Yogurt

As I have explained before, my greatest interests are young children, nutrition, and cooking.  Fortunately for me, these interests combine easily and work together well.  This does not always happen - imagine trying to cook while skydiving...  Anyway, I have begun making my own yogurt.  It is easy, cheap (a week's worth of yogurt for about 99 cents), and it really impresses people who don't know how easy it really is.  Yogurt making is very simple, and children can help. 

All you need for successful yogurt making is a kettle, thermometer, whisk, 8 cups of milk (any kind - I use skim), and a small container of plain yogurt.  You do not need olive oil - that was just on the counter.

Heat the milk to 180 degrees to separate the proteins.  If your thermometer is the kind that is encased in Pyrex, make sure that it is not touching the bottom of the pan, since it will not read correctly.  Stir the milk occasionally to prevent sticking.  If you are the type that multitasks, do not wander off.  scorched yogurt tastes terrible, and if it boils onto the stove it makes a mess (trust me on this one!).

 



Take the pot of milk off the burner and let it cool to between 120 and 110 degrees.  Put about 1/2 cup (more or less) plain yogurt into a bowl.  Add about a cup of the warm milk, whisk until smooth, and add to the pot of warm milk.  Stir.  Do not try to save time by stirring the yogurt directly into the milk - you will have lumps of yogurt (trust me on this, too!),

Place the mixture into a container with a lid.  The mixture will have to stay warm to incubate for at least eight hours.  I found that the best way for me was to wrap it in an old bath towel and place in one of those foil-lined insulated Wegmans bags with a zip lid.  Any kind of container that would hold the temperature would work. 

 

 

The yogurt can be removed after eight hours, or it can stay longer.  I often make mine after work and leave it overnight, and I have left it as long as 24 hours.  The longer the yogurt incubates, the thicker it becomes and the more the flavor develops.  To thicken it a little more, I strain it through a colander that is placed over a bowl.  I line it with an old cotton dish towel, and I strain a few cups at a time just to make it easier to scoop into the containers that I use to store it (in my case, I have a complete matching set of margarine containers).

Draining the yogurt takes off some of the whey and thickens the yogurt.  Exactly how much you drain off will depend on the thickness of the yogurt when you start and on your patience while you are draining it.  It is okay to wander away during the draining; in fact, I recommend it.  Make sure to save the whey in the refrigerator - it is wonderful for baking.  You do not need to use anything fancy to store the whey, although I do have a lovely matched set of mayonnaise jars.

Your yogurt will be thick, much like Greek yogurt, and will be tart because it is plain yogurt.  It can be sweetened with sugar or honey.  I usually eat mine plain, since I put it over fruit which sweetens it enough.  This is a matter of taste.  Once you have made a batch, there is not need to purchase more yogurt, since you can use the batch that you made to start a new batch.

Yogurt is very easy to make, especially once you have made it several times.  It is a great feeling to produce something that is so good and healthy while saving money also.  Have fun and enjoy!