Get A Little Culture

Everybody loves yogurt! If you don't, you should! The health benefits are legion, it's tasty, and yes, it's simple to make at home!

I got sick and tired of watching my favorite unflavored/plain yogurt price climb, and with a tiny bit of research, discovered hey, I can make it myself!! A quick search for those home yogurt machines knocked me back to reality...dang, those aren't cheap!!!  It's cheaper to just buy the stuff I guess. Darn.

Then one day a light went on. Girlfriend...you have a WOOD STOVE! And the rest is history!!

I found that a container of yogurt culture situated about a foot to the side of a burning wood stove can make for a very efficient yogurt maker, without electricity, and without an expensive kitchen gadget. But first, let's talk about actually making yogurt!

It's easy...ridiculously so! It doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be raw organic grass-fed yak milk, you don't need expensive yogurt cultures from the hippie health food store. I use pretty much whatever milk I have extra of. Recently I bought two gallons of skim milk on sale, and half of one of those gallons I poured into a large glass measuring cup (it's an 8 cup measure...BIG!). The other half I put in the freezer (skim milk freezes great, without separating and turning lumpy like higher fat milks will when frozen). The other gallon I'm just drinking I guess.

So with roughly 6 cups of milk, I microwaved on HIGH for 15 minutes, or until the milk temperature reached 180 degrees f. Then let it cool down to between 90 degrees and 110 degrees.

Meanwhile, for a starter, I use existing yogurt (it has to have been made with live cultures! Very important). You can save out a few tablespoons from previous yogurt batches to start the next one, once you get going.

(*Note: Some months ago I lucked into two quarts of near-expired Dannon Plain Yogurt...I filled a silicone muffin pan with the yogurt, and froze it. Then popped the frozen yogurt muffins out into a zip bag and keep it in the freezer to use as starter for future batches of yogurt.)

When the milk has cooled, mix in the yogurt starter. It has to be cooled or the heat can kill the good bacteria. Stir it in good, then pour into containers with some kind of lid. I just use plastic cottage cheese containers. The lid is to keep dust and whatnots out. Then set it near your heat source, with a thermometer so you can monitor the air temperature. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, you're set to go!

It takes between 4 and 8 hours for the yogurt to set up into the "curds" and "whey". Some people drain off the whey, but that's so full of good things, I just stir it back together. The longer you let it sit, the tangy-er the yogurt. Refrigerate and chill before eating.

I also discovered that if you drain the yogurt with cheese cloth and let it sit in a strainer with a weight on top (in the cheese cloth) in the refrigerator, after a couple of days you'll end up with an interesting soft yogurt "cheese". I've used it as a base for chip dips, and "cheese spreads" by adding flavorings, herbs, seasonings, chopped chives, etc. And it keeps quite a while!

I've not had any luck using an oven set on "warm" as it's usually too warm. If you have a gas oven, maybe the pilot light will be warm enough, but I'd check that out before actually trying a batch. You want the temperature to be in that 100 degree range, not getting over 110 degrees. A kerosene or space heater MAY work but I'd worry about the temperature and the fire danger. If you  have an old-timey steam radiator system, that might work.

But don't despair if these won't work. If you have the financial means, go ahead and invest in an actual yogurt maker appliance, they work great!! I was lucky enough to find one at a yard sale for $10, and that's what I use in the warmer months when the wood stove isn't in use. Thrift stores and auctions are additional places to find them cheap.

The nice thing about your low-cost quarts of home-made yogurt is that YOU can control the flavors and ingredients. The commercial stuff  can be a travesty, full of gelatin and cellulose and high-fructose corn syrup at worst. One of my favorite combinations is yogurt, a dash of vanilla extract, and a tablespoon of strawberry jam. Better than anything commercial, in my opinion! Add in some frozen blueberries and raw sunflower seeds, you've got an awesome snack!

Like with any home cooking, use common sense. Your home-made yogurt should smell like yogurt. If it smells off, or starts growing alien life forms, THROW IT AWAY! It should keep for a couple of weeks in the closed container in the fridge.

Never hurts to gain a little culture in your life!