Works for me Wednesday....Making Yogurt
We eat sooooo much yogurt in our household. I have found that if I eat yogurt everyday I can keep the dreaded yeast infections away. (I am very prone to them) And if for some reason I have to be on an antibiotic I consume 3 servings a day and it keeps me ok. My kids also love yogurt and in the summer we can devour smoothies made with fruit and yogurt. All this yogurt eating can be EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!My mom had made yogurt when I was a kid and so I knew it could be done. I gave it a try and after several attempt with a variety of methods I decided purchasing a yogurt maker was the best option. I purchased a "Salton" brand on Amazon.com. (When I purchased mine it was only $20, now it is up to $30. It would still pay for itself, cost of yogurt and milk has gone up since then, too) ****OK... I am jumping in to edit this 10/24/09.... The price of this yogurt maker has skyrocketed to $199!! INSANE! There are many other, much cheaper, options available!!! If you click the link above you can look around at all the other yogurt makers . ** This thing is very much worth the cost! I can make a quart of yogurt for $1!!!! My savings paid for the yogurt maker with 20 batches (at 2 a week that is 10 weeks). I have had my yogurt maker for almost 2.5 years now...... talk about SAVINGS $$$$!!!!!
I really like thick yogurt and to get extra thickness I add about 1/2-2/3 cup dry powdered milk. I also add 1/3 cup sugar (I know.... not healthy). Sometimes the yogurt still doesn't come out as thick as I like for eating so we use that for the smoothies....yummy!!!
My FAVORITE breakfast is homemade granola with yogurt on top!!!!! I just finished my bowl.... mmmmm!
Directions for making yogurt:
Warm 3.5 cups of milk to very hot, but not boiling
Add: 1/2 - 2/3 cup dry powdered milk
1/4- 1/3 cup sugar (this is optional... we just like it better this way...)
pour about 2/3 cup of this milk mixture into a coffee cup and allow both mixtures to cool. The milk mixture must be between 105 -115 degrees. I just use the wrist test and when it feels the way water should feel when baking bread I know it is right. When I first started making yogurt I used a candy thermometer. I have actually found I prefer to be on the warmer side.....
Once the main mixture is at the right temp add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of starter yogurt to the milk in the coffee cup. (you can purchase plain or vanilla yogurt for your first batch and then save some yogurt for future batches. About every 5 batches start off with a new store bought yogurt starter.) Mix the yogurt well with the milk and pour it into the main batch. Stir and put in yogurt maker..... just ignore it for 7-12 hours, chill all day or over night, ENJOY!!!!
Mix in fruit or jam if you want..... we often just serve fruit and yogurt together. Then of course as I mentioned earlier.... yogurt on granola!!! YUM!!
Have a blessed day!
Heather
Heard of yogurt cheese? We like it so much we wrote a cookbook and guide to expand its uses. We even paid to have yogurt cheese analyzed in a lab for nutritional content. Yogurt cheese (or YoChee as we call it) is a wonderful versatile ingredient you can make at home to improve your own yogurt. It has substantial health and taste benefits (a creamy food which is low or no fat plus high protein and calcium). I hope you will take a look at,” Eat Well the YoChee Way” our guide and cookbook to this important food. It really increases the use of yogurt cheese to main courses, soups, sauces, desserts, and much more. (Nutritional content included). Our website YoChee.com contains a free yogurt cheese how - to slide show, nutrition information and free recipes.
ReplyDelete