On Becoming A Yogurt Foodie

I waited to blog until this morning because I wanted to be able to report how the new yogurt-making method turned out. 

It's an established part of my routine now, this yogurt-making thang. It isn't something I forget to do, or one of the multitude of new things I've tried that I've soon lost interest in. I love making the yogurt. It feels healthy and clean and easy enough (though I have had my share of scorched or overheated milk and a ruined batch or two) and economically and ecologically more sound than buying all those tubs of yogurt individually. As I mentioned when I started this thing, David eats 3-4 quarts of plain yogurt a week (that's a lotta plastic tubs!), and though I had been mostly dairy-free for at least a decade, in the last year or year and a half I have been reintroducing and reincorporating a little bit more dairy into my food repertoire -- mostly yogurt -- and then when I discovered Fage Greek yogurt, well, it was all over but the paying. I was eating at least one to two cups of it a day, and that stuff is pricey. 

So one day I got the idea to try to make my own. Turns out a lot of my friends had been making their own all along. Who knew I was behind the curve on this, what I thought at the time was a back-to-the-'70s nifty idea I had. And it turns out it was easy to find recipes and methods to make my own all over the internet. And try them I did. They all seemed to work well enough -- the crockpot method, the on-the-stove method, the microwave method -- but I found that I was a bit disappointed with the taste. Many of my batches were coming out too tangy, and not at all close to the lovely mild taste of the Fage. Good enough, but not GREAT. 

I want GREAT. I want a yogurt that I really don't have to sweeten -- I mean REALLY don't have to sweeten, like Fage -- a yogurt that I can swallow without squinting my eyes a bit and PRETENDing I don't have to sweeten it. If I want to add some maple syrup or swirl in some homemade jam for a dessert or something, that's fine, but I don't want to HAVE to. I want to eat clean, unsweetened yogurt for breakfast, over maybe half a banana and some fresh blueberries if I wish, and to not have to convince myself that it is sweet enough. So I kept trying, and failing, to get that elusive mild flavor. I tried different temperatures and different incubating times. I tried adding buttermilk powder. I tried skim, 1%, 2% and whole milk. I tried different yogurt brands for starters.

A couple of weeks ago I thought, hm, now that I am a little bit taken up with this, a fun extension of it might be to research and find yogurt cultures from around the world, and do some taste-testing to see which one(s) I like best. As always, you can find just about anything on the internet, and so it was quite easy to find several places I could order yogurt cultures. In the end, and though this is not really what I set out to do (i.e., try different cultures from around the world) I decided to order from Custom Probiotics. I ordered their Yogurt Culture Formula 2, because it has a larger variety of cultures. More is better, right? (heh)

So my order arrived yesterday, and I couldn't wait to make my first batch. The method for making their yogurt is just a bit different from the others I've tried. You bring the milk to a boil, not just 180 degrees. They say this helps to align the proteins for better viscosity. And you cool it all the way to 100F before adding the culture. You incubate it for a longer period of time, starting at 100F -- I imagine it cooled somewhat before it was over, though I did not disturb it or take the temperature after my almost-14-hour incubation time. 

My oven light proved in my previous yogurt-making ventures to keep the oven at the perfect (for that method) 110F, but that is too warm for this yogurt, so I just put the warm milk in the crock, covered it with two beach towels, and put it in one of the warmest places in my house -- on the floor near the refrigerator. The compressor of the fridge gives off enough warmth to keep it at a decent incubating temperature, I figured. Ha, I just realized that the computers in this house probably generate at least as much heat as that, and so whereas the rest of my house is just too cool, near the computers would be another good place for me to incubate my yogurt.  

If the first batch is any indication, it results in a far superior-tasting yogurt -- so mild I can hardly believe it -- none of that too-tangy, almost bitter flavor that some of my other batches produced -- and the texture is exquisite, too. I made this batch with one half gallon of skim milk and one half gallon of 1%, supplemented with 2 cups of dry skim milk powder. So I guess it's less than 0.5% milkfat.  [Edited: I forgot to mention the skim milk powder when I first published this post. Sorry!] 

Shown here, thickened even more by straining it about an hour in a coffee filter over a mesh strainer, with a little bit of Vicky Day's Raspberry Black Currant jam 

One word: YUM.

And let's talk about economics. If a jar of this culture lasts a year (in the freezer), and you can make 50-55 batches of yogurt from it (I made a gallon with a half-scoop of the powder, as directed), at $50 for the bottle and $15 for the FedEx shipping that is required to keep it fresh and alive, and $2.69 a gallon for my Vermont milk, that's approximately $3.89 a gallon for yogurt that tastes as good as I can imagine any yogurt tasting (just like Fage, in my opinion), and is as fresh as it can possibly be, with as many live cultures as possible (and relatively quantifiable cultures, as well -- whereas I was never sure what was still living when I made it with the store-bought yogurt as starter before).  

For this big-yogurt-eating family of two, that is a big savings in both dollars and plastic. It's a win-win-win. 

I give Custom Probiotics a big thumbs up. 

Comments

[JudithinNYC]

Sounds yummy! I am glad that you seem to have found a foolproof way to make great yogurt.

I love yogurt too and used to make my own back in the 70s but stopped when it became readily available in most stores. I think I want to start again.

I have a question, though...not about yogurt making but its effects. Lately I get what my dad used to call acid stomach after I eat my cup of yogurt. Can this be? Yogurt is supposed to have the opposite effect, isn't it?

For the record, I eat whole milk, plain Stonyfield Farms or Brown Cow.

[Joannah]

Yummm. I wonder whether I still own my old yogurt maker. I might need to check out my "way back machine", aka: my basement.

[Cookie]

That's fantastic! I'm so glad you've stuck with it and found out how to make a yogurt that you can really enjoy.

Although, I'm still in shock over how much yogurt y'all eat. ;^)

xo

[Jena (the yarn harpy)]

I'm hoping to try yogurt making this week... the pup eats a couple spoonfuls every morning and I want to get back to eating yogurt myself, but I HATE how the containers are type 5, which is not easily recycled around here. Thanks for sharing your process. :)

[Jackie]

That's terrific - I wonder then if this culture would not work with my yogurt machine because I think that keeps it at a steady 110 degrees. (I use the machine but not the little jars - I make one big batch in a 56 oz bowl and then I strain it and portion it into the jars just for storage).

I used a culture from Leener's and never had any good batch with it. Some didn't culture at all. Some were really runny.

[Kristin]

Thanks for a great post, Norma! I've been making yogurt for a couple of months and have always used yogurt for a starter. My daughter just discovered Fage and wants to buy that even when I'm making yogurt at home. Guess I'll have to try this method.

I did find a great way to incubate. It's from Alton Brown's new Good Eats cookbook. I use a heating pad and a small insulated lunch bag. It works like a charm and makes nice yogurt, but it would be nice if it was less tangy.

I like the look of your yogurt too. It looks very smooth. The very best yogurt I've ever had was in Australia and New Zealand where it was utterly smooth and creamy. I've never found a brand in the US that was the same. I'll have to check out the cultures you recommend.

[marianne]

Thank you, Norma (!) for a most informative post and mercy, that yogurt is Beautiful!

[Vicki]

Oh yeah, that looks gorgeous!!

[Kristen]

David eats 3-4 QUARTS of yogurt per week???!!! Holy heck is that a lot of yogurt!

[Cheryl S.]

I had a yogurt maker years ago, but stopped making it and got rid of the yogurt maker because it was too tart and tangy. I've since learned that I was letting it culture too long (following the directions, of course). I only leave mine to culture for about 6 hours and it's nice and mild (but still thick). And, of course, the culture you use makes a big difference as they have different flavors.

I've been using Dannon plain yogurt as my starter, and my homemade yogurt is very mild and pleasant-tasting on its own I usually mix it with some fresh or frozen (defrosted) berries when I eat it.

I've been thinking about getting starter culture to use instead, though. Not because I don't like the results I'm getting, but because I don't want to have to be buying a quart of yogurt at the store periodically to use as a starter. Plus, like you, I'm not sure how active the cultures really end up being in "my" yogurt, especially if I use my own yogurt as a starter for the next batch.

I'm glad to hear that you had good results with this one. I was going to try Yolife's starter. If I do, I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Kim]

off to order some new culture. :) Thanks Norma for sharing!

[Mel]

I've been making mine with whole milk and I added nonfat dry to the latest batch - excellent!

David got me a covered casserole dish to make it in, and I wrap that in tea towels in a large stockpot. Setting the small eye on the range to "Lo" does the trick for keeping it warm.

[Jean E.]

I love fage yogurt, too. Thanks for showing us how to make it at home. I will try it soon.

[--Deb]

Norma, if I'm not mistaken, you should still be able to use some of your yogurt as a starter for the next batch. For at least a couple of batches, so that you don't have to use the purchased-starter for EVERY batch you make.

I wonder if 110 degrees would make that much of a difference? Hmm...

[Elizabeth]

Remember Liz from Pocket Farm? She used to wrap mason jars filled with her yoghurt in towels and put it in a small cooler.
I would have a hard time keeping it warm in this house but I've been collecting recipes, starting way back with Liz's and would like to try.

[Mary Fran]

Oh, that looks delish. But, oh, the labor! Truly a labor of love. I think I would spend the money, slave over it, (ruin a couple batches), only to have my kids thumb their nose at it. Now, if I wasn't the only one eating it, that would make a little more sense.

[elizabeth a airhart]

looks ever so good

[faerielady]

Well, I had considered that starter... but since I'm on the broke side most of the time, I make do with what I have :) Most of the time I can get the mild Fage-like yogurt, so I try to ignore the times I don't :P

[kellys]

wish I could do this game--yummy!! I *do* have a crockpot, but not the time to prep and stuff.
Later, though. Looking forward to hearing about how this yogurt saga progresses! Making me hungry.

[Sarah]

I was just thinking about your yogurt adventures the other day, and wondering whether it continued. It is so great you have found what works for you, especially because of the amount of yogurt you two eat.

[gayle]

If only I liked yogurt... You make the process look so tempting!

[Seanna Lea]

That sounds delicious. I have a batch of yogurt that I need to reheat, because I think it got too cold in the night. I want to see if it is possible to redo and still get decent results. If I get more into yogurt making (and get a strainer, because my colander is always in use), then I will definitely have to look at Custom Probiotics.

[Renee]

I've got to try that ~ we go through a ton of yogurt here making protein/fruit/yogurt shakes for breakfast.

[Hat]

I'm going to put in a word for the Scandinavian cultures Viilli and Filmjolk. They are both extremely mild. I've been making Viilli for over ten years - every time you want a new batch you just use some of the current one to innoculate it. The really great thing is that you don't have to do all the heating of the milk. Just add milk from the carton, mix with a few spoonfuls of the previous batch, cover and leave in a warmish place. I find mine sets overnight if I leave it in the airing cupboard. I can't get the culture any more in UK but I know it's available in US.

[Marisa]

Have you tried using some Fage as the culture? You should be able to do that, I think.

That jar of culture will last you a long time because you can use a bit of the current batch of yogurt to start the next one, right?

I always say that I am going to try to make my own yogurt... someday I will do it.