Friday, February 26, 2010

Homemade Yogurt

Well I am tired of paying a high premium for whole milk yogurt for Q. I had seen this recipe a while back, so I decided to give it a try. It seems easy enough and so far it is! It is still making itself as I type...Another reason I am making this is I am finding I have been getting headaches from "fake sugar" so out the window that goes. Although I was on a mission to get rid of that too!

Homemade Yogurt-shared from A Year of Slow Cooking
8 cups of whole milk
1/2 cup store bought natural plain yogurt
heavy beach towel

Place milk in slow cooker and cook on low for 2.5 hrs. Unplug slow cooker, leave cover on, and let sit for 3 hrs. After 3 hours scoop out 2 cups of milk and whisk in yogurt. Dump back into slow cooker. Stir to combine.Put lid back on and cover with a heavy thick towel all the way around the crock. Let sit for 8 hrs. In the morning it will be thickened. Not as thick as store yogurt.

*You can add in pureed fruit or serve over fruit. Another option is to use unsweeteend jelly or presevers(Polaner All Fruit)

I have been experimenting with getting the yogurt thicker to no avail. It tastes like yogurt but right now the only thing I'm really able to do with it is make smoothies out of it. It's really to soupy to eat with a spoon...a straw would work well! I have homemade granola that is begging to be eaten with it. I've tried pectin, but that hasn't seemed to help. Does anyone think it needs to be warm so the pectin activates?(i have never used pectin), I could also try gelatin, but the little boy I watch can't have it...so right now I have some sitting in a paper towel/strainer in hopes that will help thicken it and I froze the rest for now. Any other insight is welcome!

18 comments:

  1. We haven't added anything to ours, but we do have luck straining it to the desired thickness with cheesecloth.

    Also, be sure you are using metal utensils - I adore my wooden spoons, but they can react with the yogurt somehow and cause it to not set up correctly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Try adding powdered milk. I've read on several sites that this does the trick. These people actually used powdered milk for the whole recipe. I've tried it,and it works well.

    Meliss

    ReplyDelete
  3. What is the beach towel for? And when do you strain it (and why)?
    This sounds facinating to me and as I love smoothies it sounds like a fun little project for spring/summer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the towel acts as insulation. i was straining it after to make it thicker. it takes on more of a greek yogurt feel. but you do not have too. another person suggested not to use a wooden spoon, and i think i may have, so that might be why mine didn't set up well. i will try it again

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've heard that using plain greek yogurt also helps thicken as well as the straining method, either or both may help..

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have made home made yogurt many times and Melissa is correct, adding powdered milk will thicken up the yogurt to a smooth and creamy consistency.
    Adjust amount of powdered milk to achieve consistency to your liking.

    ReplyDelete
  7. have thought of corn starch ? and could u use 2% milk and low fat yogurt.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is the recipe that we have used for a couple of years, from the same site. My daughter likes Greek-style yogurt, so we automatically pour the finished yogurt directly from the crockpot into a large colander lined with cheesecloth or a flour-sacking towel - we got ours at Big Lots. The towels are washable and re-usable. We have the colander set in a large bowl to catch the whey that drips out - if necessary, set a smaller container upside down in the center of the bowl so that the colander does not wind up sitting in the whey. When it gets to the desired thickness, just scoop it out of the colander into a container. We have never found the need for any extra thickeners - you can just let it drip until it is the consistency you like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've done the same with the cheese cloth and colander. Works very well. Is there anything you can do with they whey later?

      Delete
  9. Whey can be boiled down on medium until it turns a caramel colour, thickens and looks like butterscotch. It then tastes like Norweigan Ghetost, a very smooth cheese that is brown in colour and very smooth. I kept a cow for a while some years ago and would save the whey when I made cottage cheese and other things that required removing the whey. You would need several lots of whey from your yogurt making to have enough so I suggest saving the whey in the freezer until you have a few quarts.

    You may not get a lot of this cheese but you will enjoy the experience and the resulting new product. Mine was more like fudge, as I couldn't get it the smooth texture. But it is really good and an interesting taste. More like a candy than a cheese.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Full fat milk and -yoghurt produces a thicker yoghurt than the skimmed versions.
    To still thicken it further (after draining), try grinding up some Chia Seed and stirring that into the yoghurt, it absorbs liquid.
    Straining yoghurt used to be a normal practice here in the Netherlands. I remember my grandmother had a contraption which held a bottle upsidedown over a collander which she lined with a hanky and had space underneath for a bowl. In those days (late 50's) all you could buy was full fat yoghurt, no one had yet thought of poisoning the stuff with additives to make it low fat.... those were the days!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I make yogurt too but abit different and to make mine like Greek yogurt I stir in non fat dry milk before I let it cure/set/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Try adding chia seeds (grind them up first if you want). They have a natural gelling action that should firm it up.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wondering, would it get thicker if you used less milk? I'd like to know before I begin

    ReplyDelete
  14. Drain it overnight in the refrigerator using cheesecloth or a heavy cotton dishtowel. You put the colander in a bowl, line the colander with cheesecloth or towel, and then pour the mixture into the colander. It should be pretty sick in the morning. Also when you're making this, be sure use plain cultured yogurt. Do not use anything with sugar or flavorings in it. Evidently, those don't have the proper cultures.

    ReplyDelete