I love yogurt! But the stuff you buy in the store is so wimpy, and they add sugar and other weird ingredients. I don't want to eat chemicals, and I don't like sweet yogurt. I like it nice and tangy. If I want it sweet, I can add my own sweetener (like liquid Stevia drops). Really though, I just prefer it simple and plain. That way I can dip veggies into it, or spread it on a muffin, or whatever.
For several months (up until last year) we were driving about 20 minutes away to a small farm where they make pecorino cheese, ricotta and yogurt with sheep's milk. It was very good and not too expensive, but the 40 minute round trip drive just to buy a few products started to get annoying. Then a friend (the same one who told us about the sheep farm) told us that his wife got a yogurt maker and was making her own yogurt at home. So I decided to try doing it myself!
There is nothing easier. You only need 2 ingredients: yogurt starter & milk. The yogurt starter can be the powdered kind, or just some yogurt that you have left over (plain yogurt, of course). Here is how I make mine. We eat a lot of it, and I have 2 machines so I can make a double batch. I'm doing a low carb diet (Keto) so I use full fat milk. You can use low fat or skimmed, if you prefer.
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (for each machine)
- 1 liter whole milk (for each machine)
I have the type of machine where there is just a single container (not the kind with little jars). The instructions for my machine has you heat the milk to 42-44 degrees C. I put the (cold) leftover yogurt in the container that gets inserted into the yogurt maker. At that point I turn on the machines so they start warming up.
Then I heat the milk on the stove until it reaches 46-48 degrees C (see your own machine's instructions). I keep stirring the milk as it heats, and occasionally dip a meat/candy thermometer into it, to check the progress. Once it's hot enough I pour it into the container of the machine with the leftover yogurt, and stir until it's dissolved. When I'm making a double batch (using 2 machines) I heat the 2 liters of milk separately, and pour half of each into the machines and stir, then repeat so that each machine has 1 liter of milk. You could do it all together, but I have a 1.5 liter saucepan that fits perfectly in the dishwasher, so I don't have to hand wash a bigger pan.
After that, it's just a matter of popping the lids on, and waiting 10 to 12 hours. I typically mix it all up in the morning, and it's done around dinner time. I pull the containers out of the machines, turn them off, and let the containers sit on the counter for about 1 hour. Then I pour the yogurt into another container that is fitted with a fine sieve for making Greek yogurt. My machines came with these accessories.
Note: not quite all of the yogurt will fit into my sieve, so I keep the extra bit in another container for mixing back into the drained yogurt, later. Then I just pop the yogurt into the fridge and let it drain overnight. In the morning it's super thick, almost like ricotta or cream cheese. I mix it all together, adding the extra liquid yogurt that didn't fit into the sieves, and stir well. It's pretty thick, so I typically use a wire whisk to smooth out the lumps. If it's still too thick I add a little of the whey (the liquid that is left over after draining the yogurt in the sieve), but we like our yogurt very thick, so I only add a tiny bit. Mix yours to the thickness that you prefer.
Now just pop it back into the fridge. I store mine in a "bucket" type plastic container that the store bought yogurt comes in.
Comments
Post a Comment