Wednesday, April 21, 2010

yogurt-making


Now, everyone knows that I am in love with good digestion. Fruits and veg and fiber! But, let's not forget about yogurt. I'm not a big fan of dairy in general, but yogurt makes me feel great (and of course, ummm, ice cream).

The good works of healthy bacteria (probiotics) in yogurt have become quite the hot topic the past few years. Grocery shelves are lined with probiotic drinks and "digestion yogurts", but you can really get the good bacteria from any good yogurt--doesn't have to be Activia or anything special.

One of the downsides, though, is that yogurt isn't cheap. The good news: it is SO easy to make. My mom made it by the gallon when I was a kid and we had it in banana smoothies every morning. And really--it is easy! This is all you need:
  • 1 Half gallon of milk
  • 2-3 Tbs of plain yogurt (as a starter)
  • 1 8-10 Qt stock pot
  • 1 4-5 Qt pot with lid
  • 1 Metal or plastic spoon
  • 1 Dial thermometer with clip
  • 1 heating pad
As easy as it is, the best instructions I found were nice and detailed, so you can just check them out here.

Please do try it out! Then eat it plain, drizzle honey on top, mix with fruit, mix with sweetened yogurt from the store... and let me know how it goes.

1 comment:

Kathy Haynie said...

Oh, boy, did this bring back memories. I used to make homemade yogurt--I think the ingredients were pretty much the same as you have here--but my husband had made a "yogurt maker" for me with a #10 can and a lightbulb. He wired a porcelain light fixture into the bottom of the #10 can, so we could screw in a light and plug the whole thing in. Then we put a big pot with hot water on top of the #10 can (light bulb turned ON), and put the yogurt mixture into tightly sealed glass canning jars down into the hot water in the big pot. It worked great! I wonder if it's still down in the basement somewhere, collecting dust...

Lately I've been buying plain yogurt and sweetening it with agave nectar. Yum!

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