Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Project Homemade: Yogurt

As promised I'm here this week to report on my homemade yogurt experiment.

In a nutshell....it was great! As a matter of fact I'm eating it this morning as I type this.

I followed (very closely) the directions I found at Kitchen Stewardship and everything happened just as she said it would. I made two quarts of yogurt yesterday afternoon and I'm eating it this morning....that's pretty cool.

Even though I made two identical jars of yogurt they did not turn out the same as far as consistency. One was much thicker with a layer of whey on top, while the other was a little more runny (but not too runny).

I will say that I did have to overcome a little mental hurdle in order to stick my spoon into a jar of rotten curdled milk and eat it, but as soon as I tasted it my taste buds told my brain that I was eating yogurt and all was well. We'll see if I can get the kids to eat it. I may have to just put it into smoothies for them.

There really isn't any need for me to post the recipe here since I could never do it as well as Katie already did at Kitchen Stewardship, but I'll give you a brief overview so you can see if you even want to head over to KS and try it out.

You just put milk in to glass jars and then heat them up in a pot of boiling water to kill the (bad) bacteria. You then put the jars of hot milk in to the fridge and let them cool down until they are at the perfect temperature to grow (good) bacteria. Just stir 2 Tbsp. of store bought yogurt in to each jar and close them back up.

Then all you need to do is keep them warm for several hours while the bacteria grows. Placing the jars in a cooler along side a pan of boiling water will give them a nice steamy place to flourish. When they have reached the consistency and tartness that you like (mine sat for 5 hours but I think I might do 6 next time) take them out and put them in the freezer for one hour. That's it. Stick them in the fridge and voila! you've got yogurt.

For more detailed instructions, explanations and encouragement go to Kitchen Stewardship.

For more great tips and recipes check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays and Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I make my own yogurt all the time I've tried lots to get the boys to eat it and have found all fruit preserves to be the best.

Sandra said...

I heat my milk on the stove and when it cools down enough I add the yogurt and then put it in a small cooler filled half way up with hot water. Then I shut the lid for 4 -6 hours and refrigerate. So simple. You really don't need a yogurt maker.

The Animator's Wife said...

That actually seems do-able! Thanks for the tip and instructions... gonna try this son.

Brenda said...

I've seen this before but I have never tried this. I should!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

I am so impressed that you tried to make homemade yogurt. Cool.

Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom said...

Awesome! I've actually been meaning to try homemade yogurt soon, so this post is very timely for me. ;P

Liz said...

OK so now I need to try it. I need to know if the kids ate it, and did you have any (good or bad) tummy effects?

Emily @ Marvelous Recipes said...

I must confess, I have never made homemade yogurt. Thanks for the how-to.

Katie said...

So thankful for the link-love! Just wanted to let you know that I've moved to a permanent site. If you have a chance to change the links by taking out the ".wordpress" it will direct you to the same information at my new home. In a few weeks or less, the old site will be erased. Thank you!!!