By Kathryn Washburn Breighner
Yes, I make my own yogurt. I can proudly say that I have not purchased yogurt in the 15 months since Nathaniel gave me a yogurt maker for Christmas. I make one-two batches a week. There is no comparison in taste between store bought yogurt and homemade. Homemade is so much better. And making yogurt is easy!
I love yogurt and eat it daily either alone or mixed with fruit or granola. Since I have been making yogurt, I also use it in dressings or toppings. I love the yogurt blended with tart cherry juice concentrate, almond extract and orange peel, maple syrup, honey and vanilla, or with fresh fruit.
And then there is the cost incentive: my yogurt maker turns out 8 small containers that would cost $6-7 in the store. I make it for less than $1.
My yogurt maker is by Donvier but you don't need a gizmo to make yogurt. A glass jar and a warm oven will do same thing.
To make yogurt, slowly warm, stirring occasionally, 1 qt. of milk to 180 degrees F. If you are using skim milk, add 1/2 c dried milk to help it thicken.
When the milk reaches 180 degrees F, turn it off and let it cool, stirring occasionally, to 110 degrees F. To 1/2 c of the warm milk, add 2 T plain yogurt. Ok, so you have to buy a container of plain yogurt to have a culture. (Or buy a powdered yogurt culture which comes with most yogurt makers). Someone gave me a pint of plain yogurt when they were cleaning out their fridge from their summer cottage and I poured it into ice cube trays, froze, popped them out and dropped into a freezer bag, and now each cube is enough for a batch of yogurt. After you make yogurt, you can use 2 T from that batch for the next 2 batches before it loses its' potency and needs to be replaced by a new culture.
Pour the blended milk and yogurt back into the rest of the milk and stir. I then pour this into the yogurt cups, set the timer for 12 hrs. (I like it thick) and that's it.
Oven method: pour the mix into a glass jar or bowl. If you have a gas oven, just put the covered jar or bowl in the oven and the pilot light will keep the milk at a constant temperature. 8-10 hours later, you have yogurt. For an electric oven, turn the oven on until it just begins to warm up and then shut it off. Ideally, you'd want it at 110 degrees F but most oven thermostats don't go that low. Put the glass jar or glass bowl of covered yogurt in the oven and let it sit 8-10 hours. Keep the oven light on if you have an electric oven; this adds a bit more warmth.
Microwave method: pour the mix into a glass jar or bowl. Cover. Wrap in a dish towel. Place in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds every 30-45 minutes for 4 hours. Set a timer to remind you to do this every 30-45 min (I give this advice having let too much time go by). This keeps the milk at about 110 degrees.
Greek yogurt is pricey and mine is excellent at a fraction of the price. To make Greek style yogurt, pour a quantity of yogurt into a cheese cloth-linked strainer, set the strainer over a bowl or pan and place in the refrigerator over night. The next am, the cheese cloth will contain the very thick Greek style yogurt and the bowl or pan will contain the drained whey. If you want 2/3 c of Greek yogurt, begin with 1 c of regular yogurt as approximately 1/3 of that amount will drain in whey (or drain away!).
Couldn't be easier. Making gyros? Here's the Greek style yogurt for the cucumber sauce!
2 comments:
This is a really cool post. How often have I ever thought of making my own yogurt? Uhh...never? So I read this yesterday. Last night, we had dinner at the home of a Turkish couple. They made TONS of amazing food, and the woman was really interested in my cooking class tales. She wants to do this too. One of the things she wants to teach: making your own yogurt. Must be a sign that I need to get on it!
Years ago, I often made yogurt in a 9 x 13" baking pan in the oven over night. Then I grew out of it maybe because there are so many good yogurts in the grocery stores now (there weren't then). Getting the Donvier yogurt maker was the jump start for me and I'd forgotten how easy it is. This would be hard to teach in that you couldn't have the end product by the end of class. It takes about 45 min to warm up and cool down the milk, maybe 5 min actual prep time. But you could do all of this and then use yogurt from a previous batch in the class. Greek foods, Turkish foods, salads--one of my favorite toppings for cvepacicis, tiny Serbian meat 'logs' is yogurt and sumac!
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