Tag: homemade yogurt; yogurt recipe; frugal living

MAKE YOUR OWN FULL CREAM GREEK-STYLE YOGURT

GREEK STYLE YOGURT
GREEK STYLE YOGURT

Did you know that it is actually very easy to make your own plain yogurt, without any special equipment? Sounds to good to be true, or very complicated, right? Nope, it’s not!

Ingredients 

1 litre /  4 cups pasteurised full cream milk

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavoured gelatin

1/4 cup plain yogurt – here I have to note that the only yogurt I have had success with is the Woolworth’s plain yogurt; it seems like it is the only yogurt that has LIVE, active cultures; it has to have live cultures, or this will NOT work. This is going to be your starter culture for your yogurt.

Instructions

  1. Heat the milk gently to 82 degrees Celsius. Do not allow the milk to come to a boil!
  2. Once the milk comes reaches 82 degrees, remove the pot from the heat. Allow milk to cool to between 41 and 43 degrees Celsius.
  3. When milk reaches the required temperature, thoroughly whisk in the gelatin for about one minute. Then add the yogurt starter and continue to whisk until completely combined, (about one minute).
  4. I don’t have a yogurt maker, so to incubate my yogurt, I pour the yogurt into a glass jar that I warmed by keeping hot water in it until I was ready to pour the yogurt in. Pour out the water, fill the jar with your yogurt. I then line a large bowl with towels, put the jar in the bowl, and cover the yogurt with more towels, to keep in the heat. This seems to work pretty well for me, but you can also use a yogurt maker, or a slow cooker that has a yogurt setting. Allow yogurt to culture for 8-12 hours, depending on taste preference. The longer you culture, the more tangy the taste. Mix the yogurt thoroughly to combine ingredients again, and transfer to the fridge.

Notes

*Only use pasteurised milk for this, but do NOT use long-life milk, it will not work!

** It’s normal to see small clumps of yellow liquid when using gelatin to thicken yogurt. It is the whey that has separated from the milk solids. Just use a whisk to gently blend it back into the yogurt.

**Remember to keep some of your yogurt for the next batch. Note, however, that using a commercial yogurt as a starter works, but you will not be able to use the yogurt you made as a culture for new batches indefinitely.