Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Make Your Own Greek Yogurt


Some of you may hate the idea of making your own yogurt because you think it's going to be runny, slimy stuff. Eww. I wouldn't like that either. BUT, you can make your own delicious and thick Greek yogurt, with very little cost and a good savings over the Greek style yogurt you purchase at the store.

First, I watched a video from YouTube (of course) a couple times and jotted notes on a piece of paper. (Video is embedded below.)

I did not use 'yogurt starter,' but instead used 5 oz. of yogurt with active live (or is it live active?) cultures as my 'starter.'

I will not show you the photo of the milk in the pan because it looks just like the milk in the pan when I made mozzarella or feta cheese. Search your memory.

SO, for any of you who would love to make your own delicious Greek yogurt, (and I mean delicious!) here's the recipe:

Greek Yogurt Recipe:

5 oz. plain yogurt with live active cultures

1 pint Halfnhalf
3 pints whole milk (pasteurized, but NOT ultra pasteurized)


Colander
Digital thermometer
(yogurt starter will die over 120 degrees and not work under 100 degrees)
cheese cloth
stock pot with lid
slotted spoon
oven at 100 degrees (or you can wrap it in a down-filled blanket and keep out of drafts)
(or if it's 100 degrees outdoors)...you get the idea.

Procedure:

Turn burner on med.
Put the pint of Halfnhalf into stock pot
Add 3 pints of whole milk

Check temp. while stirring.
Bring to185 degrees. (milk will be foamy but not boiling) Turn off, remove from heat
Let cool to 110 degrees. (or use the pinky in milk test: able to hold pinky in milk no longer than 10 seconds. That's from a different YouTube video. I'll stick with the first method, but good to have the information in case of a power outage.)
Do NOT add the yogurt starter until the milk has cooled to 110 degrees.The hot milk will kill it.

AFTER the milk has cooled to 110 degrees:
Add 5 oz. plain yogurt with live cultures. Stir in gently and thoroughly.
Cover pan and place in 100 degree oven for 12-14 hours. OR wrap in sweaters or down-filled blanket away from draft. (My oven, although it can be set to 100 degrees, has a safety feature that turns it off after 12 hours. Then I reset it and let the yogurt stay in the oven another one or two hours.)

After 12-14 hours, have cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl, ready to receive yogurt.

Remove yogurt pan from oven and pour gently into cheesecloth. There should be a couple inches of space between the bottom of the colander and the bottom of the bowl, allowing for good drainage of the whey. DO NOT COVER, and now place this colander and bowl into 100 degree oven for another 2 hours.


Remove from oven, let cool down (2 hours) enough to put in refrigerator box and whisk to make curd kind of smooth. (Save the whey in a glass jar and refrigerate. You can use it in your next batch of bread...recipe coming in a later post.)

 You can see how thick this got!

Scooped into the refrigerator storage container

I had thought that I might have to set it in a strainer in the refrigerator to get rid of more of the whey, but it wasn't necessary. This stuff is so think I can turn my bowl upside down and it won't fall out! (But take my word for it.)

Remember to use the last 5 oz. of your new yogurt as the starter for your next batch!

My daily yogurt-with-berries lunch:

5 oz. Greek yogurt
2 T. ground flaxseed
1 T. raspberry or blueberry jam (or berries)
1 heaping T. chopped almonds or walnuts

How to Make Greek Yogurt' - from YouTube:
The Greek flag is not an essential supply






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Author, Second Chance - A Tale of Two Puppies
Check out my handcrafted soaps at Soap'n'Such

16 comments:

  1. Oh, yet one more thing I always say I want to make, yet never do. I love your adventurous nature in the kitchen :) The yogurt looks like it turned out perfectly!

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  2. You are quickly becoming my hero in the kitchen. I tried to make my own clotted cream awhile ago and found out that my oven won't set below 200 (aaargh!) so I'm afraid I'd have to go the down comforter route. I wonder if my Crockpot on warm might work. My daughter loves Greek yoghurt but can't often afford it so I'll have to show her this recipe.

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  3. That looks absolutely delicious! I love good old whole milk Greek yogurt. But I always buy fat free Greek yogurt, because I am always trying to stay (or get)slim. I wonder what would happen with fat free half and half and fat free milk? Why don't you try it and let me know? Then I'll try it! :o)

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  4. Judy: Between your cooking, your sewing, your travels, your gardens, your family, your soaps, your blog, your friendships and your love for Jesus you truly are a remarkable woman! I absolutely love your photos that you take..well done :)

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  5. That yogurt with berries looks so, so good! Oh, what a simple, but perfect, treat ... :)

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  6. Mmm, that looks good! I love how you can learn so much on Youtube. I made your popover recipe the other day. It was yummy and super easy. Thanks for sharing all these great recipes.

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  7. That looks great! And Greek yogurt is EXPENSIVE in the grocery store!

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  8. My Mom has been saying that she wants to make yogurt. And thick Greek yogurt! That is even better! I am going to try it.

    Our stove doesn't go below 170 degrees either. I don't know why, everyone needs to keep bread warm, make yogurt and cook hot process soap!! lol

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  9. As I explained to someone, I'm not a hero in the kitchen, it's just that we had a loooooong winter! :-)

    I think that Crock Pots on the low setting have a temp of 125 degrees. That would be too hot for making yogurt. If your oven doesn't keep a 100 degree temp, then I'd go with the pot wrapped in a down-filled comforter and set in a sunny window (after you evict the cat.)

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  10. Another recipe I'll need to forward to my BFF!!

    Hope you are having a great week!

    :)
    Rach

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  11. I always say that I'm going to make yogurt... but I never do. I'll have to try it in the summer when it gets hot enough outside to keep it 100 degrees.

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  12. WOW!! You are amazing!! Love all the new things you are creating.

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  13. This I shall definitely have to try, your`e more adventurous than me in the cooking dept!
    I shall savour and enjoy xx

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  14. Now you are talking...homemade Greek yogurt! I love this stuff!! :)

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  15. You inspire me! I love Greek yogurt.

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  16. Judy, what do you do with the whey that drains off?

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