Re: yogurt (long)
Posted by: foralltimes <foralltimes@...>
This is the recipe I use and have had good success with it (when I don't
forget about it!) This is from the RFD list:
Tracey
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You'll need a large or medium pot, an accurate thermometer, a whisk, a
medium or large ice chest, and 1-quart containers. I save the yogurt
containers when I buy yogurt for the culture, and use those.
YOGURT
LARGE POT MEDIUM POT
12 cups whole milk 8 cups whole milk
6 cups 1% milk 4 cups 1% milk
2 1/2 cups powdered milk 1 3/4 cups powdered milk
1/2 quart yogurt 1/3 quart yogurt
Put several inches of HOT tap water in the ice chest and close the lid.
This heats up the ice chest. When I forget to do this, I have to change the
hot water halfway through the culturing time. My hot water heater isn't set
extremely high, though, like some people's--my tap water is 120 degrees.
(1) Heat the milk over medium-high heat until it reaches 180 to 185 degrees,
but don't boil! Stir the mixture frequently at the beginning, and almost
constantly toward the end. Don't allow it to stick to the bottom or it will
scorch and burn.
This heating step is necessary to kill all unfriendly bacteria. If you
don't do it, you won't get consistently good results and sometimes the
yogurt will fail. I believe the flavor of the yogurt is better, too. This
step takes about 20 minutes, depending on how hot your burner is. I keep my
burner on medium-high, and I stir often enough that it usually doesn't stick
to the bottom.
A NOTE ABOUT THERMOMETERS:
Every thermometer is different, and many aren't very accurate. You can find
out how accurate yours is by doing this: Bring some water to a full,
rolling boil. Insert thermometer. The boiling point of water is 212
degrees F. For example, if the boiling point on your thermometer is 220
degrees, you'll know that your thermometer is 8 degrees off and should
adjust accordingly. In this case, for example, you would have to heat the
milk to 188 degrees on your thermometer.
(2) When the milk reaches about 180 degrees, remove the milk from the heat
and allow to cool to 125 degrees. If the temperature is much higher it can
kill the yogurt culture when you add it, and a cooler temperature won't
allow the culture to grow as well. It takes about 45 minutes to cool if you
stir it occasionally. It will cool a lot faster if you put the pan into a
sink with several ice trays' worth of cubes and several inches of water. It
takes about 5 to 10 minutes to cool that way. I keep some ice packs in my
freezer for this purpose, to use instead of ice. If you leave it too long
and it cools too much, heat it up to the correct temperature again. At this
time, whisk in the powdered milk.
(3) It seems like no matter how much I stir, some scrapings from the bottom
stick to the spoon and then end up in the milk. When it's finished heating
and cooling, I always pour it through a wire strainer into a large bowl.
(4) In a medium bowl, stir the yogurt until creamy. Add 2 cups of the warm
milk to the yogurt and whisk to mix well. Add back to the large bowl of
warm milk and mix well with a whisk. Divide into quart containers and place
lids on tightly. Alternatively, you can make the yogurt in one or two large
containers, then divide into smaller containers when it's done.
(5) Empty the warm water out of the ice chest and place the containers with
the milk/yogurt mixture inside. Add hot tap water until it is to the rim of
the containers. If you add too much water, the containers will float and
can tip over. If you add too little, the water won't keep the culturing
yogurt at the constant temperature.
Close the lid of the cooler and leave it for 4 to 6 hours. Don't peek
before 4 hours - it will let the heat out. If it's not thick enough after 6
hours, replace the water with fresh hot water and leave it a few more hours.
This shouldn't happen, though, if the ice chest was warmed before you
started and you used hot enough water to surround it. The longer you leave
yogurt culturing, the more tart it becomes. When I'm making yogurt for
frozen yogurt, I let it culture 4 hours. It's not as tart, but it's also
not as thick. For vanilla yogurt, though, I like a tarter flavor so I let
it culture for 6 hours.
(6) When the yogurt is done, mix in other ingredients before you
refrigerate. The yogurt seems to be firmer/thicker if I stir the extra
ingredients in while it's warm rather than waiting until it's cold. I add
1/3 cup pure maple syrup and 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract per quart of
yogurt. (I mix the ingredients for 3 quarts of yogurt at a time in a large
bowl, then pour it back into the quart containers.) Whisk it well, then
pour into quart containers. It will thicken somewhat as it cools.
Refrigerate it until thoroughly cool for best flavor.
When I remove the yogurt from the cooler, sometimes some whey has separated
and other times it doesn't. I can't figure out what the difference is;
either way, it's fine. Whey has nutrition in it, so you can just mix it in.
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NOTES:
*You can use dry powdered milk from the grocery store, or you can use the
non-instant type from the health food store or a co-op. It's less processed
and more nutritious, but it is more difficult to mix into the milk and
messier to work with.
You might wonder about saving some of your own yogurt for the culture next
time. I've never tried this because I've heard that the culture weakens and
has to be replaced with fresh (from the store) every few times. I was also
told by one guy at a health food store that it could actually be unsafe to
use your own culture. Mutant bacteria can infect your culture; commercial
yogurt companies test for this on a daily basis. Many people do use their
own yogurt for the culture and have never gotten sick, but I choose not to.
It will work if you use less yogurt for starter, even half as much. But it
seems to work faster and have a better flavor if I use this amount.
You can keep the yogurt in one large container, but when I did this the
yogurt went bad more quickly. Since I started making and storing it in
one-quart containers, the yogurt stays fresh and good a lot longer - up to
two weeks. I don't know how much beyond that it lasts, because we eat it
all before then.
VANILLA YOGURT:
When the yogurt is done, per quart of yogurt, add 5 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
and 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract. Whisk it in thoroughly and refrigerate.
We think this tastes just like Brown Cow Vanilla Yogurt. Actually, it might
be better. I've tried adding the maple syrup & vanilla before I put the
milk in the cooler, so I wouldn't have to mix it in later. It didn't work
very well, though. The yogurt wasn't as thick and it didn't taste nearly as
good. I learned later that alcohol (in the vanilla) can inhibit the growth
of the yogurt bacteria and keep the yogurt from getting as thick.
Additionally, I think the yogurt bacteria digested some of the maple sugar
in the syrup because it wasn't as sweet and didn't have as much flavor. The
bacteria does digest the lactose (milk sugar) when it's multiplying, which
is the reason that most lactose-intolerant people can eat yogurt with no
problem. It stands to reason that some of the maple sugar would also have
been digested.
STRAWBERRY YOGURT
To each quart of warm plain yogurt, add 1/3 cup maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. honey,1
tsp. vanilla extract, and 6 large, pureed strawberries (I use frozen
strawberries that I've thawed). Whisk the ingredients in thoroughly, return
to the quart containers, and refrigerate.
PEACH YOGURT
To each quart of warm plain yogurt, add 1/3 cup maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. honey,1
tsp. vanilla extract, and 8 large, pureed peach slices (I use frozen peaches
that I've thawed). Whisk the ingredients in thoroughly, return to the quart
containers, and refrigerate.
We eat the vanilla yogurt by itself, or with fruit cut up in it. We love
fresh strawberries; fresh strawberries and bananas; fresh peaches; canned
peaches; chopped pecans; bananas and chopped pecans; thawed frozen
raspberries; thawed frozen strawberries; blueberries. . . . . the kids also
like to sometimes sprinkle cornflakes or granola on top. I think the
granola is too sweet. Usually fresh raspberries and blueberries are far too
expensive, but every once in awhile I see them on sale for half-price, and
then I'll buy a container of each for a treat. Even though raspberries are
so expensive, their flavor is so intense that we eat less of them than we
would of another fruit...
STRAWBERRY "FROZEN" YOGURT
Puree frozen strawberries in a food processor. Add vanilla yogurt and puree
until mixed, then serve. For every 5 strawberries, add about 1/2 cup of
yogurt. Don't make this in a blender unless you like very runny yogurt. If
you make it in a food processor, it's thick and creamy, kind of like soft
serve frozen custard.
You can also freeze this mixture for popsicles. I've been told that
freezing kills the culture, but other people have told me that's some of
the cultures do survive freezing, so I'm not sure what to think. In any
case, they're still nutritious popsicles.
Some brands of frozen strawberries are more flavorful than others. The kind
that's best is sold in a transparent, 5 lb. bag at Sam's and one or two
grocery stores. I did find a 3 lb. transparent bag at a Wal-Mart super
store one time, and they were also good. It's also usually cheaper to buy
them in the bigger bags.
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