Yoghurt

Yoghurt can be expensive to buy in some countries. Really however it shouldn’t cost much more than the milk used to make it.

Additionally, genuine yoghurt shouldn’t contain anything but milk and friendly bacteria.

What you will need

• A 3 to 4 litre pot.
• A larger pot to hold the above and provide a water bath. The inner pot must not touch the bottom or sides of the outer pot (use a wooden spoon under the inner pot if necessary).
• 2 to 3 litres of whole milk. You can use skim but whole-milk is better for you!!
• Starter (use a 100ml carton of pure/natural yoghurt), or two tablespoons of a natural yoghurt. We use whole natural Greek yoghurt.
• A yoghurt maker or an oven capable of temperatures as low as 40^oC (104^oF). A dough proving setting also works. You may also be able to use an electric blanket (one that can be folded safely) or a therapeutic heating pad under the pot wrapped in a blanket. You need a source of bodyheat warmth that will stay fairly constant for 6 or 7 hours.
• A milk thermometer, that accurately shows temperature (something like SODIAL(R) Kitchen Craft Barista Espresso Coffee Tea Water Milk Froth Frothing Thermometer)

Instructions

• Pour the milk into the pot you will use for yoghurt then place this pot inside the larger pot and fill the outer pot with water so that the water surrounds the inner pot close to the level of milk (being careful not to get water in the milk)
• Set your milk thermometer in the milk and heat the outer pot.
• Pasteurise the milk or if you are not pasteurising just heat the milk in its water bath to 40^oC (104^oF). Stir the milk (use the thermometer as a stirrer) to make sure you are heating it evenly..

To Pasteurise or Not to Pasteurise.

All types of milk should be pasteurised at this stage. Any milk you use needs to be well within its “use by date”. Consider that yoghurt making is a process of growing bacteria and that you only want to grow the good (yoghurt) bacteria not whatever has fallen in the raw milk since it left the cow.

If you use raw milk then you definitely need to pasteurise. Fresh whole milk and UHT milk that has already been pasteurised should really be pasteurised again. However we use either pasteurised fresh whole milk or UHT (longlife carton) milk and do NOT pasteurise at this stage. We always open a fresh carton just for yoghurt, not leftovers from the fridge. In theory, the unopened milk contains no microbial contaminants. By avoiding pasteurisation we avoid the problem of the milk skinning.

To Pasteurise Do the Following.

• Heat the milk via the water bath to 85^oC (185^oF) and keeping it above 80^oC (176^oF) for at least 30 seconds. This will cause the milk to skin however. You could blend the milk to break up the skin or remove the skin altogether or just put up with it.
• Cool the milk to 40^oC (104^oF) if you have pasteurised or if for any reason it got too hot. Do this by taking the yoghurt pot out of the bath and placing it in a sink (or another pot) and surround it with cold water. You could let the milk stand but this takes too long and ideally you don’t want anything growing in the milk while you wait.
• Once the milk is at 40^oC (104^oF) pour in your starter.
• Mix the yoghurt starter through the milk with a whisk.
• Place the pot with the yoghurt in your oven set to 40^oC (104^oF) or on a dough proving setting. Alternatively use an electric yoghurt maker or place the pot on a heating pad and wrap with a towel etc…
• Leave the yoghurt for at least 6 hours and 30minutes.
• After six and a half hours the yoghurt should have set. It will have the consistency of jelly. Refrigerate immediately and leave over night to set properly.

Voila real yoghurt!

Before you eat the yoghurt for the first time, remove 100ml or 2 large table spoons and set aside in a sealed dish in the fridge. This will be your starter for the next batch. You can reuse the same yoghurt as starter many times. However when/if the yoghurt flavour starts to change it might be time to get some fresh culture (another snack sized pack of natural yoghurt) from the store.

As the yoghurt ages, or if you stir it, it will lose its solidity and become more liquid, this is normal.