HOW TO MAKE YOGHURT AT HOME

I wanted to share with you something refreshing, healthy and homemade on the very first day of 2012. I hope a healthy great new year is awaiting you all. 

Yoghurt is one of our essentials at home. We go through a few kilograms of natural plain yoghurt every week. Why yoghurt is good for people is a topic on its own just like how to use it and I hope to write about them sometime in the future. For now, lets look into how to make it at home.

Since Mr. Junior started eating yoghurt, I have been making some homemade yoghurt (on and off).

I make only some small amounts at a time but just to give you a good idea on how to make yoghurt for you or your family, lets work on a litre of milk for our sample here.

Ingredients:

1litre of full cream milk (I suggest fresh organic milk)
1-2 tablespoonsful of yoghurt

Method:

First, heat up your milk in a pan on the stove and bring it to boil. Let it boil for a few minutes (if you want it creamy, you may want to simmer it for 10-15 minutes so that more water evaporates) . Then, let it cool down a bit. Here is the trickiest stage. The temperature needs to be just right for fermentation. It is about 40-45C.

One tip to understand whether the temperature of the milk is right is that you dip your little finger into the milk for 7-10 seconds and make sure it is warm but it doesn't burn you.

Once the milk's warmth is right, then add the yoghurt which was stirred with a little bit of lukewarm milk to make runny into the main milk and make sure it is mixed well. After this stage, simply, pour the mixture into a container/jar and close the lid.

Wrap some tea towels and even a blanket to keep the jar warm and in dark. It should stay there for about 6-7 hours and then you can place it in the fridge. After a few hours in the refrigerator, it is ready for you to eat!

Some Notes:

• Do not use metal spoons while making yoghurt. It is better to use wooden spoons.
• When the milk and yoghurt mixture is put in a container for fermentation and wrapped with a blanket, do not shake it. Make sure it stays still.
• Most types of packaged milk do not have enough fat in them. That is why some people prefer to add some cream (or sometimes even milk powder) into the milk to make the yoghurt with a better consistency.
• There are some starter kids available at many supermarkets. It may be good especially if you don't have a live cultured yoghurt at home.

Below is also a yoghurt making video for you. Enjoy!