Hope everyone has been keeping well and healthy. I’ve been limiting my shopping trips and trying to use local suppliers to have most of our groceries delivered. Every morning, I look through the best before dates and try and plan meals according to what should be used up first. This week, I noticed that we were running out of yogurt and I decided to make my own, as my mother had taught to me, all those years ago. Now I want to share this easy recipe with you:-
Just 2 ingredients
1 pint (568ml) of whole/semi milk
4 - 6 heaped tablespoons of old ‘live’ yogurt or yogurt culture starter pack
It’s really important that your ‘old’ yogurt has live active yogurt cultures” in the ingredients, as these turn the milk into yogurt. I used Yeo Valley Organic Natural yogurt which had these ingredients:- "No added ingredients, This Yogurt contains only Milk's naturally occurring Sugar (Lactose), Contains the following Live Cultures: Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Streptococcus Thermophilus".
Different strains of bacteria in yogurt, give different health benefits, so the more there are, the better it is for you. The flavour from the ‘old’ yogurt will carry over to the home-made yogurt, so choose your favourite live yogurt when you start making your own.
Method
1. Heat milk until it reaches just below boiling point, about 93 °C (200 °F), stirring continuously. The milk needs to be heated to change its protein structure so it will set later and not separate out.
2. Let the milk cool down. To avoid the thick milk skin from forming, you can either stir it from time to time or just leave it and remove the skin later. The milk should be warm to touch, about 43°C (110 °F). I left mine to cool about an hour.
3. Add some milk into the old yogurt, in a bowl, to thin it down a little, then add the mixture into the warm milk and whisk gently.
4. Pour into a casserole dish or insulated dish and leave in a warm place for 4 hours or even overnight. The ideal temperature is about 43°C (110°F)
(I actually left mine in my oven, as I had a warm setting of 20°C (68 °F) but I warmed up the oven first on a higher temperature. Other places could be a warm airing cupboard, a sunny spot in your house or even use a slow cooker)
5. Now the waiting game! The bacteria will start working to turn the milk into yogurt but this is a slow process. Do not stir the yogurt during this time. If you check it after 4 hours and it still doesn’t look set, just leave it for a few more hours.
6. Take the yogurt out of the oven/warm place and let it cool. Once cool, transfer into a container and refrigerate.
Homemade yogurt will usually keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator but if you see any mould on the surface, then discard. As long as some ‘old’ yogurt is kept aside, you can carry on making yogurt at home.
Tip: Keep a small amount hidden away in a sealed container in the fridge, as you will need this to make yogurt again, just in-case someone in the family finishes the yogurt!
Please click below for a short video.
