Homemade Yogurt **Updated** Cheese and Buttermilk

[MissPrissy]

I love all the ways everyone has come about making yogurt.

It is so easy to do so many of these things ourselves.


Yayyyy for DIY Girlz!

 

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

Years ago my mother-in-law gave me a yogurt maker and I made yogurt on a weekly, if not daily basis at times, but eventually got out of the habit. I just pulled out my old yogurt maker last week and surfed the internet to find the basic recipe (can't find the little recipe book that came with it) and intend to make some today. I'm glad to see that it can be made without the machine (just heats it up and provides containers which are the same size as 8 oz canning jars) and I like the idea of doing it outside during the hotter months...which is pretty much year round where I live.

My children never cared much for plain yogurt, so we would sweeten individual portions with honey ( I think I'll try agave nectar, we've been trying to eat cleaner and healthier...honey also qualifies in this area) and add chopped up fresh or frozen fruit. I alo use it in place of sour cream in recipes and make a great salad dressing with it for our salads.

Can't wait to get started!

 

[Wifezilla]

Use the honey. Agave nectar is highly processed and is not much better than high fructose corn syrup.

 

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

Thanks. I've been doing some reading on it and I was afraid it was to good to be true. Honey it is!

 

[Poppycock]

Well, I've been wanting to try making Mozzarella cheese, and decided to go for it today. I don't know what I did wrong, but it didn't turn out. It's rubbery, and it never got smooth and shiny. I could knead it but it didn't get stretchy and smooth. I could only get vegetable rennet, so I don't know it that was one of the reasons, or if my microwave heats too hot - it was pretty hot after the first minute - I could hardly handle it. I'm not going to give up yet, but it's always a bummer to try something with less than good results

Oh well, the chickens will be happy

 

[MissPrissy]

You needed to heat it more to getthe stretch.

 

[Parson's Wife]

MP- Is there a page that tells me what page (or post #) your recipes are on in this thread?
I saw a post about a 'sweetbread' starter...uhmmmm, do you know, I had never heard of that?! What a wonderful thing!

 

[MissPrissy]

Go to post #1 for the index to thread recipes.

Dough starter is on my blog.

 

[Poppycock]

Quote:
I heated it for the minute and then kneaded it, then I heated it up two more times at 30 seconds each, kneading in between each session. I needed to cook it even more than that? Is it OK to let it cool down enough to be able to handle it, or should I get rubber gloves? After reading some troubleshooting pages on a cheesemaking site, I realize I may have stirred it too much after adding the rennet as well. Anything else I should do or not do next time?

 

[MissPrissy]

It should be almost too hot to handle when it reaches the melt and stretch stage.