Home made greek yogourt

From The greek myth of yogourt

Ingredients

(for one quart or 650 g of greek yogourt)

• 8 1/2 cups 1%, 2% or whole milk
• 1/2 cup organic yogourt (any fat content)*

Tools

• A large strainer
• An old t shirt cut into roughly the size of the strainer
• candy thermometer
• enamelled dutch oven or ceramic crock pot insert (you want a vessel that will retain heat, so stainless steel will not do)

Preparation

On the stovetop in the dutch oven, heat the milk to about 200 F, whisking regularly. Keep an eye on the thermometer, you want the milk to almost boil but not quite. As soon as it reaches 200 F, remove it from heat and allow it to cool to 115 F. Once it has cooled, spoon a little into the 1/2 cup of yogourt to temper it. Then whisk the yogourt into the rest of the milk in the dutch oven, cover it and wrap it in towels. Place it in the turned off oven with the light on and leave it for about 8 hours  or overnight. The dutch oven will retain enough heat with the help of the oven light to let the active bacterial cultures work their magic. After 8 hours, open it up and you should have a semi solid kind of gelatinous yogourt. Now take an old clean t shirt or linen towel and line a strainer with it. Put the strainer over a bowl, then pour the yogourt into the strainer. Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Check it after an hour and drain off the liquid (aka whey) that has collected, then replace the strainer over the bowl. Don’t throw out the whey! You can use it for other stuff like bread baking, fermented veggies or soups.

After about 4-5 hours, you should have a really thick, delicious greek yogourt. If it’s not thick enough, just leave it to strain longer.

*Make sure the container lists “active bacterial cultures” in the ingredients. Avoid preservatives or fillers like gelatin, which is commonly found in fat-free yogourts.

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