Okay, so you know yogurt
is good for you, you know it’s probiotic and that it helps with gut
health or to recover after a round of antibiotics. It’s easier to digest
than regular milk. And you know you could make your own, if only you
had a fancy electric yogurt maker. But yogurt is yogurt is yogurt...
right? And yogurt is everywhere, I mean, even on Superbowl commercials
and sponsoring the Olympics. And what about Greek yogurt? It’s so good
and so good for you, but you could never make that?!
Well, I like to think about yogurt as the gateway drug for fermented
foods. It is the one common fermented food that everyone knows is good
for them and doesn’t creep them out. It is also much easier to make yourself than you might think, and requires nothing that you don’t already have in your kitchen. But why would you want to?
• quality for your health
Most commercial yogurts are full of sugars, additives, thickeners and
stabilizers. Some are heated after fermentation, which kills some or
all of the live cultures. (Many yogurts are now distinguished with a
“live and active cultures” label.) When you make your own yogurt, you
can prevent all this, and you can also choose a high quality milk to
start with. Homemade yogurt can still be a sweet treat, but you’re in
control. Add some jam for “fruit on the bottom” or a drizzle of maple
syrup.
• save money
Quality yogurt is not cheap, and you can save quite a bit of money
over time making your own. The good news is that once you get started,
you can simply use a bit of yogurt from one batch to make the next, and
never have to buy yogurt again. (If you are interested in a culture than
you really can perpetuate indefinitely, read this interview with Sandor Ellix Katz, fermented foods guru.)
• less packaging
One of my pet peeves is unavoidable food packaging. For years, I
amassed quite a collection of yogurt tubs - you know, the number 5
plastics that can’t really be recycled in Ohio. I would buy quarts
rather than single serving size to cut down on trash, but I would still
end up with way more containers than I could ever find a re-use for
(especially if you try not to store food in plastic). If you make your
own yogurt, you can use glass jars over and over.
Convinced? Here’s how to make your own yogurt
1. Start with a good quality, live culture yogurt. We recommend Seven Stars Farm Original Plain Yogurt - an organic
yogurt coming from a biodynamic farm in Pennsylvania - but find your own local farmstead yogurt for best results.
There are many different strains of yogurt. The tartness and
consistency varies depending on the particular culture. Most cultures
are thermophilic, meaning they need milk that has been heated (to break
down the milk proteins and kill off competing bacteria), then cooled (to
a temperature that’s safe for the culture), and incubated at a certain
warm temperature. “Bulgarian” yogurt is the most common, with a smooth
and reasonably thick texture.
2. Heat your milk to just below the boiling point, when you can see
bubbles just beginning to rise (approximately180°). Keep an eye on the
pot and stir occasionally so the milk doesn’t scorch.
3. Let the milk cool to 115°, then mix in your starter culture. Use
1 Tablespoon yogurt per quart of milk. More is
not more here. A
valuable tip from Sandor Ellix Katz - don’t add too much starter culture
or the bacteria will be overcrowded and you’ll end up with a sour,
watery result. Transfer the milk to a glass jar, which you can preheat
with hot water for best results.
Thicker and richer Greek yogurt, which is all the rage, can also be
made easily at home. When heating your milk, keep it at 180° for about
15 minutes, stirring constantly, to evaporate some of the water content,
concentrating the milk and resulting in a thicker end product. Or, you
can strain the yogurt after it’s finished with layers of cheesecloth, a
tea towel, or even a clean old t-shirt. Let the whey drip out over a
bowl or jar for a few hours or even overnight. If you let it go longer,
you’ll end up with yogurt cheese or labneh, which has the consistency of
cream cheese and makes a delicious base for spreads.
