Making Yogurt

Rosa_Damascena

MrsStepford said:

Husband went to ASDA looking for multipacks of Greek style yogurt. Locusts had been at the yogurt and there wasn't any Greek style or Yeo Valley yogurt to be had. He picked up a multipack of 4 x 115g strawberry yogurts for £6 which contained modified maize starch and aspartame and paid £6. Four Pure Nature organic yogurts (the strawberry ones aren't) were £3 on offer and are now 4.48. Cheaper than mass-produced rubbish ! He has decided to stick with the organic yogurt. It was a useful exercise though and I hope the yogurt-making tips are helpful to others.

These are ridiculous prices! And with the addition of all the additives, really are no good. I bought a couple of 1L tubs of natural yoghurt (not organic) last week, they were on offer at £1.60. 

It's a lovely summery day today and I'm enjoying some HM latte ice cream - double cream, ripe bananas and coffee, and absolutely delicious. After reading this thread I am tempted to make my own yoghurt too. 4 pints at £1.45 should yield a lot more than a single litre of yoghurt.

PipneyJane

MrsStepford said:

Reading out the posts to husband and he is moving towards carrying on with the yogurt from Milk & More. We tried Yeo Valley individual pots and didn't like them. He's picking up a multipack of ASDA Greek Style yogurts tomorrow. Moo has stopped doing long life organic milk now. IDK if Yeo Valley does long life. We buy Arla Lactofree Organic fresh semi-skimmed as it helps his digestion.  I can't tell any difference ! 

We usually buy whole milk, Yeo Valley yoghurts, @MrsStepford, in the 450ml pots.  That gives the best value for money.  Their Greek Yoghurt With Honey is to die for.  To ensure portion control, I divide them equally into 4 small round Lock-n-Lock tubs.  We paid £1.50/pot in Sainsbugs on Wednesday for lemon curd, strawberry and raspberry flavours.  That’s the cheapest we’ve paid this year; the price has ranged from £2.75 a pot, down to £1.50, depending on the availability of offers.

We buy L!dl’s fresh, lactose-free milk, which keeps for weeks in the fridge.  It’s currently 99p per litre.  I’m lactose intolerant but have no issues with hard cheeses or yoghurt.  (When I have to have more than a splash of regular milk in something, I’ll take a lactase capsule.)

- Pip

MrsStepford

Hi @PipneyJane IIRC the aged hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano have very little lactose as the bacteria in cheese, feeds on it. Whereas soft cheeses can sometimes even taste like milk. Until recently, I had no idea that paneer is a cooking cheese only and would have it in salads 😗 Definitely the milkiest cheese ever. Husband is a devotee of the organic semi-skimmed Lactofree. 

Milk & More brought the yogurt offer back AND will now apply offers to regular orders which is good news, so I just set up a regular order.

I like the sound of the Yeo Valley Greek style with honey, Pip! Problem is, when husband finds something he really likes he just scoffs the lot e.g. he tells me not to buy Brazil nuts now. Luckily for moi, he hates pistachios 😁

PipneyJane

MrsStepford said:

Hi @PipneyJane IIRC the aged hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano have very little lactose as the bacteria in cheese, feeds on it. Whereas soft cheeses can sometimes even taste like milk. Until recently, I had no idea that paneer is a cooking cheese only and would have it in salads 😗 Definitely the milkiest cheese ever. Husband is a devotee of the organic semi-skimmed Lactofree. 

Milk & More brought the yogurt offer back AND will now apply offers to regular orders which is good news, so I just set up a regular order.

I like the sound of the Yeo Valley Greek style with honey, Pip! Problem is, when husband finds something he really likes he just scoffs the lot e.g. he tells me not to buy Brazil nuts now. Luckily for moi, he hates pistachios 😁

And that’s why I do portion control by dishing things into lunch boxes the moment they’re ready / opened. < she says, bitterly >  My DH is the same, @MrsStepford.  He’ll happily eat 2 full portions of dinner or the entire yoghurt pot, but if it’s already portioned up, then he’ll only take one serving.

Good news on the Milk & More offer.

I knew about the cheeses.  (When we have “cream cheese”, I’ll take a lactase.)  What constantly amazes me are the people who will pay extra for the label “Lactose Free” on a hard cheese, when there is absolutely no difference to the regular one.

- Pip

SecondStar

So sorry I’ve not had time to read the other replies, but thought I’d add in here.

I was looking at making my own yogurt, purely from a money saving perspective. When I costed it out though, it’s cheaper to buy the 500g tubs of ASDAs ‘Just Essentials Low Fat Natural Yogurt’ (the yellow one) for 35p (https://groceries.asda.com/product/natural-greek-yogurts/just-essentials-by-asda-low-fat-natural-yogurt/31061795)

I strain half a pot at a time through a paper coffee filter for an hour, and it thickens into the most thick, tart, silky strained yogurt I’ve ever had. And is still cheaper than even the very cheapest ‘Greek style’ yogurt. I have it plain, or put honey through it. It’s much faster, easier, and cheaper than making my own, but YMMV.

tooldle

Rosa_Damascena said:

tooldle said:

I have a Lakeland yogurt maker and make a batch every week. For years I used fresh milk, raising it to boiling point and cooling before adding my starter yougurt (usually from my previous batch). I switched to uht a couple of months back as it doesn’t require heating. I always add a couple of spoons of powdered milk to the mix. The resulting yogurt is very thick.

That's exactly what Mum does, I don't see where the yoghurt maker comes into it though?

It’s basically a lidded heat pad. The mix of starter, uht milk and milk powder is blended and poured into individual jars. The filled jars are then placed in the yogurt maker to ferment at a constant temperature 

Rosa_Damascena

MrsStepford said:

Hi @PipneyJane IIRC the aged hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano have very little lactose as the bacteria in cheese, feeds on it. Whereas soft cheeses can sometimes even taste like milk. Until recently, I had no idea that paneer is a cooking cheese only and would have it in salads 😗 Definitely the milkiest cheese ever. Husband is a devotee of the organic semi-skimmed Lactofree. 

Milk & More brought the yogurt offer back AND will now apply offers to regular orders which is good news, so I just set up a regular order.

I like the sound of the Yeo Valley Greek style with honey, Pip! Problem is, when husband finds something he really likes he just scoffs the lot e.g. he tells me not to buy Brazil nuts now. Luckily for moi, he hates pistachios 😁

OMG burrata! My mouth waters at the mere thought!

Paneer is a good cheese to cook with but be warned - overcook it and it turns into rubber bullets. Its better in a wet / moist curry.