Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Making Yogurt for the First Time!

Fred showed me how to make yogurt today...something that was passed on to him by relatives, using the way they made it in the "old country". After the starter is added to the cooled down milk, the container ( I'm using an old cast iron roasting pot just like my Grandma had that she used to make the absolute BEST caramel pudding!) is then wrapped in Uncle Dave's old bathrobe to keep it warm for the time period required. I really love recipes like that! Comments welcome!

1 comment:

Valerie said...

I've been making yogurt every week for over a year. I don't use any fancy yogurt maker either. I start with good wholesome raw whole milk. I may or may not heat the milk first. In summer, I heat it to just 100°, pour it into canning jars with a little starter yogurt from the last batch (no more than 1 tbsp per quart of milk), cover tightly, then set some place warm. If it's sunny, it goes on the deck with a light colored towel over it. If it's a cool sunny day, then use a dark towel. Use a small thermometer to keep a check on the temp. It should be 90 - 100°.
If it's too cool out, it goes into a cooler with a jar of boiling water, which you have to reheat every 4 hours or so.
In winter, I do not first heat the milk. I set the jars close to the wood pellet stove on a metal tray table until they are warm to the touch, about an hour, then move them farther away to maintain proper temp.
Leave the jars sit undisturbed for about 12 hrs., then refrigerate.
All recipes I've read say to first heat the milk to 180°, then cool to 110°. But heating raw milk over 110° starts to kill all the good qualities of raw milk. So I tried skipping that step and it works fine.