Crazy About Culture

Yogurt. What a weird name! It can also be spelled yoghurt or yoghourt depending on geographical location. And if you think about it, what a weird food too... fermented milk. Sounds gross, but oh boy, most people would agree to how wonderfully delicious it is. Thick, creamy and tangy is how I prefer my yogurt. During my undergrad years I started making my own yogurt to cut costs with my grocery bill. I would love to share the recipe with you too!

Homemade Plain Yogurt

1 liter milk (estimated to 1/3 a medium sauce pan)

1 carton of Greek-style yogurt

Cheesecloth optional

Step 1: Scald the milk over medium heat in a sauce pan, stirring constantly so that it won't stick and burn on the bottom of the pot. I prefer to use whole milk, but any milk type will do. After scalding, remove from heat and allow the milk to cool to room temp, or luke-warm temp. During this cooling step, stir occasionally to prevent any "skin" from forming on the top surface. 

Scalding the milk.
"Scalding" = heating to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit, or in other
words, just before boiling occurs.  This heating process kills bacteria and live
enzymes that may be present in the milk to extend shelf life and decrease
food borne illnesses.  It also denatures milk proteins to prevent
curdling from occurring during fermentation. 

Step 2: Stir in the yogurt to the cooled milk. Make sure to remove any clumps of yogurt so that the mixture is uniformly mixed together. This will allow for even fermentation to occur. 

The yogurt I used was by Kroger (it was on sale for 50 cents)!
Any yogurt will do as long as it still contains "live and active cultures."
Usually the rule of thumb is about 1/4 cup yogurt for every quart of milk.
Adding a little extra yogurt won't hurt though. 

Step 3: Pour the yogurt (if you haven't already) into a non-metallic bowl and cover with a tea towel. Place the bowl in a "warm" place to help encourage fermentation. I prefer to place my bowl on top of my refrigerator.  Let your milk sit for 12 hours. Sometimes I let it sit for about 24 hours if I'm making a larger batch (as I have in these photos).  This may feel odd to let dairy be unrefrigerated for that long, but a warm temperature is required for the live bacteria from the added yogurt to ferment the fresh lactose sugars in the scalded milk. 

My bowl of milk-yogurt mixture on top of my refrigerator.
The bacteria is having a party: getting drunk on lactose sugar and producing
acid as a by-product that allows the milk casein proteins (containing calcium)
to aggregate to form "yogurt", while as the same time squeezing out
whey proteins (that watery liquid) to the top.  

Step 4: Pour off the water liquid containing the pushed-out whey proteins and viola!  You have a beautiful bowl of fresh yogurt. If you desire really thick yogurt ("Greek style"), strain it through a cheese cloth to remove more of the watery whey liquid. Sometimes I take a generous scoop out of the center of my bowl of yogurt and then I let it sit for a few days in my refrigerator to continue to thicken. If you do this, just drain the whey that collects in the scooped-out center hole daily until it reaches the consistency you desire. Did I mention that you can drink the whey? I love this tangy liquid!

Note: Reserve a small batch (1/4 to 1 cup) or your new yogurt to be used as culture starter for the next batch of yogurt that you make!

My homemade yogurt ready for eating.
Putting a spoon into this fresh, untouched yogurt reminds me of running out into a
yard covered in fresh-laden snow. Isn't there something compelling about being the
first person to introduce chaos into something so perfect? 

Step 5: Dress your yogurt in flavor or enjoy it by itself! Yogurt is so versatile by which it can be eaten plain, introduced into smoothies, drizzled with honey or topped with fruit, and even combined with fresh herbs like dill or mint and parsley for savory dip, Mediterranean style. 

A smart-start breakfast yogurt combo that I love:
Homemade yogurt, honey, sliced ripe peaches, toasted
almonds and a hearty dash of cinnamon.
Your gut and your taste buds will rejoice!