I am in love Turkish Yogurt I love Turkey
One of the first things people ask me when I tell them I make
my own dairy products is do I make yogurt. Actually yogurt was
the first thing I learned how to make. Many years ago I
purchased an electric yogurt maker and proceeded to make the
delightful dairy product using powdered milk. But now that I
have plenty of goat milk I've experimented with making yogurt as
simply as possible without the use of special equipment.
Yogurt is the Turkish word for milk that has been curdled with
a lactic starter.(from Turkey, where we all know they make great yogurt) Many countries have a long tradition of
cooking with and eating some form of lactic cultured milk. Yogurt
is easily digested and it keeps better than milk, which is why
it's popular in tropical climes.
Yogurt is formed by the growth of two bacterial organisms in
milk; Streptococcus thermophilus* (a warmth loving
bacteria)
which turn the milk sugars into lactic acid. Lactic acid is much
easier for your body to digest than milk sugars, so even people
who can't drink milk (lactose intolerant) can still "handle"
yogurt. Oft times you will also find yogurt that contains other "Probiotic"
cultures such as Lactobacillus acidophilus,
Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium infantis
which are bacterium normally found in your intestines. Together
these bacteria aid in digestion and the synthesis of vitamins. If
you are taking antibiotics, which tend to kill your "intestinal
flora" as well as whatever is making you ill, you should eat
plenty of yogurt to help replace the "good guys" in your digestive
system.
*note: When dealing with bacteria, keep in mind that some
good bacteria may have names that sound like bad bacteria.
Streptococcus, for instance, can be a beneficial bacterium,
although most people think of strep throat when they hear the
word. Streptococcus refers only to the shape of the
bacterium, and has nothing to do with its ability to promote
health or cause disease. (Strept means 'twisted" and coccus
means "round.") Streptococcus thermophilus has been
safely used for centuries to make cultured dairy products such
as yogurt, and cheeses such as Mozzarella.
Yogurt can be made with any type of milk; goat, cow, sheep, 2%,
1%, skim, you can even make it out off 100% powdered milk or even
soymilk if you want.
Once that you've made your yogurt, what are you going to do
with it? I suppose most people just think of it as something that
you eat mixed with fruit, but that is only one of the many of ways
you can enjoy it.
I use yogurt as a substitute for sour cream. To do this, I
thicken the yogurt by letting it drain in a coffee filter for a
few hours. You can put the yogurt in a fine cheesecloth and hang
it for a day and this will make a thicker yogurt "cheese". This
cheese can be used to make dips or even cheesecake. I find that
you can use yogurt that has been stirred to make it liquidy in
place of buttermilk. To yogurt I'll add some garlic, onion powder
salt and various herbs and spices and viola... creamy salad
dressing. And of course, you can use yogurt to make frozen yogurt.
I've even been known to make myself a Kefir-like drink by
combining half-and-half yogurt and milk with a little honey and
maybe a touch of vanilla.
There are many different ways of making yogurt. Here are a few
variations:
Easy "Traditional" Yogurt:
This is one of the simplest. You can "double" this recipe.
You can use a microwave*, but there is no reason you can't do it
on top of the stove. Just be careful not to scorch the milk.
1) Start with 3 1/2 C. of milk in a
microwave safe bowl, a 4 C. Pyrex measuring cup is perfect for
this.
*Note: I have had a couple people comment that they do not
approve of using the microwave for food preparation,
especially with milk. If you don't like using the microwave,
you can heat the milk on the stove.
2) Add some powdered milk* : Stir in 1/2-1
C. powdered milk (cow, goat or soy) if you're using goat milk or
soymilk (*please see the note below about making soy milk yogurt),
and 1/4-1/2 C. if you're using cow milk.
Why do you add powdered milk? Do you have to add it?
- Adding powdered milk will help make the yogurt thick,
like the way it is from the store. In Europe, yogurt tends
to be "runny", but in the USA we seem to prefer it thicker,
so do add the powdered milk it you want it not to be runny.
- I do not add any powdered milk; I have found that the "ABY-2C"
yogurt culture from Dairy Connection
produced a thick enough curd for my liking.
*Note: Another person did not approve of adding powdered
milk because it supplied oxidized cholesterol. If you are
worried about this and don't want to add powdered milk, then
don't add it, but you will probably want to purchase a culture
that produces a thicker curd as opposed to just using
purchased yogurt to make your yogurt.
3) Heat the milk: Place the milk in the
microwave (or on the stove) and bring it to a boil. In my
microwave this takes about 8-10 minutes depending on if it's
right out of the goat or out of the fridge. Stir the milk
occasionally and keep an eye on it, but just before it begins to
boil, do not stir it, or it will boil over (as I well know).
Remove the milk carefully from the microwave. Let it cool some
before you place a thermometer in it, or it will still boil over
(as, again, I well know).
Heating the milk is done for a few reasons:
- To sterilize/pasteurize the milk so that the yogurt
bacteria/culture as a hospitable place to grow in. It is not
desirable to also incubate possible "bad" or contaminating
bacteria that might be present in the unsterilized milk.
- Boiling the milk helps to a smooth thick yogurt.
- Boiling the milk also helps stop the whey from separating
out quite as much. (The "water" you sometimes find on the top
of your yogurt is whey.)
4) Let the milk cool to about 118° - 115°.
5) Add the culture.:
- Place a couple of heaping Tbs. of plain "live culture"
yogurt from the grocery store other starter
culture, it is smooth. Remove
any "skin" from the warm milk (one will have formed as it
cooled) and feed it to the dog or chickens. Pour a little of
the warm milk into the jar, screw the lid on tight and shake
well. Now add the rest of the warm milk, replace the lid and
shake well.
OR
- I use a DVI yogurt culture with Acidophilus (ABY-2C) that
I get from the Dairy
Connection. When I use this, I use 1/16 tsp. per 1/2
gallon of milk (2 quarts). Remove any "skin" from the warm
milk (one will have formed as it cooled) and feed it to the
dog or chickens. Pour the warm milk into the jar, added the
DVI culture and shake well.
6) Now it is time to incubate. This is not
as complicated as it sounds, and can be done many ways. The key
is to hold the milk at 110°-115° undisturbed for 6-8 hours (depending
on the culture used). See below for various incubation methods.
If your yogurt isn't thick enough in 10 hours, it isn't going to
get any thicker; it's just going to get sourer. If it didn't
get thick at all something happened to the starter, either it
wasn't live to begin with, or somehow it got killed. Don't be
discouraged- try again another day. Even if your yogurt didn't
"yo" (or "gurt") you can still use the milk in cooking.
Various methods of incubation:
1) Use a commercial yogurt maker.
2) I have heard some put the yogurt in their oven with the
light on (the light helps keep the correct temp). I cannot
have the light on in my oven without keeping the door open (which
lets the heat out), so this method does not work for me.
2) Cooler/water method: Use a small cooler with the lid
removed, a larger cooler that will hold a quart jar, or a
large pot (6 qt.). Place the cooler or pot in a place where it
will be undisturbed. Place the jar with the yogurt milk in
the cooler. Now fill the cooler with water that is 120°.
Place a couple of fluffy towels over the cooler or pot and
leave it undisturbed for about 6-8 hours. To check and see if
the yogurt is done, tip the jar slightly and see if the milk
flows or stays put. Remember that the yogurt will thicken
even more as it cools in the fridge. If you see clear whey
when you tilt the jar, the yogurt is as done as it's going to
get, but you don't necessarily have to see the whey for the
yogurt to be done. (have I confused you yet?)
3) Cooler/heating pad method (I figured this out one day
and it works really well): Use a larger cooler. Place the
cooler in a place where it will be undisturbed. Place the
jar with the yogurt milk in the cooler. Place a heating pad
over the jar (loosely). Set the pad on high (my pad needs to
be set on high, yours may differ) and place the lid on the
cooler. Leave it undisturbed for about 6-8 hours. Please note,
that since all heating pads are different, yours may not be
best set on high. The first time you use this method, put a
thermometer in the cooler to see what the pad is heating the
inside of the cooler up to. You want it to be at least 110
degrees and not more than 120 degrees. You may need to turn
your pad to medium.
4) Food dehydrator. THis is the method I use. I have a
large Excalibur Food Dehydrator and is the "Cadillac" of food
dehydrators. It is very large and is perfect for incubating
yogurt. I can easily incubate 3-4 2 quart jars at one time in
my dehydrator.
Soy milk yogurt:
- I make soymilk yogurt all the time during the 4-5 months
my goats have off from milking each year. I make my own
soymilk, which entails cooling the soymilk, so I do not bother
with the heating of the milk stage in the recipe above. If I
were to make soymilk yogurt from store bought milk, I would
probably skip the heating of the milk stage as well, since I
make my yogurt using my raw milk method (below).
- Soymilk does not contain lactose and without lactose, or
some type of carbohydrate sugar to ferment, the yogurt culture
will not grow. If you make your own soymilk , you will need to
to add some sugar, glucose or sucrose to your soymilk. Do not
use honey, because honey will impede the yogurt bacteria. If
you are using store-bought milk, it may already have enough
sugar/sweetening in it.
- If you are making soymilk yogurt you may also have to add
some other sort of thickening agent. You may not want to use
gelatin, because that is made from animals. I use agar powder.
You need to dissolve the agar in some water and then bring it
to a boil before you use it. For 2 quarts of yogurt (3 1/2
cups of milk), I use 1 tsp. agar in 1/2 cup water. I bring to
a boil in the microwave. Keep a close eye on it because it
WILL boil over quite quickly and make a big mess. Please note
soy milk yogurt is not exactly like animal milk yogurt.
Even Easier "Raw Milk" Yogurt:
Yes, you can make yogurt from raw milk.
I know this works because this is how I always
make my own yogurt.
I wouldn't use store bought milk for this method; you must
use fresh, clean milk that you have just milked out of your
own healthy goat or cow following very good
sanitary procedure. When making raw milk yogurt you must
be absolutely sure the milk was handled in a extremely
sanitary manner and is from healthy animals because you are
not going to be pasteurizing the milk, which means if any
diseases or harmful bacteria gets in the milk, you will be
giving it an excellent breeding ground BUT, remember the good
bacteria in the raw milk will fight off some of the bad
bacteria. You may want to read the article I have written on raw milk.
See the "Traditional" recipe above.
- Start will clean fresh raw milk.
- Add powdered milk if desired (I don't because I use a
culture specially formulated to produce a nice thick curd).
- Warm to milk 115 degrees by whichever method you choose to
heat your milk. (I don't even bother warming the milk because
my incubator, my Excalibur Food Dehydrator, will bring the
milk up to temperature).
- Pour the warm milk into your incubating jars, add a couple
of heaping Tbs. of plain "live culture" yogurt or DVI culture
(I always use "ABY-2C" yogurt culture DVI from the Dairy Connection.
I use 1/16 tsp. per 2 quarts of milk) screw the lid on tight
and shake well.
- Incubate as described above. I used to always use the
cooler/heating pad method until I got my Excalibur Dehydrator.
Yogurt Making Questions &
Answers: |
Q: I've always wanted to make raw milk
yogurt, and I finally tried after reading your web site. I used
fresh goats milk from a nearby farm. I use a thermos method; and
have made yogurt dozens of times, so I have the method down pat.
I heated the milk to 120F and then added a commercial culture
just to be certain. My question is....how do I know if it's safe
to eat? It came out very runny compared to my usual yogurt. It
tastes all right (I've tried a spoonful), but the consistency
worries me. Is raw milk yogurt naturally "runnier"?
A: Yes, raw milk yogurt is runnier. If you
read my main yogurt recipe above you will see I say you need
to boil the milk help make it thick. Whether it is "safe" or
not depends on your sanitary practices and that of your milk
supplier. I personally only make raw milk yogurt from milk I
milked myself. You will need to use a culture formulated to
produce a thicker curd such as "ABY-2C" from the Dairy
Connection (this is what I always use) and/or add powdered
milk to get it to be thicker. (increasing the incubating time
will not make it thicker.)
Q: Can I make my own yogurt with fat
free lactose free milk?
A: Without lactose or some type of
carbohydrate sugar to ferment, the culture will not grow. You
can try to add some sugar, glucose or sucrose at a rate of
about 2-3% by weight. Do not use honey, because honey will
impede the yogurt bacteria and fermentation.
Q: I like flavored yogurt. When do I add
fruit or sweetener to my yogurt?
A: The addition of fruit in "store bought"
yogurt is done two ways. One way, add fruit to the yogurt cup
prior to fermenting and put the milk and culture on top and
ferment. This is called "Sundae or FOB" (Fruit-On-Bottom). The second
way is to ferment first and then add the fruit after it is
thick. This is called "Swiss or Stirred" style. For home use,
the fruit is usually almost always added (stirred into) to the
yogurt after fermenting.
Sweeteners can be added prior to fermenting. Depending on
the sweetener it may or may not affect the texture. Maple
syrup and honey can sometimes cause the yogurt to have a
very "ropey" texture. I am in love Turkish Yogurt
|