View Full Version : Making Yogurt
I am going to get a yogurt maker from my mom. She has had it hanging around for years and I asked for it. It will almost certainly NOT come with a manual.
Have never made yogurt!
Do you make yogurt? What is your preferred method? Is it possible to make the thick Greek style at home? I am in love with Chobani.
Ok, I see that yes, you can: http://youvegottotastethis.myrecipes.com/taste_this/2010/02/greek-yogurt-at-home.html
Further advice welcome!!
BTW, I am not yet attached to the yogurt maker. Maybe you will convince me it's just as easy without it ;)
I haven't done it myself but my parents made yogurt all the time in pretty big quantities. Never with a yogurt maker. Sometimes it wouldn't work right and be pretty runny, but always edible, and usually worked fine. Don't know about the thick style - can you drain yogurt in some fashion? I remember when my parents made it, it went like this: cook a huge pot or two of milk on the stove for a while, add some of the previous yogurt batch for starter (maybe powdered milk too?) and then we'd pour it into big glass jars and for the heat, we'd sit the jars in one side of the double sink and just fill with hot water, refilling occasionally. Can't remember how long it would sit for. Don't know if my remembered advice is particularly helpful without specifics but I know it can be done.
I use a yogurt maker. I like having the temp controlled well, especially in the winter when our house is very cool. My friend uses a cooler but she has to change the water several times to keep it at temp.
Here's my system:
buy some plain yogurt for your first starter. I like the Trader Joe's European style. Unsweetened, plain yogurt. Whole, low, or no fat as you wish.
I always use organic milk. We don't use milk for much other than yogurt so I buy it by the gallon (cheaper) and freeze it in quarts.
Heat the milk until it's foamy and very hot, then let it cool to 110-110F. Hotter than 110F, and your yogurt will have a curdled texture. (Yes, you'll need an instant-read thermometer to be accurate. I use one with a dial, cost about $3... same one that I use for checking meat temp when cooking)
You can allow the milk to cool in the pot on the stove, which takes almost an hour, or you can speed it up a little by putting cold water in your sink and immersing the pot in there to cool.
Pour the hot water into a quart jar (my yogurt maker came with a plastic insert but a glass canning jar fits perfectly, and I prefer glass to plastic), stir in about 1/2 cup of your starter yogurt, and put in the yogurt maker for at least 6 hours. The longer you leave it, the more lactose will be consumed by the cultures - less sugars in your yogurt and a tarter taste.
You can use your yogurt to start a new batch a few times, but at some point you'll notice that your yogurt is more tart. That's because some of the cultures are outnumbering the others. That's when I get a new container of starter yogurt - typically about 3 batches is how long I 'chain' mine.
I haven't done it myself but my parents made yogurt all the time in pretty big quantities. Never with a yogurt maker. Sometimes it wouldn't work right and be pretty runny, but always edible, and usually worked fine. Don't know about the thick style - can you drain yogurt in some fashion? I remember when my parents made it, it went like this: cook a huge pot or two of milk on the stove for a while, add some of the previous yogurt batch for starter (maybe powdered milk too?) and then we'd pour it into big glass jars and for the heat, we'd sit the jars in one side of the double sink and just fill with hot water, refilling occasionally. Can't remember how long it would sit for. Don't know if my remembered advice is particularly helpful without specifics but I know it can be done.
Basically we did it this way but used a cooler filled with hot water instead of the sink. It would hold the heat long enough to do its thing.
I had a yogurt maker for a while as I was tired of buying it in non-recyclable plastic tubs. I used it for about a year but after a while just didn't like having the thing sitting on the counter, not really having a good storage place for it, washing the small jars was a drag, etc. I gave it away.
I haven't made yogurt since but I am attracted to the method provided in the link above and there is a thermos recipe over at The Simple Dollar that looks easy. So I'd suggest first considering if you want another gadget in your life and if not try these other methods first.
Oh, the yogurt I made was tasty!
I use Amy Dacyczyn's method as outlined in the TWG (I have the Complete TWG, so I don't remember which volume this one's in. it works like a charm; if I want really thick, Greek-style yogurt, I strain it and use the whey for the liquid in baked goods.
My approach is basically the same as Rosemary's, but I add about a cup of instant dry milk powder (be SURE it's instant), which makes the final yogurt come out thicker. I don't have a yogurt maker, but I've haven't found that to be a problem. Instead, I either put the yogurt in the oven with *only* the oven light on or else I wrap it in an electric blanket turned up to about 8 (out of ten). I like to leave my yogurt for about 10-12 hours, which isn't necessary for yogurt but makes it more sour, which I like.
You can drain yogurt after you've made if you want it to be thicker (use a couple of layers of butter muslin in a colander), though I've found the texture isn't quite as smooth as store bought Greek yogurt. If you drain it for a long time, you'll get yogurt cheese (labneh).
I sterilize my yogurt jars with boiling water (or vinegar) before I pour the milk in. If you keep the yogurt at the right temperature (108 is optimal), you're not likely to get an infection, but it can happen, and when it does, it's gross.
We make it once a week in a Thermos flask. One litre of semi-skimmed milk (that is, two pints of 2% milk) warmed to about blood heat in a saucepan, 50 grams (2 ounces?) of dried milk powder whisked in, then take it off the heat, add 6 tablespoons of the previous batch of yoghurt or the same of shop-bought live yoghurt, then into a pre-warmed Thermos for 8 or 10 hours. It comes out thick and creamy, and we eat it every morning with homemade muesli. Pour into a plastic food container and keep in the fridge, of course.
Kevin
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