Cooking with Jonny69: home made yoghurt

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Something I've always wanted to have a go at is home made yoghurt. The prospect of creating a live culture in my kitchen has always been daunting. That said, tragically watching QVC, I've seen adverts for EasiYo which makes yoghurt from nothing more than powdered milk in a special yoghurt maker powered by hot water. Hmm, I figured it would be better with fresh milk, the more cream the better and I wouldn't need a special yoghurt maker to do it! The way yoghurt works is you introduce a culture into milk and keep it warm so that it breeds and the whole lot turns into yoghurt. You use a live yoghurt for the culture and I used a Thermos flask to keep it warm overnight.

It's really simple:
  1. Boil some milk and let it cool to 45 degrees,
  2. Add yoghurt
  3. Pour it into a Thermos and leave it overnight
  4. Yoghurt for breakfast!

Here's how you do it step-by-step with pictures...

1. Boil a litre of milk. You can use whole milk or skimmed, but the more cream the creamier it tastes. Let it cool to 45 degrees - if you don't have a thermometer this is about the same temperature as a hot bath. In a bowl, mix about 2 tablespoons of plain Greek yoghurt with a splash of the warm milk to make it runny. You need live yoghurt and I used Fage Total yoghurt because it was the only one that said it was live yoghurt on the tub. Stir it into the milk in the pan and pour the whole lot into a Thermos. The more manly the flask at this point, the better the yoghurt will taste. For example, this 1.3 litre unbreakable stainless flask will taste the best:

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2. Leave it overnight. I tend to do this at about 9-10pm after I've eaten dinner and it's ready by 7am, so it doesn't take long. The next morning when you take the lid off the flask you'll see the bubbles from the milk froth are still there except it's now super thick and it smells like creamy yoghurt:

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3. Check it out, it is still warm, it is ready to eat and it is THICK :D

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4. Yogurt from a tub tends to separate slightly and this is no different. It'll be a bit lumpy at this point. Pour it into a jar and give it a brisk stir, or if you want it extra thick you can pour away some of the liquid. Now you have a litre of some of the most amazing yoghurt:

IMG_6844.JPG


Important: This will be the most amazing yoghurt you've ever tasted. Make sure you don't scoff it all, because you need to leave about 2 tablespoons for when you make it again next time :D
 
I assume that when you finish you stick it in the fridge before serving?
First serving is too tempting so it's usually straight from the flask (plus the top bit is the creamiest bit :D), but straight in the fridge afterwards :D
 
First serving is too tempting so it's usually straight from the flask (plus the top bit is the creamiest bit :D), but straight in the fridge afterwards :D

Hmm.....warm yoghurt....doesn't really appeal to me. I think I would need to stick in the fridge before I would eat it.
 
Wicked, cheers pal am making this today.

I like the "use the last dregs to make the next batch". Tis like a sourdough or ginger beer plant. Will also make it your "own" after a while, meaning no 2 peoples taste exactly the same.
 
Interesting, I didn't realize it was so simple to make this!! It really only takes a single night for the bacteria to do their work? This puts a whole new perspective on how horribly overpriced supermarket yoghurt is! :p

Just a question though, should it still be at 45C when you pour it into the Thermos? You seal the Thermos when the milk is still at that temperature, the objective being to keep it warm as long as possible?

Total is industrialised rubbish though, proper yoghurt should be made from sheep's milk (and ideally a sheep/goat milk mixture) and taste a lot more sour than Total! I'm going to try your recipe with cow's milk, and if it works I'm going to try it with goat's milk next!

Then if THAT works I'm going to scour around and see if I can source some unpasteurised milk! Now THAT would make good yoghurt!:D
 
It's probably worth noting that you should sterilise the thermos before adding the milk to it or you may get all sorts of nasties in there. Adding some boiling water and swilling around will also serve to warm the thermos a little so it stays warmer too.
 
I screwed it up:(

Used live yoghurt, about 2 tbs to 600ml of milk. Warmed and let overnight and it came out runny with a few lumps in it.

I didn't check your recipe when I made it, just vaguely remembered something about mixing milk and yoghurt! I didn't make the yoghurt runny by mixing with warm water first, i just whisked it in with a fork. Could that be the problem? The milk was thicker when I poured it out the thermos...
 
Yoghurt in a fridge can last weeks as it naturally inhibits the growth of competing bacteria. This does assume you have allowed your yoghurt culture to be dominant to start with during the making process and you have not put it in a dirty jar.

Are you going to explore some random flavours now jonny?
 
Interesting, I didn't realize it was so simple to make this!! It really only takes a single night for the bacteria to do their work? This puts a whole new perspective on how horribly overpriced supermarket yoghurt is! :p

Just a question though, should it still be at 45C when you pour it into the Thermos? You seal the Thermos when the milk is still at that temperature, the objective being to keep it warm as long as possible?

Total is industrialised rubbish though, proper yoghurt should be made from sheep's milk (and ideally a sheep/goat milk mixture) and taste a lot more sour than Total! I'm going to try your recipe with cow's milk, and if it works I'm going to try it with goat's milk next!

Then if THAT works I'm going to scour around and see if I can source some unpasteurised milk! Now THAT would make good yoghurt!:D
Around 45 degrees C. As long as it's up there for a few hours it seems to be able to get itself done.

Interesting point about the sour flavour. I did some with Gold Top expecting it to come out creamier, but it is in fact a lot more sour. I think it must be the homogenisation process that all milk is subjected to these days that alters the flavour. Not really a problem for me because I prefer creamy to sour, but it should help you get the flavour you're looking for :p

I screwed it up:(

Used live yoghurt, about 2 tbs to 600ml of milk. Warmed and let overnight and it came out runny with a few lumps in it.

I didn't check your recipe when I made it, just vaguely remembered something about mixing milk and yoghurt! I didn't make the yoghurt runny by mixing with warm water first, i just whisked it in with a fork. Could that be the problem? The milk was thicker when I poured it out the thermos...
Yeah, mix a bit of warm milk with the yoghurt before you stir it into the milk. The other thing is I don't know if all supermarket yoghurt is live or not? Maybe that might have added to the problem?

how long will it last in the fridge.

jonny69 does it again, your kitchen science rocks :D
Lol, cheers fella :D I've been eating it quite quickly but the last lot has been in there over a week and it seems to be ok. I guess it'll keep as long as any other plain yoghurt ie a couple of weeks.
 
Maybe try Total next time. They do a comedy miniature size tub.

Would be interesting to find out what went wrong though. I would have though even if it wasn't mixed in properly it would still turn it to yoghurt.
 
Around 45 degrees C. As long as it's up there for a few hours it seems to be able to get itself done.

Interesting point about the sour flavour. I did some with Gold Top expecting it to come out creamier, but it is in fact a lot more sour. I think it must be the homogenisation process that all milk is subjected to these days that alters the flavour. Not really a problem for me because I prefer creamy to sour, but it should help you get the flavour you're looking for :p

Never heard of Gold Top, I'll look for it next time I'm in the supermarket!
I was just being a bit of a snob really, Total isn't that bad, it's certainly better than most own-brand yoghurts you can buy at supermarkets, it's just that when I'm back home I buy yoghurt from small dairy farms so I'm used to a much more, well, *robust* flavour! :D
 
Never heard of Gold Top, I'll look for it next time I'm in the supermarket!
Never heard of Gold Top? Psht. Kids these days :p

From the milkman you used to get silver top which was normal milk and gold top which was extra creamy Jersey milk. Both needed shaking because the cream used to float to the top. Then in the 80's stripy top came along which was semi-skimmed and then skimmed which is just flour and water I think :p
 
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