We recently acquired a yogurt maker. I should preface this with the fact that I am really picky about yogurt. I like the yogurt I've had in Europe. It's not sweeter... but different. Creamier, less gelatinous. Just better. There are only a few I've found in American grocery stores that I care for (Liberte being one). So buying a kitchen appliance which has the sole purpose of making yogurt seemed like a risky proposition.
Aaron ordered some yogurt culture and picked up a half gallon of Pittsford Farms Dairy whole milk and we were on our way. It was surprisingly easy. Mix a wee bit of culture in with the milk and (because we wanted thicker yogurt) heated it on the stove. If you don't mind runnier yogurt you can put the milk straight into the machine. Then it runs for 8 hours, switches to cooling mode and you are done.
I like this yogurt maker because it has one container that the yogurt is made in rather than other models where the yogurt is made in individual containers. They are cute litte glass jars, but since we would be layering in additions after, it would just make more dirty jars anyhow. This is one container to clean and store in the fridge.
The verdict? This yogurt picky pants liked it. Of course we did make parfaits with granola, blueberries and honey, but truly, I liked the yogurt. It doesn't get that layer of watery white liquid on the top of it. I'm kind of amazed all it took was milk and that little magic packet of culture.
We also tried it with cherries. Remember all the berries we picked last summer? I am so glad I froze a lot of them!
Making homemade yogurt is on that "homesteading to-do" list of mine for 2015...yours looks exceptionally yummy.
ReplyDeleteOooh. "Homesteading to-do"!!! Is that list on your blog?
DeleteI used to make yogurt in my slow cooker (did a few trial runs to figure out the exact timing, but used this [http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-make-yogurt-in-crock-pot] as a guide). But now since we've moved back to the States I've been too lazy to re-figure out the timings on a new slow cooker. Now remember to save some of the homemade yogurt to use as starter yogurt for the next batch. After a few rounds of recycling it gets REALLY tasty! (If you like tart)
ReplyDeleteIn a crock pot? Fascinating! And shoot... I didn't know about the saving some of the yogurt for the next batch!
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