Kitchen

[Sooner]

I love home made yogurt!  I think it is so much better than the store bought.  I have had several yogurt makers over the years but recently bought the Dash Greek Yogurt maker that includes a strainer to make it "Greek."  It works fine and the yogurt gets almost like cream cheese if you let it strain over night.

I like whole milk yogurt best, but 2 percent is ok too.  You can make more or less tart depending on how long you let it sit.   It's sort of fun too to see how it turns our.  I add some honey, jam or fresh fruit for a treat!

Have you ever tried making yogurt?  You can do it without the machine, but it's easier WITH one.

[Lacey1]

I make yogurt from organic milk. I have a large Pyrex pitcher. I heat 5 cups of milk in the microwave for 7 minutes. I let it cool to bath water temp, then I add my culture. Cover it with plastic wrap, put it in a cast iron dutch oven, wrap it with a towel and put in the oven overnight WITH the oven light on. Then, I line a stainless steel sieve with coffee filters and strain it in the fridge for Greek style. I save the whey for smoothies.

[Sooner]

---

@Lacey1 wrote:

I make yogurt from organic milk. I have a large Pyrex pitcher. I heat 5 cups of milk in the microwave for 7 minutes. I let it cool to bath water temp, then I add my culture. Cover it with plastic wrap, put it in a cast iron dutch oven, wrap it with a towel and put in the oven overnight WITH the oven light on. Then, I line a stainless steel sieve with coffee filters and strain it in the fridge for Greek style. I save the whey for smoothies.

---

How many times do you use starter from a previous batch before you buy some new yogurt or starter to use?  I only do it a couple of times then use bought yogurt or powdered starter.  I'm afraid to use my homemade over and over.

[sunshine45]

i make my own yogurt at least once a week......we eat a lot of savory yogurt as a side dish to our meals. yogurt with cucumbers/mint, yogurt with spinach/garlic, yogurt with chopped pickled beets, yogurt with dill and cucumber, yogurt with crushed rose petals, walnuts, golden raisins......lots of combinations.

it is so much better than anything you can buy at the store. i let mine sit and warm for 24 hours once the starter yogurt has been added (either from a good store bought yogurt OR from my previous batch).

[debic]

I use my yogurt to restart the next.   I just dump the whole jar in.    I'll strain that one, but I've found I actually like it runny.

I looked at the Dash one as it has larger jars, I have a euro cuisine now.  Granola is pretty good in it as well.

[Lacey1]

I use starter from my previous batch. It gets 'tangier' as it ages. 

[Sooner]

Thanks for some VERY good ideas about using yogurt in different ways!  I like to add crunchy stuff to it too!  

[Lacey1]

I like the old Vitamix trick with plain yogurt, vanilla extract, and frozen fruit-It's my ice cream!

[Desertdi]

Used to.........but that was back in the day when ovens had pilot lights......it kept the perfect temp.   

[BellaCarro]

I forgot that I used to do this.  I stopped out of frustration, though.  About one in every three to five batches was great.  The rest, well, not so much.  Those that turned out were fantastic.