Wednesday, October 29, 2008

If It's Wednesday, It Must Be Yogurt

Tuesday is delivery day for dairy from South Mountain Creamery. My new routine is to open a bottle of whole, cream-top milk (meaning pasteurized but not homogenized) and make a batch of yogurt for the week.

I've done this so many times now that I can almost make yogurt in my sleep. I've found that the secret to creamy, thick yogurt is to add some half-and-half and cook the milk at a fairly high temperature before putting it aside to ferment.

Contrary to what you might think, it's not the number of microbes in the yogurt that makes it thick, but the protein content of the milk. Cooking the milk concentrates the proteins. Many commercial makers add powdered milk to increase the protein content and thicken the yogurt. We'd rather not have industrially altered cholesterol in our yogurt and I don't recommend it for anyone else either. Just be patient, spend a few minutes at the stove and your yogurt will come out luxuriously thick.

My recipe: 3 1/4 cups whole, cream-top milk plus 1/2 cup half-and-half, preferably from grass-fed cows in your local area. Pour the milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and set over fairly low heat, stirring frequently so that the milk doesn't scorch. (If you use gas heat, you might try using a heat diffuser between the flame and the bottom of your pan.) Gently bring the temperature of the milk up to 200 degrees, using an instant-read thermometer to monitor the temperature. Don't be too anxious: this could take 45 minutes or more, but better to not burn the milk or let it boil, in which case it could separate.

Hold the milk at 200 degrees for five minutes, removing the pan from the heat if it gets too hot. Remove the pan from the heat to rest for a minute. Meanwhile, partially fill your kitchen sink with cold water. Place the saucepan in the sink until the temperature of the milk falls back to 120 degrees. Remove the pan.

Mix some of the milk in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons yogurt from a previous batch or with commercial yogurt containing active cultures. Stir this into the saucepan, then pour the milk into a warm quart canning jar. Place the jar in a small cooler with two or three other quart canning jars filled with hot water. Cover and let sit overnight.

By morning, your yogurt will be completely done. Have a bowl with a drizzle of your favorite honey, or perhaps some orange sections and shaved dark chocolate. We will use it all week to make fresh fruit smoothies.

8 comments:

Becca said...

Thanks for the tip about making thicker yogurt. I always enjoy your blog!

Sadly we can't use our local dairy milk to make yogurt because my mom is lactose intolerant but the good news is that we can use Lactaid (lactose free milk) to make it.

We have discovered that it is excellent with either pin cherry or rose hip syrup drizzled in it (homemade of course). I also like it with radishes and seasalt.

becca
http://swampyankeesfromouterspace.blogspot.com

Ed Bruske said...

Becca, I'm a bit astonished to learn that you can make yogurt from lactose-free milk since it's the lactose in the milk that the bacteria feed on to ferment it. Can you explain?

kathy said...

HI! I just found your blog and I love it. I'm always looking for ways to use my garden vegetables. But today, I think I'll try making yogurt. Thanks!

Becca said...

I don't know the science of it but I know it works. Perhaps they replace the lactose with another sugar? We use Yogourmet starter and the 100% lactose free Lactaid. Maybe someome with more understanding of food science knows why it works?

Ed Bruske said...

Kathy, making yogurt is a smart activity, and always fascinating. It will probably last you the rest of the week.

future reference said...

PERFECT.

This was the best batch I've ever made.

Ed Bruske said...

Emily, glad to hear it

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for this. Being kind of a lazy cook I don't measure degrees at all but keep the milk steaming and just under a boil until it reduces in half. Works fine! If you stir constantly you can avoid a skin, but I don't mind it. Also the reduced milk makes cafe au lait the way I remember it. Haven't tasted it that way in years. Thanks again for taking the mystery out of wonderful thick yogurt..
Suzanne