Make your own yogurt

So some of you reading this are here because you came to one of my classes and I talked about making yogurt.  While making your own yogurt might sound complicated... it's nothing compared to how complicated it is to actually BUY yogurt in an American supermarket.  Low-fat, fat-free, low-carb, full-fat, cream on top, sugar-free, goat milk, soy-yogurt... and in all colors and flavors!  The choices are mind-numbing.

When all I want is a plain, full-fat yogurt with nothing but milk and cultures in at least a 1-quart pot, it can take me all day to find it.  I could have made my own by then and saved both the money and the plastic pot!

Now there are a few different ways you could go about making yogurt.  There are also a few different types of cultures you can use.  Some people sell cultures that work at lower temperatures, making it easier to do on your counter top.  Most people just make yogurt without any special equipment, but put it in their oven with the pilot light on, or in a cooler (without ice) to keep it warm.  I'm usually all about not buying any new kitchen equipment.  But when it comes to making something that I need every day, every week... that justifies a piece of equipment for me.  I also wanted a guaranteed product that worked in a predictable amount of time, every time.

So I bought a 'yogurt maker'.  It's not really a yogurt maker, it's an incubator.  But it works perfectly for me.  I hate to sound like a billboard, but I bought a Yogourmet yogurt maker.  I can make up to a half gallon at once.  I bought a second half gallon container so that I could be finishing one pot of yogurt while I was making a second for the next day.  I bought this 6 years ago, and have made yogurt every week (at least) and it's all still in good shape. 

Here is how I do it...  First, you scald your milk.  Some people who have their own dairy animals don't do this.  It kills the enzymes in it and gives me a more reliably thicker product.  I do this in a water bath because boiling a half gallon of milk over on the stove is an inconvenience I do NOT need.  

  

I just put about 2 inches of water in the pot below.   Fill the top pot with half gallon of milk then put a lid on it.  Let the water boil and bring the milk to the correct temperature (82C/180F) for 2 minutes.  Then set aside and cool.  There is a lot of wiggle room doing it this way and you don't have to stand by the stove the whole time.

Lid on to boil!

While it's cooling, I add about 1/2 cup powdered milk to make my yogurt thicker.  You don't have to do this, but I like it.  If you have a LOT of milk, you can skip this and make Greek Yogurt instead.  Read on...

So after you let your milk cool (below 45C/113F), add a few tablespoons of your old yogurt.   This gives it the cultures it needs to become yogurt.  This can even be the plain yogurt you bought at the store.  I like to keep a few packets of yogurt starter culture in the freezer.  I learned from my friend Sarah, who used to run the dairy at the farm I worked at, that after a time, your yogurt can start getting REALLY strong and sour and that is a good time to crack open a fresh starter.  So I do, and it helps.  Another way to keep your yogurt from getting really strong, is to just incubate it for 8-10 hours.  When mine goes too long, it really gets strong and unpleasant.

Your yogurt maker will have instruction on how to use it, but after your milk is down to around 95 degrees F, you can stir in your culture, pour it into the container, and incubate it.  Incubate it from 8-10 hours either in your Yogourmet, the oven with pilot light on or a cooler.  Check to see that it is set, then pop it in the fridge and you have yogurt.  I either start mine in the morning so 10 hours comes before my bed time, or I do it at bedtime so that 10 hours comes by the time I get up.

Top Tip if you use your oven!!  Do yourself a big favor and put a BIG FLASHING NEON SIGN on your oven that reminds you not to pre-heat it for pizza while you've got your yogurt in there.  Trust me, it happens.

GREEK YOGURT!

If you don't know what Greek yogurt is, it's just regular yogurt with the liquids strained out.  That makes it super thick and yummy.  It's also why it's so expensive.  It takes way more milk to make a cup of Greek yogurt than it does regular yogurt.  The good news is, you can strain it at home.  Most people do this when they have excess milk to use up.

Ignore my messy kitchen in the background.
This isn't a show kitchen.

Pictured here is a cheese cloth bag with string in it.  I put it in a jelly ring over a bowl and just dump my pot of yogurt in it.  Again, I have a gadget for this, because I do this sort of thing a lot.  But most people do something just as easy.

Get a big bowl and line it with a few BIG layers of cheese cloth.  Carefully pour your yogurt into the bowl and gather the edges of the cheese cloth together and tie them.  Hang this bundle from something in your kitchen (like cupboard handle) over a bowl to let the whey drip out for a few hours.  Yes, it's fine to do this at room temperature and you can do it with fresh, warm yogurt or cold yogurt.

WHEY!

Ah, whey.  So an advantage of making the Greek yogurt is having a little jar of whey in the fridge.  This whey is an acidic liquid containing lactic acid, among other things.  I use it to soak my grains in.  Did you read my thing on soaking grains in my recipe for whole grain waffles?  Well, when you soak your flour for things like this, pancakes, oatmeal, muslei or zucchini bread, you can use this whey.  Or use it as a substitute for buttermilk in baking.  Whatever you do, don't throw it away.  At least feed it to your pigs.

If you are wanting to get your family weaned off of their commercial fat-free flavored and artificially smoothed yogurt and onto something healthier, I don't think you can go wrong with the Greek style.  Here are some of my favorite ways to eat yogurt:

• In home made muslei (I'll post a recipe soon)
• As the basis of a fruit smoothie with honey and fresh or frozen fruit and a banana.  I make a pitcher of this that lasts for a few days of after-school snacks.
• Plain, with lemon zest and honey (oh, heaven)
• As a dip mixed with diced cucumber, mint, lemon and olive oil

Making yogurt... to sum it up

1. Heat yogurt to 82C/180F for 2 minutes
2. Let cool below 45C/113F
3. Optional: Add extra powdered milk to thicken
4. Add a few tablespoons of old yogurt
5. Incubate for 8-10 hours 
6. Refrigerate
7. Eat as is, strain to make Greek yogurt, or flavor.