Thursday, February 05, 2004

Homemade yogurt

The other night I made my first (successful) batch of yogurt. I've been wanting to make my own yogurt for a while, using a method that was not too fussy and that did not require electricity to run an appliance.

I found a thermos-like container from New Zealand, EasiYo. The method is so simple. Heat a quart of milk to 180 degrees F and cool to lukewarm (110 degrees). Mix the dried starter with a little milk and then mix with the rest of the milk. Put the milk mixture in the smaller, inner container. Then pour boiling water into the large, outer container, set in the smaller container, tighten the lid, and let the yogurt develop overnight.

The first time I tried to make the yogurt, I used fat-free milk and store-bought yogurt that probably wasn't the freshest. The yogurt never "set." This time I used two percent milk and a dried yogurt starter, Yogourmet. The texture is just like store-bought and tastes really good (if you like plain yogurt!).

Next time I'll try using the yogurt itself as the starter. (If you use the EasiYo starter/sachets you don't need to heat milk—just add water.)

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