I made yogurt yesterday, and you can too!
We've been buying those little plastic cartons of yogurt in the store. You have to read the labels on those things, because it's astonishing how many calories they can pack into one of those little cups. Even if it says "light," "sugar free," or "fat free," it can still have stuff in it I'd rather not consume. For instance, "fat free" might be sweetened with sugar or, worse, high fructose corn syrup. "Sugar free" might be sweetened with aspartame or have more fat in it than I like, and who knows what "light" is supposed to mean. It seems to be different from one brand to another, or even from one flavor to another. I haven't figured out a consistent commonality in "light" yogurts. Light in color, maybe? Even "plain" yogurt sometimes has sweeteners and flavoring in it, so you really have to read the labels! Suffice to say that I read labels and I don't always like what I see on the ingredients list, totally aside from the fact that they're all packaged in plastic. And then there's the cost. Depending on brand and store, you can pay anywhere from .59 to over a dollar each for the little darlings. As much yogurt as we eat, it seemed worthwhile to look into making our own.
A great thing about this project is that you can use any kind of milk you wish, all the way from 4% whole milk, 2%, fat-free, cow's milk, goat's milk, or soy milk. I purchased a container of fat free powdered milk. That's powdered, not instant. "Instant" milk has other stuff in it to make it easier to blend with water. This powdered milk I got (Sanalac brand), not being instant, you mix it up and put it in the 'fridge and let it set for a while if you're going to drink it. I mixed up enough to make a batch of yogurt right away, plus have some to put in the 'fridge, for drinking, or to use for the next batch of yogurt.
Okay, so here's how. I obtained a couple sets of those little glass Pyrex dishes with the snug-fitting lids. For this project I used the one cup size. You will also need a quart of milk, a thermometer, some yogurt starter, and a warm, still place to allow the yogurt to culture. An oven with a pilot light is perfect for this. A baking pan with warm tap water is a good thing to have ready to set the culturing dishes in, in the oven. Have everything out and ready. For your yogurt culture, you can either purchase actual "starter" from a health food store, or a carton of plain, live culture yogurt. Make sure it's really plain, with no sweeteners or flavorings! When you are ready to start, set the yogurt out so it can warm to room temperature.
First, you need to sterilize your milk. Put it in a pan (or a double boiler if you have one) and heat the milk slowly and gently to a scald, 180 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir constantly and check the temperature frequently while the milk heats up.
When the temperature of the milk reaches between 180 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit, remove from heat. Now you're going to let it cool down a little bit. You can go do something else for a little while, coming back to check the temperature of the milk about every five minutes or so. It needs to be cooler than 120 , but warmer than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. About 100 is a good, safe, middle range.
Measure out 2 Tablespoons of the plain yogurt, or the prescribed amount of health food store yogurt culture and whisk into the warm milk, blending well.
Pour into the glass dishes, one at a time. As you fill each one, cover tightly and place into the baking pan. I filled five one-cup dishes slightly less than full. When all your little tightly covered yogurt dishes are in the baking pan, add warm tap water to the level of the milk in the dishes. Carefully set in the oven with the pilot light. This should provide just enough warmth to culture your yogurt. LEAVE THEM ALONE for 8 to 14 hours!
When you bring them out of the oven, place them in the refrigerator. They should keep comfortably for as long as a week, but you'll have them eaten up before that, I'm sure.
If you like it plain, have it plain. If you like it sweetened, you may sweeten it with your sweetener of choice. If you like fruit or other things in your yogurt, you can add fruit and flavorings all day long and twice on Sunday, and YOU know exactly what is in your yogurt! Fresh fruit in season, frozen fruit, thawed, whole, chopped, or mashed. You are in charge and in control of what is in your yogurt. You don't have to worry about Mystery Ingredients, you don't have to worry about the brand-to-brand nuances of definition in terms of "fat free," "sugar free," and "light." And you don't have to worry about the little plastic containers, which could be a whole 'nother post all by themselves. Maybe another time.
Oh, and the money - I got the big container of Sanalac for $9.75 at my neighborhood grocery store. That container has 39 servings in it. One serving of reconstituted milk makes one serving of yogurt. $9.75 divided by 39 servings is 25 cents per serving.
My plan is to do up a batch of yogurt after supper so it can do its thing in the oven overnight. You may be surprised, as I was, at how thoroughly pleasant a still-warm, freshly cultured cup of yogurt is! Flat knock your lights out in a bowl of oatmeal! You will see that a little liquid separates from the body of the yogurt. You can either pour that off (CAREFULLY or your yogurt will slip away with it!) or stir it in.
So go on - give it a try!
