Homemade Yoghurt Recipe

[Troy McClure]

OK in this article I'm going to be making homemade yoghurt from a probiotic capsule.

Why?
1. Probiotics are expensive.
2. A good way of assimilating dairy for the lactose intolerant
3. You don't know what you are getting with commercial yoghurt - this way you control exactly what goes in

The first thing is the milk - Ideal is grass-fed raw/unpasturised, then non-homogenised. I am not a big fan of homogenised milk as it has been linked with atherosclerosis (arterial plaque). It doesn't really matter if you use raw or pasturised because we are going to heat the milk anyway.

I managed to get 2 litres/quarts of Guernsey/Jersey milk for my yoghurt. This is commonly refered to as "Gold top" in the UK. The main thing is it is unhomogenised.

OK so to make yoghurt you need to first heat the milk to almost boiling point. The reason for this is to alter the milk proteins so that the yoghurt does not seperate into curds & whey. Simmer for 10 minutes or so. Now let it cool to about 40 degrees celcius.

Pour about a glass of it into a bowl and pour in your probiotic capsule. The reason for mixing with 1 glass of the milk and not the whole lot is to make sure the bacteria are as dispersed as possible. Use a whisk to whisk the milk/bacteria. Now pour in the rest of the milk and whisk.

Yoghurt should contain at least 10 *million* bacteria per gram. My probiotic capsule contains 10 *billion* bacteria - which is enough for 1 kilo of yoghurt. 1 kilo of milk is about 1 litre. So for 2 litres of milk, I used 2 probiotic capsules. Of course we hope the bacteria will multiply beyond this, but atleast we are starting out with enough in the first place.

OK close the hotpot and place in a warm place. I cover mine with a thick blanket and place in a warmed room.

Normally yoghurt is left for about 6 hours. However if you want maximum health benefit you want it to be as strong as possible - i.e. the most bacteria. For this reason I culture mine for between 24-36 hours.

The less sweet it tastes, the more live bacteria there are. If you can get it to be positively acidic then it has the most bacteria (you can always sweeten with something afterwards).

There are 2 important classes of bacteria in yoghurt making. The first is streptococcus thermophilus. The genus Streptococcus is comprised of Gram-positive, microaerophilic cocci (round), which are not motile and occur in chains or pairs. They are important in yoghurt making becuase they act as the first rung on the ladder to acidification. Streptococci prefer neutral ph and proliferate in these conditions, turning the medium more and more acid. At some point the acid loving lactobacteria then kick in. Common lactobacteria species used in yoghurt making include acidophilus and bulgaricus.

So when choosing a starter culture, choose one with both streptococcus thermophilus and a lactobacillus strain.

I haven't tried this but the way to use pure lactobacteria would be to add something acidic (e.g. lactic acid) to kick-start the lactobacteria.

Obviously you can make yoghurt using yoghurt as the starter. This is how yoghurt is normally made. Just make sure it is fresh yoghurt with plenty of live bacteria. Apparently you can reuse yoghurt to make yoghurt about 4-5 times. Then they say you should start afresh.

Yoghurt has to be without doubt the easiest fermented food to make. There is no excuse not to give it a try.

The important thing, as always, is to get fermenting!!

[Troy McClure]

Just to add that my family have tasted the yoghurt and they say it is the best yoghurt they have tasted.

Its a bit too sweet for me still, so I'm leaving it to ferment some more.

[h0ppy]

Can you use kefir as a starter too?

[Troy McClure]

[ivana]

Hi to all,
In my family my mother used to make us home made yoghurt, and as a starter she would use a store yoghurt. So I guess kefir can be used to, you just have to try and see.

ivana

[Rozenkwarts]

Thanks for the recipe,

Sounds great and so easy, i will definitely give it a try.

[h0ppy]

I found an electric yogurt maker called Yogourmet. It looks pretty good and handy esp. if you are on the go. Here's a link.

http://www.lucyskitchenshop.com/yogourmet.html

There's also a cheaper one made by Salton. I actually just ordered a new one from Amazon.

[Rosnor]

Hi. I've been making yogourt this way for a while now. I used to make it using the remains of a shop bought yogourt, but once when I'd run out, decided to try using a probiotic capsule. It was the best yogourt I'd ever tasted. It's good to know I'm not the only one out there that tries these things

[h0ppy]

I have question. If I'm going to make 1 quart of yogurt and use store bought yogurt as a starter, how much should I use? Thanks.

[Troy McClure]

It depends on the yoghurt - i.e. how much live bacteria it contains.

So ballpark between 1/2 a cup, and a full cup of yoghurt. If you find out that you didn't add enough, then just let it ferment for longer.

[h0ppy]

Just made my first batch of homemade yoghurt! Turned out really well!

[Troy McClure]

Cool!!