# Does homemade yogurt have the same shelf life as the starter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813 "2015-11-06T15:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/1 "2015-11-06T15:46:30Z")
If I use store bought yogurt set to expire on November 12th as base for new yogurt, will the new yogurt expire on the 12th too? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/2 "2015-11-06T17:24:37Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > If I use store bought yogurt set to expire on November 12th as base for new yogurt, will the new yogurt expire on the 12th too? Expirations don’t really work like that. They are suggestions more than anything else. Also, what kind of store-bought yogurt are you using as the base? Does it even have the right cultures? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/3 "2015-11-06T17:56:18Z")
The yogurt might still be good for awhile after the official date has passed, but eventually it will go bad, and the yogurt that expires in November wouldn’t last as long as the yogurt that expires next month, right? I’m using plain Chobani. It has active cultures, so it should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/4 "2015-11-06T19:44:32Z")
I make my own yogurt regularly and never pay attention to the dates. It is yogurt after all, if it doesn’t stink and there is no mould then I’ll eat it. Never died y… ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/5 "2015-11-06T22:30:21Z")
Alright. You seem to have had a pretty long run, so I’ll make it this weekend. I’d like to make enough to last a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/6 "2015-11-07T00:24:07Z")
I certainly hope not–I always use yogurt from my last batch as starter for the new batch. The chain can last for many months before I reset with a new starter. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/7 "2015-11-07T01:38:07Z")
Hmmm. I’ve always kept homemade yogurt a week or so, and just made more when I need more. I don’t think the age of the starter is a huge deal, as long as it’s not outright spoiled. You can keep a chain or starter going for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/8 "2015-11-07T04:57:59Z")
Yogurt is one of those things where the expiration date is way off. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/9 "2015-11-07T05:10:31Z")
[The ‘Immortal’ Homemade Yogurt That Traveled 'Round The World](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/14/421535055/the-immortal-homemade-yogurt-that-traveled-round-the-world) > [@](#): > > Back in 2012, I learned an amazing fact: With a little TLC, yogurt can essentially live forever. How? Because yogurt is swimming with billions of bacteria that are busy all the time (as long as the temperature is right) fermenting the sugar, or lactose, in milk into lactic acid. > > If you’re making your own yogurt at home, you need an old batch to make a new batch. And the community of microbes in that yogurt starter — and the flavor — should remain relatively unchanged if you make it the same way every time. That’s what Rachel Dutton, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of California, San Diego who studies cheese and other dairy products, says, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/10 "2015-11-07T17:55:24Z")
**Mrs. FtG** has made her own yogurt for some time now. The new batch is always started with a bit from the old batch. It’s possible that at some point a batch will be contaminated and she’ll need fresh starter. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-homemade-yogurt-have-the-same-shelf-life-as-the-starter/736813/11 "2015-11-07T18:26:55Z")
just pondering this, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had a pot of yogurt “go off”. That is, I’ve never tasted it and thought “nope… not eating that”. I did have some greek yogurt develop a mouldy bloom around the rim of the pot when left in the fridge for 4 weeks (an extended summer holiday) and I chucked it even though it didn’t smell off. YMMV of course, I have a pretty cast-iron constitution. (probably through eating old yogurt!)