A couple of weeks ago, I tried my hand at making yogurt. I had read about it in this book, and thought it sounded like a neat idea because everyone around here loves yogurt. And the recipe had you mix milk, dry milk, and starter (store bought yogurt) the night before and leave it in the warmed-but-off crockpot all night. It couldn’t get much easier than that. So I gave it a shot!
But the first time, I forgot a very important part. The part where you heat up the milk. Yes, I tried to make yogurt with cold milk. That DOESN’T WORK! J Unfortunately, I didn’t figure that out until morning and I had wasted my quart of milk. It smelled like yogurt, but it was thin like milk. I didn’t want to throw it out, so I dug around online and found a delicious recipe for popsicles.
Creamsicle Popsicles
1 Quart of plain yogurt
1 large can of frozen orange juice concentrate
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
¼ Cup of honey
Mix all ingredients and pour into popsicle molds.
 |
Problem number 2: We didn’t have popsicle molds. So I used small Tupperware® containers instead. |
 |
The finished popsicles! |
A couple of weeks later I tried my yogurt again, but this time I did it during the day so I could regulate the heat in the crockpot. I thought perhaps it didn’t thicken because the crockpot got too cold. It worked pretty well, except that I had to keep turning the crockpot on when it got too cold, then turning it off after it got too hot. The yogurt was thicker, but still runnier than store bought. It was also rather tart.
So I am still searching for the best way to make yogurt. I have a feeling it’s supposed to be easier than the method I tried. Any suggestions?
When I make yogurt from goat's milk, I add thickener to it. You could try adding a couple of tablespoons of unflavored gelatin to your milk.
ReplyDeleteHi Bianca,
ReplyDeleteWe invested in a yogurt maker and it works great!! There is also a website called "A Year of Slow Cooking" that shows how to make yogurt in a slow cooker. It looks like it turned out really well. Maybe check it out. There are other great recipes on there too:)
Cindy
Wouldn't monitoring it over your stove work better? You could put it in a water bath which would keep the temperature a little more stable.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your suggestion, Amy! I had never really thought of adding gelatin. I'd be curious to know how natural gelatin is. Part of the reason we stopped buying yogurt was because of all the various ingredients that were added to it. We may just need to eat it a bit runnier and know that we aren't putting any extra preservatives in our bodies!
ReplyDelete~Bianca
I didn't know you had a yogurt maker, Aunt Cindy! You'll have to show it to me next time we visit. It's funny that you mentioned "A Year of Slow Cooking:" I just looked at that very post a few days ago! I'm thinking I may need to try the slow cooking method again.
ReplyDelete~Bianca
It probably would be easier to monitor the yogurt on the stove, Technoprairie. I just didn't think of that at the time. :-) Another friend suggested incubating it on the stove as well. I've had so many suggestions on different methods; it's time to start trying them out and finding which one works best for our family!
ReplyDelete~Bianca
Have you tried greek yogurt? Most brands have only a few ingredients and are all natural. It is also higher in protien than regular yogurt. Problem...it is expensive! I wonder if greek yogurt is easy to make...hummmmmm
ReplyDeleteI have never tried Greek yogurt, Aunt Debbie. I will have to look into buying some to try if I can find a good, organic version at the store. It is a recommended food for runners because of the high protein content. I think in order to make greek yogurt, you just have to strain the whey out of regular yogurt. If you google "How to make greek yogurt" you should be able to find some simple recipes.
ReplyDelete~Bianca