Oli
Oli
Resident eejit. Radio4, kitchen dancing, owning recipe books to read not follow
May 12, 2019 2 min read

Making yoghurt

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In a recent tweet my friend Branden mentioned making his own yoghurt to reduce the amount of single use plastic in the house and it reminded me that I’d always meant to have a go. Rather than buying a yoghurt maker (though I might consider it in the future) I figurd I’d give it whirl lo-fi.

The idea is to hold the whole lot at around 45oC for 8 hours. If I had a cool box I might have given that a go, but instead I tried it in a blanket.

As with all fermenting/uncooked things, cleanliness is the key. Make sure that the pan and all utensils are super clean least you breed nasties.

You will need

  • Full milk (I got a 3 litre bottle on offer)
  • A small pot of live yoghurt (about 100ml in my case)
  • A blanket
  • A decent thermometer
  • A funnel

Do

  • Warm the milk to 85oC
  • Keep stirring and make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom
  • Take it off the heat and leave to cool to 45oC (this takes a long time)
  • Stir in the live yoghurt (I used a whisk to make sure it is well distributed)
  • Pour it all back into the bottle (I used a funnel)
  • Pop the lid on and put the bottle in a plastic bag in case it leaks
  • Wrap it all up in a blanket and stach it somewhere without drafts
  • (wait 8 hours)
  • Mine looked and felt quite solid, so I gave it a good shake
  • Mine smelt a little sour (as you might imagine) but not off at all
  • I’ve put it in the fridge, lets see how long it stays good.

Result

A little sour, a nice “pouring and coating” consistency. It’s creamy and rich, great on it’s own or for cooking with. Now what needs 3 litres of yoghurt?

Ingrediants Nearly up to temperature Snug as a bug in a blanket in my favorite chair The finished article