Summer is here and getting hot, hot, hot! It’s the perfect weather for yogurt: yogurt over fresh fruit for a light breakfast, blended with frozen fruit for an afternoon smoothie or frozen for a refreshing treat as the temperature rises. Unfortunately, our little one quart yogurt maker can’t keep up with the demand this time of year, but it doesn’t have to.
After all, all that handy little appliance does is keep my culture at 85 degrees or so until I turn it off. With outside temperatures staying in the 80s and 90s, there is no need whatsoever to plug in my yogurt maker and I can now make yogurt by the gallon.
All you need is a little yogurt, a lot of milk and a pan to heat it in.
Ingredients:
8 oz yogurt (plain, unsweetened and with live, active cultures)
1 quart milk
Procedure:
1) Heat milk to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit to thoroughly pasteurize but do not let it boil. This makes sure the only bacteria you culture is the yogurt making bacteria (lactobacillus acidophilus). I’m real exact about this. I stick my pinky in the milk and if it “bites,” it has achieved the proper temperature.
That’s because I learned to make yogurt from a Kurdish woman and I was under the impression they weren’t in the habit of using kitchen thermometers.
2) Set milk aside to cool to somewhere between 80 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, you can double check with your pinky. If it is slightly warmer than lukewarm, it’s ready.
3) Stir in yogurt. Or should I say lightly mix in? The more you stir, the more sour your yogurt will be. I usually add a little milk into my yogurt and stir to make it liquidy then stir that into the milk with three or four slow strokes.
4) Cover and set aside for eight to ten hours where it will stay warm. A covered porch, a garage, or if you’re fortunate enough to not have AC like us, then you can just set it on the counter.
5) Refrigerate when thickened and sweeten according to taste. With sugar. With honey. With homemade mulberry syrup. With your favorite jelly. Or just eat it plain. It’s that good.
Now, the ingredient proportions do not need to be exact. You just need a little yogurt to get your yogurt started, but this proportion seems to work well pretty consistently without taking too long. And you know the best part? You just need to save back some of this batch to start your next batch! No need to buy more yogurt for your next batch.
After awhile, the yogurt culture will get “tired.” Meaning that you’ll suddenly have a thin batch. Then you know it is time to buy a new container of yogurt to start your next batch. This usually happens to me when I leave the yogurt starter in the refrigerator for a few days before trying to start the next batch. The sooner you use it, the better it will be.
Your homemade yogurt may not be quite as thick as store bought, but it tastes much fresher and you have complete control over how you sweeten and flavor it. After awhile, you will notice that store bought yogurt has a sort of strange, gelatiny feel to it. That’s because a lot of yogurts are made with a thin yogurt thickened with gelatin.
Yours is 100% yogurt, 100% fresh and 100% delicious!
Roscommon Acres is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Turn your children out on the pasture, pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation!
Thursday, 1. July 2010
Thanks! How come I had no idea making yogurt was so simple? I look forward to trying this. We are eating so much yogurt right now. This will be fun and save my family money.
Renae´s last blog ..One Income in a Two Income World
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Dana Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 9:22 am
It is definitely cheaper and so much more delicious!
Dana´s last blog ..How to make yogurt without a yogurt maker
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Thursday, 1. July 2010
If you use goat milk, there’s no need to pasteurize it. According to your instructions, you would just need to warm it up a bit (if it’s not fresh from the nanny).
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Dana Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 10:45 am
I’m not sure how much you need to pasteurize it anyway, since the lactobacillus pretty much drives everything else out, but I figure it doesn’t hurt anything!
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Thursday, 1. July 2010
For years I’ve made yogurt in a thermos. It never occurred to me that in the summer I could just leave it outside!
GrowerJim´s last blog ..Nidularium leprosa
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Thursday, 1. July 2010
we use a dehydrator (excalibor) to set it at the 125 degrees. that dehydrator was one of our best investments! before that we put yogurt in the oven, heated the oven for a few seconds and just checked it periodically through the day, reheating when it got too cool.
Now if you want to make cream cheese, take that yogurt and strain it through a couple layers of cheese cloth or a thin dish towel. We line a collendar with the cloth and set that in a tall stew pot. The whey drains through and what’s left (after several hours of draining) is cream cheese. we salt it and season it with chives and put it on toast. Use the whey to make all kinds of healthy things like kimchi, gingered carrots, whey lemonade or just give house plants a boost.
Alison´s last blog ..Sweet Potatoes Galore-
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Dana Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 10:44 am
Yum! We’ve made yogurt cheese before, too.
Dana´s last blog ..How to make yogurt without a yogurt maker
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Thursday, 1. July 2010
I’m going to refer back to this as soon as I make sure that our oldest has outgrown her lactose tolerance as appears to be so. I’ve been thinking of investing in a yogurt maker so maybe now I don’t need one!
LivingOurWay´s last blog ..The Garden Song
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Dana Reply:
July 1st, 2010 at 10:04 pm
You can do this in cooler weather as well, especially on a day when you plan on doing lots of baking. The yogurt sits on the back of the stove enjoying the radiant heat just fine!
Dana´s last blog ..How to make yogurt without a yogurt maker
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Sunday, 4. July 2010
random comment with nothing to do with yogurt. i had just heard of using niacin to aid in many psycholigical issues (from the great documentary “Food Matters”) and started researching it for a friend who has a son with PICA and multiple other issues. I stumbled upon this website and was ASTOUNDED at the research that has been done, what has been common knowledge among orthomolecular physicians for DECADES yet is unknown by virtually everyone else. Amazing things have been done by correcting B-vitamin deficiencies. This journal I’m linking is banned from the AMA library…. probably because its curing people all over without chemical meds! Anyway, I thought I’d pass the info on. You can search “children PICA treatment” and get some articles. Also look for “B3 dependent children”. I pray this helps your son!
http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/index.shtml
Alison´s last blog ..dinner
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Tuesday, 6. July 2010
I remember my parents making yogurt this way! They’d actually put the wrap-covered bowl on top of the water heater. In the morning we’d have fresh yogurt. I’m tired of the commercial brands and their needless additives, it’s back to making our own!
Carina´s last blog ..EVO Conference – Day One – I Manipulate My Friends
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