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- #401
I'm wishing I had gotten some fat free milk at the store last Sunday. It's labled FF, so I call it "loud milk." FF in musical notation is Fortissimo, or very loud. Yeah, my brain makes those leaps.
Anyway, if I had gotten the milk, I'd have made yogurt with it by now. And I could have yogurt for dessert. But I didn't, so I can't.
I make a gallon at a time, and use FF milk. I have some starter from my last batch, but I have also used store bought plain yogurt. Be sure that it has active cultures. Some don't anymore, in which case, I'd make the argument that it is NOT yogurt.
You need:
1 gallon FF milk
3/4-1 cup starter (yogurt)
Honey (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
A stock pot
5 wide mouth quart jars, clean, with lids
4-5 wide mouth pint jars, clean, and you can use the same lids
(You don't have to use canning jars, but they work well for this.)
A warm place for the culture to sit and do its thing
This last does NOT need to be a fancy-shmancy yogurt maker. I have used a cardboard box. I usually use my dehydrator with the trays removed. I use one large bath towel to line the dehydrator or box, and another to wrap around the jars.
You need a pot big enough to for the milk. I use my stock pot because it fits the burner perfectly. Rinse the pot with cold water, and don't dry it. Pour in the milk, and heat over medium low heat to 180-185 degrees. Stir it gently as it heats, but (this is important) don't scrape the bottom of the pan with the spoon. The water makes a barrier that helps keep the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
Put your starter or purchased yogurt in a bowl. I've found it mixes better if it has warmed up a bit.
When the milk is 180-185 degrees, put the pot in a sinkful of cold water and cool it to down to 115 degrees. Now you can stir it and not worry about scraping the bottom of the pan. Put about 3 cups of the scalded milk into each jar. Put about 3/4 cup of milk in the bowl with your starter culture. Mix the culture and milk gently, but thoroughly. Divide the milk/culture into the 5 quart jars and stir it in well. Divvy up any remaining milk and pour it into the jars.
You need 5 jars because quart canning jars hold a quart if they're filled up to the brim. (Similarly with pints and half pints. You have a quart jar, but you can't use all the space. It's one of those things that just is, and we've all gotten used to it. Nobody is going to call out Ball or Kerr on this now.)
Cap the jars (the plastic caps you can buy for canning jars are great for this) and put them in the box or wherever you can keep the jars from cooling too much. You don't need a heat source; the heat of the milk will be enough if you can keep the jars from cooling off.
Go away and leave the culture alone. Go play with your chickens, your dog, your kids. Take a nap. Go hang out on BYC. Come back in about 5-6 hours. You can leave it to culture longer. It won't be thicker, but, because it will have used up more of the lactose in the milk, it'll be tangier.
I like thick yogurt. Really thick yogurt. I used to take a pint jar of yogurt to work and show off how thick it was by sticking a spoon in the middle. The spoon would stand straight up. Then to be a real show off, I'd turn the jar upside down and say, "Can your yogurt do that?" Yeah, I can be annoying.
But my yogurt won't do that with all the whey still in it. So I drain it. I put the yogurt in those wonderful mesh bags you can buy to put produce in. Whey will start pouring out, so have the bag in a pan. I hang the bags by their drawstrings over the same pot I used to heat the milk in, just because it works well. After 40 minutes to an hour, it's pretty well drained. Don't throw out the whey.
It loses about half of its volume when you drain the whey. I have several uses for whey, so I don't mind. Some uses: Mix it with chicken feed to make their mash snack. Use it in place of water to make bread. Pour it on my blueberry bushes. Some people drink it. I'm not one of them.
I scrape the yogurt out of the bags into a bowl, add about 1 teaspoon vanilla if I remember to, and some honey. How much honey? Ummmm... I'm going to guess it's about 1/2-2/3 cup. I stir it in well, taste, and add more if I think it's too tart. Or if I'm missing ice cream and want something sweet.
Divvy it up amongst the pint jars and store it in the fridge. It'll be thicker after it's chilled. Add fruit, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, jam, whatever you like in your yogurt.
Put the spoon in the middle of the jar and turn it upside down. Do it over the sink the first time. Just to be safe.
Anyway, if I had gotten the milk, I'd have made yogurt with it by now. And I could have yogurt for dessert. But I didn't, so I can't.
I make a gallon at a time, and use FF milk. I have some starter from my last batch, but I have also used store bought plain yogurt. Be sure that it has active cultures. Some don't anymore, in which case, I'd make the argument that it is NOT yogurt.
You need:
1 gallon FF milk
3/4-1 cup starter (yogurt)
Honey (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
A stock pot
5 wide mouth quart jars, clean, with lids
4-5 wide mouth pint jars, clean, and you can use the same lids
(You don't have to use canning jars, but they work well for this.)
A warm place for the culture to sit and do its thing
This last does NOT need to be a fancy-shmancy yogurt maker. I have used a cardboard box. I usually use my dehydrator with the trays removed. I use one large bath towel to line the dehydrator or box, and another to wrap around the jars.
You need a pot big enough to for the milk. I use my stock pot because it fits the burner perfectly. Rinse the pot with cold water, and don't dry it. Pour in the milk, and heat over medium low heat to 180-185 degrees. Stir it gently as it heats, but (this is important) don't scrape the bottom of the pan with the spoon. The water makes a barrier that helps keep the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
Put your starter or purchased yogurt in a bowl. I've found it mixes better if it has warmed up a bit.
When the milk is 180-185 degrees, put the pot in a sinkful of cold water and cool it to down to 115 degrees. Now you can stir it and not worry about scraping the bottom of the pan. Put about 3 cups of the scalded milk into each jar. Put about 3/4 cup of milk in the bowl with your starter culture. Mix the culture and milk gently, but thoroughly. Divide the milk/culture into the 5 quart jars and stir it in well. Divvy up any remaining milk and pour it into the jars.
You need 5 jars because quart canning jars hold a quart if they're filled up to the brim. (Similarly with pints and half pints. You have a quart jar, but you can't use all the space. It's one of those things that just is, and we've all gotten used to it. Nobody is going to call out Ball or Kerr on this now.)
Cap the jars (the plastic caps you can buy for canning jars are great for this) and put them in the box or wherever you can keep the jars from cooling too much. You don't need a heat source; the heat of the milk will be enough if you can keep the jars from cooling off.
Go away and leave the culture alone. Go play with your chickens, your dog, your kids. Take a nap. Go hang out on BYC. Come back in about 5-6 hours. You can leave it to culture longer. It won't be thicker, but, because it will have used up more of the lactose in the milk, it'll be tangier.
I like thick yogurt. Really thick yogurt. I used to take a pint jar of yogurt to work and show off how thick it was by sticking a spoon in the middle. The spoon would stand straight up. Then to be a real show off, I'd turn the jar upside down and say, "Can your yogurt do that?" Yeah, I can be annoying.
But my yogurt won't do that with all the whey still in it. So I drain it. I put the yogurt in those wonderful mesh bags you can buy to put produce in. Whey will start pouring out, so have the bag in a pan. I hang the bags by their drawstrings over the same pot I used to heat the milk in, just because it works well. After 40 minutes to an hour, it's pretty well drained. Don't throw out the whey.
It loses about half of its volume when you drain the whey. I have several uses for whey, so I don't mind. Some uses: Mix it with chicken feed to make their mash snack. Use it in place of water to make bread. Pour it on my blueberry bushes. Some people drink it. I'm not one of them.
I scrape the yogurt out of the bags into a bowl, add about 1 teaspoon vanilla if I remember to, and some honey. How much honey? Ummmm... I'm going to guess it's about 1/2-2/3 cup. I stir it in well, taste, and add more if I think it's too tart. Or if I'm missing ice cream and want something sweet.
Divvy it up amongst the pint jars and store it in the fridge. It'll be thicker after it's chilled. Add fruit, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, jam, whatever you like in your yogurt.
Put the spoon in the middle of the jar and turn it upside down. Do it over the sink the first time. Just to be safe.
! How about eating the 1 or 2 or 5 tomatoes you want, instead of taking a bite out of 8 or 10? I'll share (I don't have a choice, really). But you're being blanking rude!
