How To Make Homemade Yogurt. Why should you bother making yogurt at home Well, homemade yogurt is ridiculously good, ridiculously cheap, and not very complicated to make. Basically, you heat up milkcool it downadd a cup of prepared yogurtpour it into jarslet the jars sit in a cooler with warm water for several hours. Can You Freeze Sweet Potatoes After They Have Been Boiled MashedIts not at all fancy. The first time I made yogurt, I thought it was a total pain in the rear and I was SO never doing it again. But, after I did it a few times, I realized that it didnt really take that much hands on time, and that I could get some kitchen tasks done easily while I waited for the jars to boil and for the milk to heat up. And of course during the three hours that the yogurt sits in the cooler, Im free to do whatever I want to do as the yogurt requires no supervision. If you still need convincing, you can read about why I bother with this process each week. When I can get local milk, thats what I make my yogurt with, but when thats not available, I use commercial whole milk. Cottage Cheese Nutrition vs. Greek Yogurt Nutrition Which is healthier You may be wondering which is healthier cottage cheese or Greek yogurtUnless youve got a specific reason for avoiding milkfat, I would caution against using lower fat milk products to make yogurt. Whole milk will make your yogurt much thicker and creamier than low fat or fat free milk will. You can feel free to make a smaller quantity of yogurt if you worry you wont be able to use 4 quarts. Just use a half gallon of milk and two quart jars. The yogurt keeps for a month, though, so if you can use a quart a week, just make the whole gallon and youre set for a month The recipe requires no special machinesyou probably have most, if not all of these items in your kitchen already. Heres the equipment that I use plus a un pictured cooler. HQ/TTtQdrTMKTI/AAAAAAAAAEY/L8UbTHfoREY/s1600/cottage-cheese.jpg' alt='Yogurt Vs Cottage Cheese' title='Yogurt Vs Cottage Cheese' />The recipe I have suggests sterilizing the jars. Ill include the directions for that, but I have to tell you that Ive tried the recipe with and without sterilizing, and I havent noticed a difference. If you dont have a dishwasher, this step might be more essential, but if you run your jars through a dishwasher, they should be sufficiently sterilized already. To sterilize the jars, you just boil them in about an inch of water, along with the bands and lids for 1. Next, you need to heat the milk to 1. Its a staple in many weightloss and bodybuilding diets, but cottage cheese should be welcome in almost any meal plan. Each 1cup serving of cottage. This misconception seems to originate from dog owners unconsciously feeling guilty about the type of food they feed, or those following their own ideas for. In recent years, frozen yogurt has become a popular alternative to ice cream due to its reputation for being healthier. However, several factors need to be considered. F.   A heavy bottomed pot works best for this because your milk will be less prone to burning and sticking to the pot bottom while heating. Edit, June 2. 01. I now own an All Clad 8 quart stockpot and it is the BOMB for heating milk. For some reason, I have zero trouble with milk sticking to the bottom of the pot. Highly, highly recommendedEverything has a purposesometimes two or three of them Recycle items for storage, utilize leftover foods and create new tools using these tips. Cheese Cultures 101. HOW TO CHOOSE A CULTURE Probably the most often asked question for new cheese makers is how to choose a culture. This can be a daunting task. Sarah Vogeley We use Dairy Connection for all our cheese and yogurt making needs. Great service and prices Thank you DCI. When I eat yogurt I want it thick, creamy, sweet with a tart undertone and it must have some flavorful, sweet fruit in the bottom With the money youll save on. Yeast Cheese Healing A Yeast Infection Naturally with Candida Penile Treatment and Vaginal Thrush Picture discover facts and information about yeast infection or. If you own two stockpots, you can just leave the jars and lids in the first pot and use a second pot to heat the milk. Once the milk reaches 1. A hot cast iron stockpot can break if you put it into a sink full of cold water, so at this point I pour the milk into the pot I used to sterilize the jars. What Are Curry Leaves. Once the milk drops to 1. F, its time to add the starter. The starter is just previously cultured yogurt, which will spread the yogurt cultures all through your gallon of milk, turning it into yogurt. If this is your first time making yogurt, youll want to use 6 8 ounces of plain or vanilla yogurt. If youve already got jars of homemade yogurt in the fridge, though, you can use a cup of that as your starter. If you need to purchase a starter, I can heartily recommend Yoplait or Dannon. Other brands of store brands might be iffy, though. I used an off brand cup as a starter once and my yogurt didnt turn out at all. Better to be safe than sorry, I say, so pony up the extra. NOTE Do not use Greek yogurt as a starter. A number of readers have reported failed batches using Greek yogurt. Also, a Greek yogurt starter will not give you Greek yogurt, since Greek yogurt is made by draining whey from regular yogurt. Once your yogurt turns out nicely, you should hardly ever have to buy a starter again. The original recipe I have specifies that you should not open your starter until youre ready to use it. I dont know how necessary this precaution is, but I havent been brave enough to try using an opened quart of yogurt as my starter. Ill let you know if I try, though At any rate, youll need to whisk the cup of starter into the 1. Make sure its entirely mixed up so that the yogurt culture is spread throughout the whole gallon. Once its mixed up, pour the milk into your quart jars. Im no good at pouring from a pot, so I pour the milk into a clean pitcher and then pour it into the jars, using a funnel. I own this fabulous Kuchenprofi stainless steel funnel. The removable strainer is great because it can catch any bits of milk that formed a skin during the heating process, but if you dont own a funnel like this, you can put a small strainer over top of your funnel. The milk will probably have some bubbles on top, which you can leave if you like. They wont affect your yogurt one way or the other, but if you prefer a neater surface, you can skim them off. Top each jar with a lid. You can either use lids and a band, or for 5, you can get a set of Ball Wide Mouth Plastic Storage Caps, which I just love. They are so very convenient. For regular mouth jars, you can use the lids from grated Parmesan containers you can see one in the background of this photo. Place the jars into a cooler, and fill with a gallon of 1. You want the water to come at least 34 of the way up the jars, or the yogurt will not stay warm enough to incubate. So, if youve got a really large cooler, you may need more than a gallon of hot water. Shut the cooler lid and leave it in a draft free place not outside, for example, and not right by your front door in the wintertime for three hours. After three hours, remove the jars to the fridge. The yogurt should be fairly firm at this point. It will firm up more in the fridge, though, so dont panic if its still a little sloshy. Once its been refrigerated, your yogurt should be about this thick. And when spooned into a bowl, itll look like this, as long as youve made it with whole milk. Yogurt made with lower fat milk will not be as firm. For vanilla yogurt directions, see the bottom of the recipe. Ingredients. 1 gallon of milk. Dannon or Yoplait yogurt, or you can use a cup from your previous batch. Place four quart glass canning jars, four lids, and four screw tops in a large pot. Fill with an inch of water cover with lid and heat to boiling. Boil for ten minutes. Leave the lid on the pot and move it off the heat until you are ready to use the jars. Pour one gallon of milk into a large, heavy bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven. Heat the milk to 1. Farenheit9. 0 9. Celcius. Place the pot in a sink filled with cold water and let the milk cool to 1. Stir one cup of yogurt starter into the cooled milk, using a whisk. Stir well to ensure that the starter is thoroughly incorporated into the milk. Pour the milk into jars, and put the lids and bands on. Place them into a cooler. Heat one gallon of water to 1. F5. 0 5. 5 degrees C and pour into cooler. Shut cooler lid and leave in a warm place for three hours. When the three hours are up, place the yogurt in the refrigerator. To make a delicious vanilla version of this yogurt, add 12 to 1 cup of sugar to the four quarts of milk when its cooling in the sink. Then stir in 1 2 tablespoons of vanilla, depending on your preference, and proceed as usual with the recipe. Here are more of my yogurt related posts Why I Make My Own Yogurt. Cost Comparison of Yoplait and Homemade Yogurt. Yogurt Q ADid you have a yogurt failure Heres a whole list of things that could have gone wrong and what you can do to fix them. Uses for Whey The Prairie Homestead. Remember the nursery rhyme about little Miss Muffet eating her curds and whey Back before I began my real food journey, I didnt even know what whey was I never would have dreamed I would as familiar with it as I am nowWhey is the cloudy, yellowish liquid that is leftover after milk is curdled. Its packed full of protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. There are two kinds of whey that you will encounter in your home dairying adventures 1. Acid Whey the whey resulting from cheese in which an acid like vinegar or lemon juice has been added to aid in the curdling process. Some types of mozzarella, lemon cheese, or farmers cheese. Sweet Whey the whey resulting from cheese that is cultured or curdled with rennet instead of additional acid. Yogurt whey fits in this category, as does soft cheese whey and traditional mozzarella. If youve ever made cheese, no doubt youve been amazed and maybe even overwhelmed by how much whey is leftover after the process. It takes a lot of milk to make a little cheese But, before you pour it down the drain, WAIT There are SO many uses for whey, itll make your head spinPlease note real whey is not the same as the powdered whey sold in health food stores. They are not interchangeable. Ive compiled a list of ideas that to help you to use up this nourishing byproduct. I prefer using sweet whey in most of these cases. Be careful when adding the acid whey to things like smoothies, etc, as it might really change the taste of thingsSome of these uses for whey require the whey to be heated, so if you are interested in keeping all the qualities and enzymes of the raw whey, just skip those. Substitute whey in any baking recipe that calls for water or even milk. I love making fresh breads and rolls with my leftover whey. Also try it in cornbread, pancakes, waffles, muffins, homemade biscuits, homemade tortillas, and more Use whey to lacto ferment vegetables, condiments, sauerkraut, chutneys, jams, etc. This is an area that I have yet to really explore, but its on my list This is an incredibly healthful form of preservation that increases the nutritional value of so many things. Check out the book Nourishing Traditions  for more info on this topic. It is important to use raw whey when you lacto ferment not acid whey or cooked whey. Use whey to soak grains, Nourishing Traditionsstyle. Depending on your recipe, several tablespoons or more can be added to your grain and legume preparations to make them more digestible. Freeze it for later. If you anticipate a milk less time of year perhaps when your animals are dried up, you can easily freeze whey for future use. Try putting it in ice cube trays or small cups to make the proper portion sizes. Then pop out the frozen cubes and store in a baggie. Use whey to cook pastas, potatoes, oatmeal, or rice. Boiling the whey will cause it to lose its raw properties. However, if you feel like you are drowning in whey, this is a wonderful way to use it up and add extra flavor to the foods. Add whey to soups and stews. Perhaps it could take the place of some of your homemade stock or broth Add whey to homemade fruit smoothies or milkshakes. The sky is the limit when it comes to all the flavor combos you can make. Use whey as a hair product. Now, I personally have not yet tried this, so proceed with caution But I have seen several sources recommend it as a shampoo substitute, hair rinse, or even as hair gelNot sure if Ill be trying this, but let me know if YOU do Feed it to the dogs. Our dogs love it when I pour a little whey on their dry food and make it into a cereal. Its quite the treat. Make whey lemonade. Ive seen several delicious sounding recipes for lemonade type drinks using whey. Its on my list of things to try this summerUse whey to water your plants. Dilute it with a good amount of water straight whey will burn your plants I learned this the hard way and pour on your veggies or flowers avoid using acid whey here. Think how much your container garden would love that Feed extra whey to the farm critters. Our chickens love it and so did our pigs. Make ricotta. Ricotta cheese is traditionally made from whey. And its so incredibly easyHowever, this will require the whey to be heated to 2. Here is my homemade ricotta recipe. I like to make ricotta when I have gallons of extra whey, and then I freeze it for making lasagna later. Pour it in your compost bin. I have yet to do this, but it would be better than dumping it down the drain. Make a whey marinade. Add your favorite spices and seasonings garlic, salt, pepper, maybe some rosemaryYum to the whey and allow it to marinate your steaks, chicken, fish, or pork chops. The enzymes in the whey help to break down the meat and add flavor. Use whey to stretch your mozzarella. If youve ever made mozzarella before, you know that you must stretch the curds at the end of the process. Some recipes say to use the microwave no thanks, while others use a pot of hot, salted water. I always use hot whey to stretch my curdsI think it adds more flavor, plus its just sitting there anyway. Heres my traditional mozzarella recipe. And heres where I buy all of my cheesemaking cultures and supplies. Bonus 1. 7. Use leftover sweet whey to make this incredibly awesome vintage Lemon Whey Pie recipe. Bonus 1. 8. Make Gjetosta sweet cheese made from reduced whey.