Product Information
Viili Starter
Bacillus Bulgaricus Viili Starter makes genuine Scandinavian Viili of exceptional quality with traditional Viili taste, consistency, taste and aroma. Our Viili has a mild, nutty, cheese-like taste and a thick and stretchy viscous consistency.
Viili is a mesophilic fermented milk product coming from Finland, which resembles yogurt. Viili is the result of the action of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, which work together to form a velvet-like surface and a rich smooth consistency of the Viili. The name comes from a byproduct from the actions of the strains, a phosphate-containing heteropolysaccharide, called viilian. Viilian is similar to kefiran produced by kefir strains. Viili has been a cornerstone of the Finnish diet for and is a super-food with multiple health benefits. It has, in recent years, gained a world popularity much similar to Bulgarian yogurt.
Viili comes in three forms — short, long and the original. The short version has a consistency similar to commercial yogurt with a mild taste. The long version has a ropy, or stringy, consistency that stretches much like honey. Traditional viili has a slimy ropy consistency and is mildly nutty in taste. Our Viili is the traditional type.
Viili is a mesophilic product, which means you can culture it at room temperature.
Nordic and Specialty
Our Viili starter makes a traditional Viili with mild, nutty, cheese-like taste and a thick and stretchy viscous consistency.
This is an authentic Viili heirloom starter. Each pack contains loose powder mix, in perfect proportions, of the strains required to make the perfect Viili.
Our Viili starter makes genuine Scandinavian Viili of exceptional quality with classic Viili taste, thickness and aroma. Classic Viili has a mild, nutty, cheese-like taste and a viscous ropy and stretchy consistency — the perfect balance between slimy and creamy — a distinguishing characteristic of the traditional Viili.
This is a heirloom Viili starter with live active bacteria, which means that you can reuse Viili from your previous batch to culture your new batch, for as long as you wish.
The starter contains lactic acid cultures isolated from natural sources in ecologically preserved areas in Finland and Bulgaria. It is fully natural and organic with no preservatives, additives, artificial colors or flavors. It contains no GMO ingredients and it is soy and gluten free.
Product Details
Type: Heirloom Finnish Viili starter. This means that you can make endless batches of viili, simply reusing your previously made viili to start a new batch.
Activity and Strength: 1 gram of starter contains at least 25 billion colony-forming unit (2.5 x 1010 CFU/g) of lactic acid probiotic bacteria strains.
100% potency guaranteed. 100% viability guaranteed.
Ingredients: Live active lactic acid cultures of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermophilus, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Kefir, and Lactococcus Helveticus.
The starter contains nothing more than the strains it is made of and a very small quantity of dried organic skim milk powder. It is the medium on which the strains grow and some of it gets packaged together with them. The milk powder is completely consumed by the bacteria during incubation so there is none of it in the finished product. See some more information about our lactose free and vegan starters.
Contents: This is an heirloom starter with freeze-dried live active bacteria.
Each sachet contains loose powder mix, in perfect proportions, of the strains required to make excellent Finnish Viili. The exact amount of starter varies per pack and is indicated, in grams, under your selected pack size on the product purchase page. More information about various pack sizes and their contents can be found here.
Packaging: Aluminum foil pouches, sealed. 100% recyclable.
Details: 100% natural. 100% plastic free. No additives. Gluten free. Soy free. GMO free. Halal. Kosher.
Milk to use with: This starter is OK to use with dairy milk, non-dairy milk, vegan milk, basically any milk that you would like to turn into Viili. It is excellent for yogurt drinks and for frozen yogurts too.
Nutritional Information: Available here
Lab test data: Available on request.
Industrial size option: Available on request.
Origin: Produced in Bulgaria.
Storage
Store the Viili starter in the FREEZER.
Use by the date indicated on the label.
Bacillus Bulgaricus starters are shipped in sealed sachets.
Transporting the packs (i.e. shipping them to you) at ambient temperatures (even in the warmest climates) is perfectly OK and will not damage the live cultures. We use a freeze-dried process that keeps the strains alive and comfortable even during long trips in hot weather.
Once you receive your starter packs – pop them in the refrigerator or the freezer for best storage.
- 2+ years at around 0°F (-18°C) or lower (in the freezer)
- 1-2 years at around 40°F (4°C) (in the fridge)
- Up to 1 year at ambient (room) temperature.
Unfreezing the starter packs and freezing them again (e.g. when using only a portion) is OK to do, even multiple times.
Make sure you store open sachets in a way that prevents moisture from getting in, i.e. well closed in a Ziploc bag or wrapped around and fastened with a rubber band.
Usage
The packs are packaged and labeled with the grams they contain and the volume those grams make when used entirely in one go.
The packs are intended for single use, or their contents could be split for multiple use.
When you split the pack, take out as much as you need to make your yogurt, then reseal and refreeze the remaining starter for later. Make sure you store the sachets in a way that prevents moisture from getting in, i.e. well closed in a Ziploc bag or wrapped around and fastened with a rubber band.
When you split the contents of the pack and use less starter amount to make smaller volumes, keep in mind that you are also reducing the total amount of yogurt that you can make from the pack (read more on that here).
Refer to this page to see the gram to Liters (gallons) chart and to find out how much starter to use for different volumes of milk.
How To Make Viili
It is super easy to make Finnish Viili using our Bacillus Bulgaricus starter. We have included two sets of instructions how to make Viili:
- The traditional method for making Viili – if you prefer to make your Viili the conventional way, manually or with the help of a yogurt-making machine.
- A fail proof method for making Viili – if you have difficulties getting good results with the traditional method or would like to get your results faster, try this fail-proof manual method instead.
Bacillus Bulgaricus Viili Starter
Nordic and Specialty
Our Viili starter makes a traditional Viili with mild, nutty, cheese-like taste and a thick and stretchy viscous consistency.