Yogurt conspiracy

[Crankin]

I don't buy anything except o% fat plain Greek yogurt. The sugar in the fruited yogurts is way too much. I add in my own fruit, and if I really want a sweet taste, I drizzle some organic honey on it.

[Jolt]

I agree, the shrinking yogurt size is rotten! My other peeve is that so much yogurt now is nonfat...I'm sorry, but nonfat yogurt (even Greek) just doesn't taste right as far as I'm concerned. And there are some flavors you just can't seem to find in lowfat anymore...like lemon, which is one of my favorites.

[smilingcat]

make your own yogurt? then strain to make it into greek yogurt by straining out the whey.

Gotta brush off my yogurt maker. Why not? I've been busy making pickled greek pepperoncini (greek style fermented in salt water). pickled pepperoncini in vinegar (like the kind you see in store), dill pickle (fermented kind), tomato sauce,sweet cucmber relish and other things.., So I guess I'll be making yogurt and lightly cook some homegrown blueberries/strawberries we froze earlier in season. hmm maybe I'll pick some golden/yellow raspberries and cook it down then strain to remove "seeds"

So I just pulled my yogurt maker out. DUSTY!! Found a box of Yogourmet OOPS expiration date is 2008. box says refrigeration recommended. OOPS and more OOPS!!

BTW, you don't need a yogurt maker. You can do with baking dish and few glass cups and oven set on warm.
here is a good video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZZAUqFqAnY

[DebW]

I make yogurt in a quart mason jar and set it in a cooler with some jugs of warm water. Store-bought plain yogurt with live bacteria works as the starter. I've recently tried 2 varieties of mesophilic yogurt (cultures at room temperature) and it's OK but thinner and less tasty. So back to heating the milk to 180F and cooling it to 115F. I'm eating whole milk yogurt, as it keep you full longer and keep your blood sugar more steady (less urge to snack). If you drain off whey to turn it into Green yogurt, you can use the whey as starter for fermenting vegetables.

I've also been culturing buttermilk - super easy, cultures at room temperature, keeps for a couple weeks in the fridge. Buttermilk is nice in pancakes, muffins, and breads. Also nice for soaking breakfast oats overnight.

[Owlie]

I just buy the huge tubs of plain Fage (the full fat stuff) and add fruit and honey as I see fit. Not as portable, sure, but I can spoon it into a container and take it with me. (It's also not as likely to get stolen out of the communal fridge.)

I can never find the big containers of full-fat Fage. It's all 2% or 0. My Fry's carries the small containers, but sporadically and I get two to three smoothies out of those. I have to make a trip to Whole Foods on the other side of town to get them. (On the other hand, the one near me just opened up again after being closed for a year for a remodel. I'll see if it's there.)

[smilingcat]

OMG OMG OMG!!! I made the Greek yogurt by following the youtube video instruction. I'm in heaven.

Okay so first thing first. For a change I followed the instruction with one change. It took far longer than 4 to 4-1/2 hr to set up. It took overnight. Then I drained it for about 4 hours because that was all I could take.

The yogurt was really thick. I mixed in two table spoon of raspberry/blackberry honey into 8oz of yogurt. And OMG!!

And OMG I figured out the calories. around 360 calories per 8oz.
1/2 gallon of whole milk
one cup of heavy creme
1/2cup of plain greek yogurt
and it looks like it will make about 3 pints of yogurt after the whey is separated out.

The man in the video used T-shirt to strain. ughh. I used a blank tea bags (extra large one from Monterey Bay Spice) or use large coffee filter and a colander. It takes about three to four hours to separate out the whey.

Now I'm trying with non-fat milk. The video warned that it will not taste as good as the whole milk with heavy creme. If it is good enough then I'll start making it with non-fat milk.

ONE THING THAT BOTHERED ME ABOUT THE VIDEO WAS STERILIZING THE CONTAINERS, SPOON AND WHISK AHEAD OF TIME. When ever I pickle food, I'm extra careful about sterilization: boiling the spoon, whisk and the containers. yes bad bug is supposed to be overwhelmed by the good bugs but why not spend little extra time to reduce the bad bug count.

My yogurt machine is going to be donated since it is so much easier with a pot, spoon, broiler tray (Bain-marie) for waterbath and few mason jars.

[OakLeaf]

You can use butter muslin and set it up to drain overnight. Just tie the ends of your cheesecloth over a wooden spoon or dowel, to make a sling for the yogurt, and hang it over a 5 gallon pail. Nice and thick by morning.

[zoom-zoom]

I agree, the shrinking yogurt size is rotten! My other peeve is that so much yogurt now is nonfat...I'm sorry, but nonfat yogurt (even Greek) just doesn't taste right as far as I'm concerned. And there are some flavors you just can't seem to find in lowfat anymore...like lemon, which is one of my favorites.

Low-fat/fat-free makes me really irritated (especially since it means adding thickeners to things to regain the consistency lost by removing fat). Hello, the 80s & 90s called, they want their brainwashed food back!

I've made my own yogurt in the past. It's super easy. 1 gallon whole milk, 4 quart containers, 1 cooler, 1 heating pad set on low heat. After heating the milk and adding a TB of starter yogurt to each quart container I'd stick them in the cooler with heating pad for 12 hours. In the AM, voila -- fresh yogurt!! To make it Greek I'd line a colander with a couple layers of paper towel, dump the yogurt in, lay plastic wrap onto the surface of the yogurt, then set the colander over a large bowl and leave it in the fridge overnight.

[lph]

Ok, so sorry if I'm being a bit slow here, but why make your own yoghurt when you have to buy some store-bought yoghurt anyway to do so? Is it cheaper, or is it hard to get hold of plain non-sweetened yoghurt? Just curious. I'm all for making your own stuff, but when you have to buy milk and starter yoghurt anyway I'm wondering.

[OakLeaf]

If you're super careful, the way Smilingcat recommends, and if you make a new batch every week or so, you only have to buy your culture once. If you're like most people, you can keep a culture going for five to seven batches before it starts getting weak. It's just like gardening, except in the kitchen. Worst case, even if you only make yogurt every now and then (longer than a culture will usually stay good in the fridge), and even if you can't get the powdered starter that keeps for a year or two, you can buy a 6-oz cup of yogurt and use it to make a gallon of new.

And buying milk, as you mention, is the other part of the equation - lots of small dairies don't even sell yogurt, never mind "your neighbor with a goat," so if you want to have yogurt from the best and freshest milk, you might have to make your own.

It's fun to experiment with different cultures, too. Every one has a different flavor. Sometimes I'll open up probiotic capsules meant to be swallowed, and culture yogurt with those.


I still buy most of my garden seeds, which is basically the same thing.

[lph]

Ah, ok, thanks.

[Crankin]

Ha, ha, Oak, you hit the nail on the head for me, when you said, "It's just like gardening."
I hate gardening. I like the *idea* of it, but not the work. Thankfully, we have many small, local farms around here, and a couple of bigger ones, and I gladly pay the money for them to do the work. I know I'm lucky I can afford to do this, as well as the fact i have a choice of at least 5-8 farms to buy from within 10 miles.
I am not much for "non-fat," in most cases, as like Zoom Zoom said, they cut the fat and add sugar. But, I don't drink regular milk and the almond milk I buy is pretty low fat with no sugar. I don't like the taste of whole milk Greek yogurt. I put some fresh fruit in the plain skim non-fat Greek and it's fine for me.

[TrekDianna]

Me too. I get the 0% Fage and throw in a handful of fruit I have frozen that I picked fresh last summer - peaches, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries -- whatever I feel like that day. By the time I ride to work, the fruit is thawed.