how do I make home made yoghurt?

chloe99_2

I've got delia's recipe but have not got a "milk saver" ("glass disk") or an "insulated wide necked jar". Anyone suggest alternative gadgets or recipe?

She says:

Use "milk saver" in big pan and bring 1 pint milk to boil then simmer til reduced to 400mls

Put in a jug in cold water until cools to 120F/49F

Put 1 tspn yoghurt in the insulated jar then mix in milk

Leave for 5 hours.

Sounds delicious but I can only imagine producing that curdled disgusting milk that you get in the morning in baby beakers when you didn'y wash it out the night before!

crana9

i think a milk saver just stops the milk boiling over so as long as you are careful you probably don't need one.

insulated flask = thermos.. can't see it matters awfully if its not that wide-necked.. if you dno't have one, you can get a genericy one for a couple of quid?

Magentasue

Far be it for me to dispute Delia but ... my way's easier:

I make 1 litre because I have a yogurt maker but you can make however much you want.

For a litre you can either a) open pack of long-life milk and use at room temp
or b) heat ordinary milk until it's about to boi, remove from heat and cool 20 mins or so (you should be able to put your finger in for a count of ten comfortably)

To the milk add some starter yogurt (I use bio or live) - about a tablespoon is plenty. Mix thoroughly.

Put in flask or warm place (airing cupboard) or yogurt maker. 8 hours should do it.

We like greek style - this involves straining through muslin or a tea towel. I line a colander and stand it over a jug. You get curds (thick yogurt) in the cloth and whey in the jug. I give the whey to my chickens but Ibelieve you can make ricotta cheese with it.

Another way of thickening the yogurt is to add a tablespoon of dried milk powder to the milk. I've never had good results with anything but full-fat milk.

Hope this helps!

Ted_Hutchinson

We have used a similar method to Magentasue for many years now.

The long life milk method means you can always have a box in reserve to make it when needed and you don't have to sterilise it and wait for it to cool back to blood heat before starting. We just pop it in a basin in the microwave for a few seconds to get it blood heat.

We always use a couple of tablespoons of skimmed milk powder to get a nice consistency. We use a yoghurt maker which makes six small jars but these are tricky to find now, however leaving it somewhere warm overnight will be more enviromentally friendly.

If you use semiskimmed milk it will not be as good a consistency.

Magentasue

When I had a warm airing cupboard and Economy 7 heating, I used an ordinary bowl for the yogurt and left it overnight. Now I have a machine that cost £20 from Lakeland (I got in for £12 on the bargain shelf).

I've seenthe ones with little pots in charity shops and had one years ago. Worked fine but more fiddly. I prefer the one litre one I have now.

As for an ordinary flask, Isuppose youcould shake the yogurt out and whisk it up but I would go for something else, with a lid and wrap it with bubble wrap.

culpepper

If you use long life just warm it in the microwave ( I do 25 fl oz for 3 minutes on high) as I use the little pots.If it is too sharp,leave it for less time. Mine takes about 6 hours.
If you want it thicker you need to mix the dried milk into the long life before heating it
Add jam to the finished yog when serving or to be really posh use those tins of pie filling with the thick sauce,makes it taste like fruit corner.

chloe99_2

Thank you all!!
I like the idea of a richer yoghurt so I might wait til I go shopping and get some milk powder - also - I burn everything in the kitchen so might go for UHT milk warmed a little in the microwave. Thanks everyone - it feels so good to know how to make something like this at home.

arkonite_babe

I use easiyo.Bought it from Lakeland, but you can now get it at Julian Graves.

LAKELAND

It's not available at Julian Graves online, but I did see it stocked in my local store.

HTH

halloweenqueen_2

The yoghurt maker I got from lakeland works really well - not the biopot one the other one - really pleased with it - I used the UHT milk, 2 tablesponns of milk powder and a couple of tbs of live yoghurt and it was great!
Thanks for all your help - certainly tastes much fresher.
Can soya yoghurt be made in the same way and is there such a think as a live soya yoghurt to start?

Ted_Hutchinson

Can soya yoghurt be made in the same way and is there such a think as a live soya yoghurt to start?

It worked when I used a box of soya milk but I think I used ordinary Tesco Bio Yoghurt as the starter rather than a Soya Yoghurt. But Yofu or Sojusun do a live yoghurt so you shouldn't have a problem finding one to get you going. I find after a few months the quality goes off a bit and it's then time to have a fresh start with a new starter yoghurt.