3 Days of Yogurt: Day Three - The Final Product

When we last left my new batch of yogurt, it was sitting in the refrigerator chilling out.  I put it in about 6:30 yesterday morning to give it a chance to thicken a little bit before I started the final stage of the process.

Later in the morning, around 9-ish, I did the following:

I took the bowl out of the fridge, got my colander, and the crock from my slow cooker.  I use the crock from my cooker for this step because I don't have a bowl that is deep enough to keep the liquid that drips from the yogurt away from the bottom of the colander.  It's a little wonky, the colander doesn't exactly fit in it well, but it works for me.

It's not a great fit, as you can see.

I set the colander in the crock, as shown.  Then I got my flour sack towels and spread them out inside the colander, as shown.

I used two towels, but I think just one would work.

Next, I poured the yogurt from the bowl into the colander.

I have taken the corners of the towels and made a little bag.
You can't see it, but there is already whey dripping out into the crock.

The whey, which is the liquid from the yogurt, is dripping through the cloth and the colander, into the crock.

I covered the yogurt lightly with the corners of the towels and put the whole thing back into the fridge. This whole process took me about 5 minutes. Probably not that long.

Another picture of my unusually empty fridge!

Then I left it alone, again, for several hours.  I went to the grocery store, I ran errands, I ate lunch, etc., etc. I don't usually leave it for as long as I did yesterday, but I had stuff to do.  Most of the time I think I leave it to drain about 2-3 hours.  The longer you leave it, of course, the thicker it gets.

I got back to my yogurt again around 1:30. I took it out of the fridge and put it into the clean container I had ready.

I picked it up this way and sort of twisted the towels and squeezed it to get  even more liquid out.

At this point it was so thick that I just sort of rolled the yogurt off the towel and into the bowl.  I used a spoon to get the little globs off the sides.  This part can get a little messy.

Ta-Da!  Very thick, creamy yogurt!

The liquid whey that is left over can be saved and used in baking.  According to my Nourishing Traditions book the whey can be used to make sauerkraut.  I haven't done that, but I'd like to try it soon. Here's a picture of the whey I had left.

And, finally, here's what I had for a treat after all my work was done!

My homemade, full-fat, Greek-style yogurt with some frozen blueberries on top!

Making yogurt does take a while, but I have found that I can work it in to my routine very easily. Pour milk into crock pot - do other stuff- unplug crock pot- do other stuff- put towel over crock pot- go to bed, etc. As long as I remember that I'm making yogurt, there's no problem.

I love making my own yogurt! I hope these posts will inspire you to try it yourself. Like my favorite Auntie Leila says, "If I can do it so can you."

3 Days of Yogurt: Day Two - How I Make It

Yesterday afternoon I started my newest batch of yogurt.  Here's how I did it.

I started about 2:25

I got my trusty slow cooker and half a gallon of milk:

The slow cooker is set on "low" and plugged in.

The milk is poured in to the cooker,

I DO put the lid on the slow cooker. I just forgot to before I took the picture!

and left alone for 2 and 1/2 hours.

Ok, 2 and 1/2 hours, give or take a few minutes. It's not rocket science.

Then the slow cooker is un-plugged and left alone, again, for another 3 hours.

The lonely slow cooker, left alone again.

At about 8 pm I get my yogurt starter, my large bowl, and a measuring cup, and scoop out about 2 cups of the warm milk.

I pour the milk into the bowl, then get my 1/2 cup of yogurt and stir it into the milk. I use a fork to make sure the yogurt is completely dissolved into the milk.

I make sure to put the lid back on the slow cooker  during this step.
Save the heat!

1/2 cup of yogurt 

Whisking away.

I pour the contents of the bowl back into the slow cooker and stir it to make sure it is mixed in well, then put the lid back on the cooker.
Then I cover the entire cooker with the large towel.

Night-night!

I then leave it alone, again, all night.  It needs to incubate about 8 - 12 hours. I've never let it go longer than 12 hours. "They" (whoever they are) say that it will get too tart if it sits longer than 12 hours. I don't know. I usually let it sit between 10-11 hours.

When I get up in the morning, about 6:30 (so about 10 and 1/2 hours -if I'm counting right) I uncover the cooker and see what I've got.

LOOK! It's a miracle! Yogurt!

Now, this yogurt is pretty liquid-y and you know I'm going for thick, Greek style, so I have a few more steps to take.  This is edible yogurt, though, about the consistency of commercially prepared non-fat yogurt.

I pour this yogurt into my large bowl and put it into the fridge to thicken for a couple of hours.

I cover this with plastic wrap before putting into the fridge.

Look how empty my fridge is!  I've got to go to the grocery store.

That is the basic process for making yogurt.  If I wanted to, I could be finished right here. I'd probably put the yogurt into several smaller containers.  It would be thicker after about 2 to 4 hours in the fridge.

Tomorrow's post will show what I do to make it much thicker and creamier.

Any questions? Comments? Frustrations? Anxieties?

3 Days of Yogurt: Day One- What I Use

OK, let me start this off with a list of what I use to make the yogurt.

1. Crock Pot/Slow Cooker

I just noticed, after thirteen years, that what I'm using is actually a Proctor/Silex "Slow Cooker." Whatever.

I don't know what size it is. Maybe 4 quarts? I think I got this thing the year my son was born, 1998.

The knob on the front got broken somehow. 

2. Milk. 1/2 Gallon of Whole Milk. I have used milk from a local dairy, which is delicious, but pricey.  Most of the time I just use the Great Value milk I get at Wal-Mart.  Please use WHOLE milk. I am convinced that the fat in the milk is where the nutrition is, in those essential fatty acids.

Just regular ol' Wal-Mart milk.

One thing about the milk: it should not be "ultra-pasteurized."  I don't think the yogurt culture will grow in ultra-pasteurized milk. Now, I don't know that for sure, since I've never tried using milk that was ultra-pasteurized to make yogurt. I think I read that in the You Can Make Yogurt in Your CrockPot post.

3. Yogurt for starter.

 1/2 cup of plain yogurt.  Really plain. Just cultured milk. No added pectin or anything else. 

Nothing but cultured milk - no added pectin, etc.

The only plain yogurt I can find without added pectin or added anything else is this organic Stoneyfield Farm brand of non-fat yogurt. I'm sure any other brand would do, as long as it doesn't have added pectin.

4. Big Blue Beach Blanket

Any large towel will do for covering the crockpot during the incubation period.

5. Large bowl.

6. Large Colander

It's not pretty, but it works!

6. Flour sack towels

If you are going to make the thick Greek style yogurt, you will need something to strain the liquid from the yogurt.  The first time I made it, I used paper towels. They work, if that's all you have.  Cheesecloth is what is recommended. I had a hard time finding cheesecloth. Then when I found it, I tried to wash it and I ended up with what looked like the remains of The Mummy in my washing machine.

 I picked up these plain, white, flour sack towels (at Wal-Mart, of course) and I think they work very well.  These towels are not used for anything else but making yogurt.


7. A container for the final product.

What's left of my last batch of yogurt.

I use plastic containers with lids. 

I am always so excited when I make a new batch of yogurt in my own little kitchen. It's like a miracle every time!

 

Tomorrow: How I Make It

Wednesday: The Final Product

A New Series

My very ambitious Sister, Heathalee, has taken the plunge into the 31 Days of Change series. She, along with about 600 others, will be spending the thirty-one days of this month blogging about one particular topic.  My sister is writing about  Worship.

OK - I'm so not there yet with the 31 days of blogging every day.

I am also so not there yet with trying to blog about anything really deep and meaningful, like worship!   Ack! That would scare me to death!  I'm definitely splashing about in the shallow end of the blog pool.

 However, over here in the shallow end of the pool I am going to do my own little series for the next few days about one particular topic.  I'm going to call it:

3 Days of Yogurt

(Just for you, Matushka Anna!)

The whole process of how I make my own yogurt, step by step, and in detail, so you can, too.

 It starts tomorrow!