 % yoghurt starter.
  • Home doogh from milk and yoghurtMilk and plain yoghurt at about 15:1, warmed, salted and kept warm in a closed container for 3–4 days (Wikipedia, Doogh).
  • KashkDried or cooked-down solids from yoghurt or doogh (see kashk-qurut).

Safety

Dairy doogh is made from heat-treated yoghurt at about pH 4.3 and kept at 5 °C. Without a stabiliser its solids separate on storage; this is a quality fault, not a hazard.

History and sources

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

The Iranian national standard defines doogh as a drink from the lactic fermentation of milk whose dry matter is standardised by diluting yoghurt (as quoted by Wikipedia).

  1. [rahmati2023] Rahmati F., Mahjoorian A., Fazeli F., Ranjbar S. 2023, Investigation of rheological, physicochemical, and sensorial properties of traditional low-fat Doogh formulated with Caspian Sea Huso huso gelatin and xanthan, Food Science and Nutrition 11(11):7218–7228, doi:10.1002/fsn3.3647paper
  2. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, II. Acidified milks (Dough, Iran)gov
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Ayran (doogh churned in a mashk)wiki
  4. [wp-2] Wikipedia, Doogh (home method and the Iranian standard's definition)wiki