On making Yogurt

I have 2 passions in life: Coffee and yogurt... and bread and my garden and... Wait that's not going to work. I'd be here all day if i started counting things that make me wild with excitement but right now i'm only here to talk about one thing. The many reasons why you want to make your very own homemade yogurt. 

The web is full of tips and tricks on this subject - and every other subject for that matter. Some make it seem confusing and others add a lot of ingredients that i don't believe in. 

The first reason I started making yogurt is that i like to make good use of the resources at hand and we just happen to have a 106 cows who are offering us a lot of milk. They provide the main source of income for our family and give me the opportunity to cultivate a growing passion for exploring the process of fermentation and making use of good bacteria.

There's a chance you don't have that much milk at your fingertips, but there are plenty more reasons for you to consider making your own yogurt instead of buying.

1. More ways to buy fresh and local products. If you are lucky enough to have access to a dairy farm in your neighborhood where you can get fresh raw milk, you should certainly take the opportunity to do so. Some farms sell it bottled and lightly pasteurized which is a good choice too. In Florida my parents live close to Dakin Dairy Farms, a large family farm that produces and bottles their own milk. My mom also gets cream from them and makes butter. I come from a long line of industrious women.

Go to a local farmers market or do some research, you'll find most areas have some access to local dairy.

2. It's so much better for you. Real yogurt is made up of live, active cultures, which makes it a "living" food. It's good for the life and flora in your belly. I believe we're seeing a lot more "lactose intolerance" because we are consuming dairy that is over-pasteurised and stripped of these essentials, making our bodies react negatively because they're not actually getting nourishment from what we're consuming. A lot of commercial yogurts (Yoplait is one of the worst) have a long list of ingredients including artificial colors, flavors and processed sweeteners. When you make your own, you can decide what to add based on your preferences and priorities for health. 

Greek Yogurt is fairly recent trend here in the states, with sales rising from 3% in 2009 to 36% Jan. 2013, thanks to Chobani, but it is not a new method. It's made by straining regular yogurt as opposed to adding gelatin like most commercial yogurts do. The results are thicker, creamier and packed with protein. The downside is that it takes 3 pounds of yogurt to make 1 pound of Greek yogurt which means it is more expensive to produce and there is also a by-product, whey, to deal with. Chobani makes real yogurt that is actually worth a slightly higher price tag, but the staggering success of this company has also brought a lot of cheap imitations from others. That is what's happening to yogurt today and it's a subject that makes me hot under the collar. I'm trying to reign myself in so i don't go on a rant here but essentially, what happens is that a good product becomes stripped of it's virtues because it's cheaper to manufacture it with preservatives and artificial ingredients. That is really the state of the entire industrial food system, yogurt is just one of many products affected. Knowing that you can make your own means you can actively participate in your own health. Yogurt is fermented milk; fermentation is a natural preservative.

3. Satisfaction.  There's nothing like the satisfaction of a domestic triumph. It becomes an addiction and pretty soon, you'll see how things work and it gives you the ability to make more things. The fact that milk can turn into yogurt is a miracle every time.

My sister-in-law first taught me how to make yogurt. She broke it down in a simple way that made it seem very possible for me and I've learned so much just by doing this on a regular basis. One of the most important things is to be consistent and do it the same way every time. Once you're comfortable with the process then you can try different things. If you keep reading about it there are new discoveries all the time, which is part of what keeps it exciting.

It works best to make it at the same time of day every time. I do it in the evening, with the same tools and pots. The only fail i had so far is when i tried making raw milk yogurt. That is a whole other deep subject in itself that we won't get into here.

 Simple Homemade Yogurt

You will need: 

1 gallon fresh whole milk.

Raw milk with cream if you can get your hands on it. 

2 Tablespoons Yogurt with acidophilus (live cultures) to use as a starter. .

Try a plain whole milk yogurt, Dannon or Chobani for example

6 pint jars, or 4 quart jars

Thermometer

 {a good time to do some reading}

In a heavy bottom kettle, bring milk to 180 degrees on medium heat, stirring often.

Cool to 120 degrees. 

It only takes a few minutes plunged into a sink filled with cold water, stirring constantly.

Remove 1 cup of milk and whisk in 2 T. yogurt starter. Add to the rest of the milk. It may be tempting to do more starter but it's not necessary.

Pour into glass canning jars and top with lids (flats only)

Place onto a sturdy cookie sheet and tuck the jars into the oven with the oven light on. Or if you don't have a light inside you can heat the oven to 200 degrees, then turn it off before putting your jars inside.

Leave in overnight, or at least 8 hours. 

At this point, refrigerate for at least an hour before trying it, or 

pour into a colander lined with 2 layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter. 

Strain off the whey for 15 - 30 min, the longer it goes the thicker it will be. At 2 hours or more of straining it becomes a soft Yogurt Cheese.

An immersion blender will take any lumps out that you can't get by stirring. Chill before using.

Don't forget to keep 2 tablespoons yogurt "seed" for the next batch. You can freeze if necessary.

Keep the whey to use when cooking rice or making bread in place of water, use to preserve homemade mayo, or feed it to the chickens.

It's really wonderful to serve yogurt with local maple syrup, honey, or you can also use homemade jam for a little sweetness.

  

Make a batch of granola at the same time and you have just made yourself a happy little situation to wake up to in the morning.

There are lots of ways to incubate yogurt. For further reading start with:

101 Cookbooks: Using a yogurt maker

The Blissfully Content Life: For a crockpot method