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Did you know you can make yogurt at home? I was a bit surprised, as I come from an urban background, and things as complicated as yogurt and bread must require special factories, right?  As it turns out, not so much.  Homemade yogurt is cheap, easy and there is as big a difference between homemade and store bought yogurt as there is between home baked and store bought bread.

You can make a basic yogurt, or you can take it an extra step (which is my preference) and drain off most of the whey to make a thick, Greek-style yogurt.  Pictured here served over some fresh, pureed blueberries, it makes a great breakfast, snack or side dish.

Perhaps the best thing about this article is that I had to take that picture for the front page, and as a result, I’m eating my way through it as I type.  It’s still a bit amazing to me that just yesterday, that scoop of tasty goodness was regular milk!

So what do you need to make yogurt? Not much.  You need milk, a pot to heat it in, a thermometer, a container to let the yogurt sit in (I use the casserole dish pictured here) and a way to keep the yogurt a bit warmer than room temperature while it sets up.  For most people, the easiest way to do that is to set the oven to “warm” while heating the milk, then turning the oven off and turning the oven light on.  I don’t have an oven light, so I heat a tea pot full of water to boiling, and put that in the oven to act as a heat source.

I like to use a container with a cover for my yogurt. I don’t think you have to, but it does help to keep in the warmth, and since I’ve never tried making yogurt without a covered container, I can’t be certain how it would turn out.

Finally, you’ll need 2 tablespoons of yogurt for every quart of milk. I usually go with heaping tablespoons.  The first time I made yogurt, I purchased a container of “fruit on the bottom” yogurt at the store, and used the plain yogurt as my starter.  Store bought yogurt still has plenty of active cultures in it, and the additives they put in are so diluted by the time you’ve made a few batches it no longer matters.

As I mentioned earlier, I like the thick, Greek style yogurt. This is what you’ll need to turn your yogurt into the thick, Greek style yogurt (which you can use instead of sour cream in most recipes).  You need a strainer, a bowl to catch the whey as it drains off, and something to line the strainer with.  I use cheese cloth, but in a pinch, any thin material would work.  I’d avoid towels (trust me on this - there was an experiment making ricotta cheese that went terribly wrong) and stick with maybe a nice, clean square cut out of an old sheet or T-shirt.  I’ve also heard that coffee filters will work for this as well.

The clothespins are optional, but I find them helpful since the cheesecloth I’m using is not quite wide enough to cover the whole strainer, and I usually make enough yogurt I have to strain 2 or more batches.

You’ll have plenty of time to set this up later - you won’t need it for 8 or more hours.

Let’s get started! The first thing you want to do is pour the milk into a pot, and heat it to between 180 and 190 degrees.  Do this over a medium heat, since you don’t want to overshoot.  Milk is a very complex system of water, fats and proteins.  Heating it to just under boiling changes the bonds in this complex network, and allows the yogurt to really get in there and do it’s thing.  I have a digital thermometer that lets me set an alarm to alert me when I hit a certain temperature, which is nice.  I turn the heat on, set the alarm for 185 degrees, and then go do something else.

Another nice feature is the magnet on the back - I set it on the hood where it’s both at eye level and out of the way.  Now we’ve established that Oneida makes a nice digital thermometer, and that Mom gives great gifts.  Thanks Mom!

At this point, I usually measure out my starter yogurt and let it start to warm up while the milk is cooking.  I just drop it into the casserole dish I mentioned earlier, and leave it sitting on the counter.

Are you ready for the hard part?

Now wait. The milk needs to be  just under boiling, between 180 and 190 degrees.  You can stir occasionally if you like.  Make sure your thermometer isn’t touching the bottom of the pot - you want the temperature of the milk, not of the pot where it’s on the burner.  If that last bit sounds like a lesson learned the hard way, it was.  When you’re at the right temperature, you’ll see just a bit of a film on the top of the milk, along with a few foamy bubbles:

Next, the milk needs to cool - viagra online without prescription.It needs to be between 115 and 120 degrees when you mix in the starter yogurt.  Turn off the heat, stir it a little to break up the film, and then let it cool.  Just keep checking back every 10 minutes until it’s close.  I usually let mine get to around 120 to 125 degrees, as it loses a few degrees when I pour it into the casserole dish.  The starter yogurt is already there, and should be close to room temperature by now.  I pour in about a cup or so of the milk, then mix it with the starter yogurt.  Now add the rest of the milk and stir it for a few seconds.  As you can see, I was at 114 degrees when I finished this step.  As long as you’re in the ballpark, you’re fine.

Now put the yogurt into the warm (but turned off) oven. Now give it some time to set up.  Time isn’t critical here, but you want to give it at least four to four and a half hours.  I’ve left it as long as 6 and some recipes call for 8 or more hours, or “overnight”.

I still find this part to be awesome and amazing. Yogurt!  From milk!  Presto-Change-o!  Wow! (picture me waving my arms about in dramatic fashion).

I freely admit I’m easily amazed sometimes.  Next, you’ll want to cover it back up and put it in the fridge to cool.  It will set and firm up as it cools.  Again, time in not critical, you can let it cool a few hours or overnight.

At this point, it’s ready to eat. And man, is it good.  If you’ve ever tried plain yogurt from the store, you know that it’s bland and maybe a little bitter.  Trying plain yogurt from the store convinced me that yogurt MUST have added flavor.  Not this stuff.  It has a tart, tangy flavor all it’s own.  I prefer the thick, creamy Greek style yogurt ( especially if I’m going to thin it back out by adding fruit), so I usually strain off the whey.  This is where the strainer, bowl and cheese cloth come in.

Scoop the yogurt into the strainer and let sit for an hour or so. Depending on how thick the yogurt was when I scooped it in, sometimes this takes 45 minutes, other times it takes 2 or more hours.  Just let it sit until it’s as thick as you’d like.

You can throw the whey out, but I save mine.  You can use it to make ricotta cheese ( I sense a follow up post coming…) or it makes an interesting and flavorful cold drink on a hot day (touch it up with a little sugar, or a pinch of salt).

I enjoy stirring in some pureed fruit (strawberries, blue berries (pictured), peaches, mangoes, etc) as well as eating it straight.  I’ve read that fresh yogurt like this should keep 7 to 10 days in the fridge, but mine never makes it that long.  Don’t forget to save the last few spoonfuls for your next batch!

bon appetit!

To recap, here’s the recipe you’d put on the 3×5 notecard:

Heat 1 quart of milk to between 180-190 degrees.
Let cool to between 115-120 degrees.
Stir in 2 heaping tablespoons of room temperature plain yogurt.
Cover and let sit in a warm area for at least 4 hours.
Refrigerate for several hours.
Strain if desired; viagra online without prescription.