Making Homemade Yogurt
All right, ariadne1 , your Imperio finally got me. Here is the making yogurt at home post I promised I'd do. With lots of helpful pictures. :)
Here are the nifty yogurt making tools needed: A Yogotherm (left), a digital cooking thermometer (attached to the control panel of my stovetop, a 4 quart pot (mine is an anodized steel non-stick job), a 2 quart measuring cup, slotted spoon, ladle, wire whisk, and one measuring tablespoon.
I wash all of the cooking implements in soapy hot water before I start. The only cultures I want to grow are yogurt cultures!
Ingredients needed : one half gallon of milk (Whole, 2%, non-fat, Organic - you pick it) that has not been ultra-pasteurized. Regular pasteurized and raw milk only. If you like custard-styled yogurt, use 1 tablespoon of unflavored gelatin as a thickener. You can also use two tablespoons of powdered milk instead if you aren't a fan of gelatin.
For those that like Swiss-style yogurt, no thickeners are needed.
All right, so we've put the half gallon of milk in the measuring cup and added the tablespoon of gelatin. I'm using the wire whisk to blend it with the milk now.
So, now the milk goes in the pot and I've set the burner two clicks above LOW on my stovetop. The milk needs to slowly heat to 185F. Do not allow it to boil at any time during this process or you will kill off the bacteria that allows it to ferment (turn into yogurt). It takes about 20 minutes on my stove using the 'High Performance eye". You won't need to stir the mixture.
When the thermometer says 185F, turn the stovetop off and let the milk cool to 128F. If you are in a hurry, you can make an ice bath in the sink and bring the temperature down in about 3 - 4 minutes. I usually let it happen naturally, which takes from 16 - 25 minutes depending on the temperature of my kitchen.
When the thermometer reaches 128F, use the slotted spoon to remove any skin that has formed on top of the milk as it cooled.
Now, it's time to inoculate the milk. You can use pre-packaged yogurt cultures or you can use actual plain yogurt from the store. I like to use Greek-style plain yogurt if I don't have any homemade yogurt left over when I make a new batch. Take 4 tablespoons of yogurt and place it in the measuring cup.
Now add a ladle full of the hot milk to the yogurt.
Use the whisk again and blend the milk and yogurt until mixture is smooth.
Add the mixture back to the pot.
Gently stir. Don't touch the bottom of the pot when you do this. There is a layer of skin at the bottom and you don't want to disturb it.
When the thermometer reads 118F, remove the probe from the pot and pour mixture into the plastic pail insert from the Yogtherm unit.
Put the top on the pail and insert into the Yogotherm.
Place the cover on the Yogotherm and let the mixture sit undisturbed for 3 - 7 hours. Three hours gives you the mildest flavoring and seven gives it a sharp tang. Here at arynwy !Family household, we pull the pail out and refrigerate at five hours.
It takes about five hours of refrigeration to cool the mixture. Use fresh fruit, fruit preserve, honey or whatever suits to flavor an individual serving. Two quarts of yogurt lasts us about a week.
Rinse all of your cooking implements with COLD water as soon as you are done. If you use a non-stick pot, the skin will rinse right off. DO NOT USE HOT WATER TO RINSE. ariadne1 told me that it turns the milk into cement and is almost impossible to remove. Since she is the one that taught me how to make yogurt, I will take her word for it. You should too.
A half gallon of milk runs about .89 cents US dollars and the whole cooking process takes less than an hour, so I think we are ahead of the game here. You can purchase the Yogotherm here.
Here are the nifty yogurt making tools needed: A Yogotherm (left), a digital cooking thermometer (attached to the control panel of my stovetop, a 4 quart pot (mine is an anodized steel non-stick job), a 2 quart measuring cup, slotted spoon, ladle, wire whisk, and one measuring tablespoon.
I wash all of the cooking implements in soapy hot water before I start. The only cultures I want to grow are yogurt cultures!
Ingredients needed : one half gallon of milk (Whole, 2%, non-fat, Organic - you pick it) that has not been ultra-pasteurized. Regular pasteurized and raw milk only. If you like custard-styled yogurt, use 1 tablespoon of unflavored gelatin as a thickener. You can also use two tablespoons of powdered milk instead if you aren't a fan of gelatin.
For those that like Swiss-style yogurt, no thickeners are needed.
All right, so we've put the half gallon of milk in the measuring cup and added the tablespoon of gelatin. I'm using the wire whisk to blend it with the milk now.
So, now the milk goes in the pot and I've set the burner two clicks above LOW on my stovetop. The milk needs to slowly heat to 185F. Do not allow it to boil at any time during this process or you will kill off the bacteria that allows it to ferment (turn into yogurt). It takes about 20 minutes on my stove using the 'High Performance eye". You won't need to stir the mixture.
When the thermometer says 185F, turn the stovetop off and let the milk cool to 128F. If you are in a hurry, you can make an ice bath in the sink and bring the temperature down in about 3 - 4 minutes. I usually let it happen naturally, which takes from 16 - 25 minutes depending on the temperature of my kitchen.
When the thermometer reaches 128F, use the slotted spoon to remove any skin that has formed on top of the milk as it cooled.
Now, it's time to inoculate the milk. You can use pre-packaged yogurt cultures or you can use actual plain yogurt from the store. I like to use Greek-style plain yogurt if I don't have any homemade yogurt left over when I make a new batch. Take 4 tablespoons of yogurt and place it in the measuring cup.
Now add a ladle full of the hot milk to the yogurt.
Use the whisk again and blend the milk and yogurt until mixture is smooth.
Add the mixture back to the pot.
Gently stir. Don't touch the bottom of the pot when you do this. There is a layer of skin at the bottom and you don't want to disturb it.
When the thermometer reads 118F, remove the probe from the pot and pour mixture into the plastic pail insert from the Yogtherm unit.
Put the top on the pail and insert into the Yogotherm.
Place the cover on the Yogotherm and let the mixture sit undisturbed for 3 - 7 hours. Three hours gives you the mildest flavoring and seven gives it a sharp tang. Here at arynwy !Family household, we pull the pail out and refrigerate at five hours.
It takes about five hours of refrigeration to cool the mixture. Use fresh fruit, fruit preserve, honey or whatever suits to flavor an individual serving. Two quarts of yogurt lasts us about a week.
Rinse all of your cooking implements with COLD water as soon as you are done. If you use a non-stick pot, the skin will rinse right off. DO NOT USE HOT WATER TO RINSE. ariadne1 told me that it turns the milk into cement and is almost impossible to remove. Since she is the one that taught me how to make yogurt, I will take her word for it. You should too.
A half gallon of milk runs about .89 cents US dollars and the whole cooking process takes less than an hour, so I think we are ahead of the game here. You can purchase the Yogotherm here.