Yep. I did it. Trader Joes will be sad to know that I will no longer be splurging on our favorite breakfast treat – Greek yogurt. “Why?”, you ask? Oh, because I MADE MY OWN GREEK YOGURT! The Little Red House recently had a post about homemade yogurt. I thought it was something I could handle, and I was right. It’s SUPER easy:
What you will need: -½ gallon of milk
-4 T of plain yogurt (check the ingredients to make sure it has active cultures.)
1. Bring milk to a boil. I keep stirring it and watching it closely so it won’t burn. I have some memory of a 4-H project gone bad where we burnt milk and it still haunts me.
2. Once it’s boiling remove from heat let it cool down to 100-105 degrees. This takes a while, so if you’re anxious about your homemade yogurt like I was, then go check facebook while your waiting or else it seems like forever.
3. At some point while the milk is cooling, add a little bit of milk to the yogurt, to make it runny.
4. Once milk is finally 100-105 degrees, remove skin and stir in the yogurt.
5. Now just place a lid on your pan, and wrap it up in a towel. Put it in the oven with the oven light on. Leave the oven OFF. I know it sounds weird, but it works. Let it sit like this for 16 hours.
6. After 16 hours, check it! You should have Yogurt! Horray! Now you can stir the whey that is on top into the yogurt to make plain yogurt. Or, if you would like Greek yogurt, keep reading.
7. Pour off the whey that has settled on top. If you’d like to keep it, you can google lots of uses for it, it’s still very nutritious.
8. Now you need to strain your yogurt. You can use 2 layers of cheesecloth, or if you’re like me and don’t keep cheese cloth at home and you forgot to buy it at the store, use coffee filters. Worked like a charm, and they’re very cheap. So line a colander with cheesecloth or coffee filters (I used about 5 filters) and place the colander in a bowl.
9. Pour yogurt in and cover with foil. Now just let it sit for 6-8 hours. I stirred mine a few times too. There will be a lot of whey in the bowl when you’re done, you can save that too.
10. Ta-da!! Now enjoy your homemade Greek yogurt!!!
This yogurt is SOOOOO good. It’s much better than the stuff from the store. It’s thicker and it actually tastes less yogurty, it’s not as tangy. It’s heavenly. I added some strawberries and maple syrup. Please make it and let me know how it goes!!
**Additional Note** My Aunt Kathi just had a really good question - Do you need to use whole milk? A: No! I have used 2% and 1%, and both turned out fabulous. I'm sure you could also use skim, which I might try next. Be sure to let me know if you have any more questions!
**Additional Note** My Aunt Kathi just had a really good question - Do you need to use whole milk? A: No! I have used 2% and 1%, and both turned out fabulous. I'm sure you could also use skim, which I might try next. Be sure to let me know if you have any more questions!
9 comments:
isn't it the best!!! I just took another batch out tonight....we are obsessed:)
thanks for stopping by:)
I don't know why my comments are not posting...I'll try again. Can't wait to try this. But what about refrigeration?
You can also make cheese in a similar way. Once you get to the plain yogurt stage, add one T of salt per quart of yogurt. Place in a colander with the cheesecloth (coffee filters) and let sit at room temp for 24 hours. Then refrigerate for a couple of hours. Serve on bread or crackers with olive oil and some herbs and spices.
Oh, by the way, if you wondering why Ali is sharing recipes, it is because her husband is to lazy to get his own google account and is using her password.
Ali (Jon) - lol. I did wonder about that. I'll try the cheese out too.
Mom - I'm not sure about the refrigeration, but we've eaten two batches now and we've been fine.
I'm making my first batch right now. I sure hope it works.
Ok, the moment of truth! I mixed some mashed strawberries and Splenda into my yogurt. It was pretty good. I've learned a few things...I think. Don't use too big of pan for boiling your milk. I think it caused too much evaporation and scalding before it would come to a boil. If you use a 3 quart sauce pan it will allow the thermometer to read the temperature more accurately and the milk to boil quicker without burning. Also a double boiler might work well. I'll try that on my next batch.
Started batch #2 tonight. I used a double boiler this time. No burning of the milk and it seemed to boil quicker for me. I think the smaller pan size helped with that.
I did it! It turned out amazing! The double boiler worked great and the yogurt is almost like real whipped cream with a hint of yogurt taste. I tried adding a tiny bit of lemon juice, vanilla & Splenda and it tasted like lemon chiffon. Yummy!
Ok, just finished batch #3 using skim milk. I tried something new. In a small bowl I mixed about 4 oz of yogurt with some Splenda and peppermint extract. A M A Z I N G! This has a light, cool flavor. Yummy!
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