Making Yogurt is a …Breeze…
A batch of yogurt ready to go in the fridge…
It’s so easy!
You need…
-1 cup/serving of your favorite store-bought yogurt
-½ gallon (2L) milk
-Glass jars or preferred storage container(s)
Here’s what you do…
Since powdered milk is all that’s usually available where I am, I make ½ gallon of milk using hot water and then wait until it cools to just warmer than tepid. If you are using real milk, let the milk warm to room temperature or a little warmer (put it in a sunny corner of the room).
Next, stir in the serving of your favorite yogurt. Stir well until it’s all one consistency.
Pour into jars/container.
Set them in a warm, sunny area for 4-5 hours or until liquid takes on a yogurt consistency. I cover my jars in a black t-shirt to attract and trap heat. If it’s not sunny or otherwise, I light the pilot in my gas oven and put the jars inside. It just needs to be warm enough for the yogurt bacterium to do their thing…Maybe on top of the refrigerator where it’s slightly warm, near the heater vent, etc.
Come back in a few hours and you have yogurt! Now you can put it in the fridge like usual. Add fresh fruit or jam. Eat with granola or honey…so good, nutritious, and uses less plastic!
10 Comments
Jerry
January 30, 2012Liz, I enjoy your blog. Thanks. Would you do an entry or two about the technical details of Swell? Power consumption, solar panel power production, battery maintenance and charging and monitoring, refrigeration, propane tank refilling, water tank filling? You haven’t mentioned much about boat maintenance since Swell was laid up to work on the prop shaft. You also spent some time refitting the boat prior to leaving the States. Now that you have been out there for a few years, what would you do different in getting Swell ready, what equipment did you think you needed only to find out its ballast?
Regards
Jerry
Miri
January 30, 2012Thanks Liz!
I will try that. :) I thought exactly the same thing (too many little/big plastic containers) when I ate my yoghurt the other day. Also baking bread tomorrow :). Thanks for the inspiration!
<3 Miri
Tom Santaniello
February 1, 2012Liz: Thanks for the yogurt instructions. I tried to make it today and I believe it failed. I used 2% Fage Greek yogurt, 1/2 gallon milk, and let it sit in the central Florida sunshine for 5 hours under a black t-shirt. When I looked after 5 hours, it still had the original milky consistency when I originally had made it. Any suggestions ? Thanks, and continued safe travels……Tom
lizzy
February 5, 2012Hi Tom,
hmmm. That’s interesting…does anyone know if Greek yogurt has a different/more temperature specific sort of culture than regular plain yogurt? I have even used sweetened yogurts and had success, but Greek yogurt isn’t available here so I haven’t been able to experiment with it yet…? What was the milk fat percentage? I find the fattier the milk, the creamier my yogurt is. After the 5 hours…did it smell like yogurt even a little? If so, you just gotta leave it a little longer in the warmth and let the bacterium do their thing…So stoked you tried it! Don’t loose hope! It DOES work!! I promise! :) Liz
Jerry
February 7, 2012I know next to nothing about yogurt but know a bit about beer. Beer requires yeast to convert the sugars to alcohol. Pasteurizing is a process that heats the food (milk, beer and maybe yogurt) to kill any bugs (yeast). Tom was your yogurt pasteurized and Liz’s yogurt was not?
Russ
February 16, 2012After reading this article a few weeks ago, I tried and was successful first time around. I used raw whole milk (which I bought at the local coop), and used Stonyfield Farms plain yogurt for the starter. It was a little runny and still milky when I brought it in after the sun went down, but turned into a great yogurt after a night in the fridge (with a little slime on top that I just scooped off). I did wrap it in a black towel while it was in the sun all day though to make sure it help temperature. It ended up making a great breakfast addition for the week, so much so that I made another one today which I think will be pretty good as well! Thanks Liz for pointing out how easy it is! No more store bought yogurt in plastic containers for me!
lizzy
February 17, 2012YAY Russ!!! :) :)
Edilene
March 14, 2012i agree. thankshttp://www.apartamentosecasas.org
Renee
April 6, 2012Tom — hmm – are you sure your yogurt starter had LIVE cultures? Some commercial brands are heat stabilized.
Russ — could that ‘slime’ be the more yellowish creme that goes to the top?
Quote from http://www.culturesforhealth.com/raw-milk-yogurt-video —-
‘Raw Milk Fat Content. While you can make yogurt with raw milk of any level of fat content, there are a few factors to consider. First, milk with higher fat content will generally yield thicker yogurt (see below). Second, because raw milk is not homogenized, be aware that as the milk cultures and the yogurt sets, the cream will rise to the top. So the top layer of your raw milk yogurt will be more yellow and of a much thicker consistency. The cream layer can be scooped off and eaten alone or mixed into the yogurt. ‘
lizzy
April 7, 2012Thanks Renee! :) Liz