Q: Yogurt is my favorite thing and has been as a child, but recently I have not been able to eat anything remotely cold. Is there a way to heat yogurt so I can enjoy it once more?
A: Sadly, no, there is no way to reheat yogurt. There are several reasons as to why you should not heat it. However, you can eat it at room temperature.
Why You Should Not Reheat Yogurt
Reheating any dairy product tends to make it spoil. This means your yogurt will curdle and separate! If your aim is to make ricotta cheese, then you are on a great start. Otherwise, it can make you sick.
The other reason to avoid heating yogurt is because most commercial brands have probiotics and active cultures added into the mix. If they go over 110 degrees (which is pretty easy to achieve in a few seconds), they will die and no longer give you the benefits of good bacteria. Your digestive track needs these cultures so you should avoid heating yogurt.
While we get gyros with a yogurt sauce, it is a different mix entirely and requires other ingredients! Therefore, your Yoplait yogurt should remain refrigerated until ready to eat. If you cannot eat it chilled, you can let it get room temperature, just be sure to keep the rest chilled until use.
I’m not aware of any bacteria that can not tolerate 110 degF …. Maybe you can educate me…
Standard ‘kitchen practice ‘ is: to kill most bacteria takes a temp of 140 degF ,
quite a bit hotter than 110 !
and further recommendations push that 140 up to 165 for certain foods, such as chicken ..
The ‘rule of thumb’ is this: the ‘risky zone ‘ where bacteria can flourish is the range of 40degF to 140degF : we minimize food exposure to that range.
to show how ‘mild’ a temp of 110 is, observe that only a portion of germs will survive 110 Let’s say the ” LD50 ” ( the temp where 50% of germs find the temp lethal) is 110 .. Well lots of humans have experienced high temp’s in serious illness: say 106degF … so much of one’s intestinal bacteria would die in such patients? I doubt that very much!
Here’s a good article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/science/is-that-water-hot-enough-to-kill-germs.html
It also shows the “FDA guide for handwashing:
I would consider accepting a 110deg experience for bacteria and viruses as treating them to a wonderful ‘day at the beach’, complete with picnic!
Hope it helps!