A couple of months ago, my friend Sawsan from Chef in Disguise posted a beautiful tutorial on how to make home-made yogurt. Since I saw it, I knew I had to give it a try too! This was my first time at making yogurt, but I remember my mum making it often when I was a child. There was a time, at the beginning of the 90’s, when making home-made yogurt was a “must”. I quite liked it as it was less sour than store bought yogurt and I remember adding my favourite fruits to it for a healthy snack. Seeing Sawsan’s post brought back all these memories and I loved the idea of trying it on my own. It was actually much easier than I remembered and I was so happy with the results that I made it a few times already. I found that the quantity of starter needed (the yogurt used to transform milk into yogurt) varies quite a bit. I guess it depends on how many live cultures it has. To be safe, I add a little more, so I know it is going to work. I will show you how to make yogurt and how to turn it into thicker Greek style yogurt (the one I like the most). In the next few days I will show you a few more recipes to help you use up both the yogurt and whey you will be making. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Chef in Disguise
Ingredients:
1 lt – 5 cups fresh milk (I used full cream)
4 tbsp fresh, plain commercial yogurt with live cultures
Heat the milk in a sauce pan until it gets to 40°C – 104°F (if you don’t have a thermometer, just heat it until it feels warm when you touch it).
Add the yogurt and mix well, until dissolved.
Cover the sauce pan with a lid, wrap a couple of thick towels around it and put it in a warm place for a few hours. I usually keep it in the oven (off, but with the light on).
Check on it after 4 hours, if it is still too runny, cover it again and keep it warm for another couple of hours. Mine is usually ready after 6 hours, but on cold days it could take up to 10-12 hours.
And there you have your yogurt!
How to make Greek Style Yogurt
I decided to go an extra step and make Greek style yogurt (which is the one I like the most)… this is the thicker type of yogurt. To do this, line a colander with a cheese cloth and put it on top of a big bowl (so you can collect the whey that will come out of the yogurt). Pour the yogurt in, bring the four corners of the cheese cloth together and twist it to squeeze out the whey over the bowl. Do that until it drips less, then tie the top of the cloth just above the yogurt with string and put it back in the strainer. Put the strainer inside a big bowl (make sure the strainer does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and put it in the fridge. Let it drain for at least 2 to 3 hours (I often keep it over night).
And there you have, your Greek style yogurt… and your whey!
Home-made Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1 lt – 5 cups fresh milk I used full cream
- 4 tbsp fresh plain commercial yogurt with live cultures
Instructions
-
Heat the milk in a sauce pan until it gets to 40°C – 104°F (if you don’t have a thermometer, just heat it until it feels warm when you touch it).
-
Add the yogurt and mix well, until dissolved.
-
Cover the sauce pan with a lid, wrap a couple of thick towels around it and put it in a warm place for a few hours. I usually keep it in the oven (off, but with the light on).
-
Check on it after 4 hours, if it is still too runny, cover it again and keep it warm for another couple of hours. Mine is usually ready after 6 hours, but on cold days it could take up to 10-12 hours.
-
And there you have your yogurt!
How to make Greek Style Yogurt
-
I decided to go an extra step and make Greek style yogurt (which is the one I like the most)… this is the thicker type of yogurt. To do this, line a colander with a cheese cloth and put it on top of a big bowl (so you can collect the whey that will come out of the yogurt). Pour the yogurt in, bring the four corners of the cheese cloth together and twist it to squeeze out the whey over the bowl. Do that until it drips less, then tie the top of the cloth just above the yogurt with string and put it back in the strainer. Put the strainer inside a big bowl (make sure the strainer does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and put it in the fridge. Let it drain for at least 2 to 3 hours (I often keep it over night).
-
And there you have, your Greek style yogurt… and your whey!
Come back for some ideas on how to use both the yogurt and whey: I will be sharing some more delicious recipes in the next few days!
For a great troubleshooting guide on what could go wrong while making yogurt, check out Chef in Disguise!
Hello Manu 🙂
Thank you very much for the mention and I am really glad making yogurt at home brought back happy memories 🙂
Looking forward to seeing the ways you will use up the yogurt and the whey
My mother used to make yogurt when I was a kid, you remind me those days…!!!
God bless you, Manu, for bringing up such a very special lessson! I have to admit to using many of the wondeful NZ ‘Yoplait’ powders and their, oh so cheap, yogurt maker [which costs next to nothing and lasts forever], but I would not dream of buying what is available in the stores! And I DO use over 1 Kg of the stuff a week!!
Horrified at my carelessness ! Simply too busy: Eha, DO slow down! I did mean ‘EasyYo’, of course!!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I love yogurt and I will definitely give it a try soon.
I just found your post! I’ve made yogurt before, but not Greek style, so thank you so much for including that part. Where did you get your tiny containers? They’re perfect for homemade yogurt!
Hi Helen!
Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂 I am not sure where you live, but I found the containers in a bakery called Breadtop… they have stores all over Australia. It is the container in which they sell milk custard. It’s the only place I have ever seen them at. In Europe I used to buy yogurt in similar glass containers… but not here. I hope it helps! 🙂
Manu
Thanks Manu! I live in the States and there’s mostly plastic containers…There were some glass yogurt jars from an Italian yogurt company I saw a while ago…I’ll just keep looking. Thanks also for showing the extra step to make Greek yogurt!
Fowlers jars (for bottling) come in tiny jars now . And are soooooo cute . Maybe give them a try if you can’t find any vegemite or decorative jam jars at the supermarket.
How long does this yogurt last?
Thanks!
Hi Brittany! It should keep at least 2 weeks in the fridge, though mine has never lasted that long as we have always finished it much faster! Hope it helps!