Do you make your own yoghurt?

[HomerPigeon]

Is it worth doing or just a faff that you try once or twice and don't bother with again? Thinking of getting that Easiyo stuff from Lakeland but not sure.

We eat a lot of yoghurt - both plain for in cooking and flavoured ones for breakfast/puddings etc. I like the Rachel's ones and the DC like Danio, and it all adds up on the weekly shop. Was wondering whether making our own would be as nice and whether it's a bit of a palava.

Watching with interest as I have been wondering about trying this. I gather it can be done with a thermos and an airing cupboard but a bit hazy on further details....

I think the Easyyo thing is a bit of a swizz, since you have to keep buying sachets. I use this www.lakeland.co.uk/3440/Electric-Yoghurt-Maker
which is basically a warm place (like a thermos or an airing cupboard)
You scald some milk (this takes a litre), let it cool at least enough so that you can stick a finger in for 10 seconds (colder is fine), mix in a 2-3tsp natural yoghurt, and stick it all in in a warm place. It takes a little tweaking to figure out how long to leave it for, but its really easy.

I follow this recipe -- it is extremely easy. I do use a thermometer, but I am sure Surya's way works, too. I make a gallon at a time and put all the filled containers on a blanket on the floor and wrap it overnight, then put it in the fridge. The longer you leave it in the fridge untouched the more solid it becomes.

www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html?_r=0

i've been using the lakeland one - as recommended on here - for a few months now. before you go to bed you tip a small pot of the bio yogurt - the one in a green pot i use - into the container, add a tablespoon or so of milk powder, and fill container with long life full fat milk. give a couple of stirs and put into machine. leave till morning.

makes nice creamy yogurt every time.

Yes the easiyo is an expensive swizz. Its just a thermos and uses sachets. I have the electric one and go through fads of using it.It easy and makes lovely yoghurt. Just make sure you use UHT milk.
You dont have to heat the milk for the electric one at all so not sure why Surya does.
I sometimes use a plain greek yoghurt as a starter as its easier to get hold of near me than small single pots of plain.

bruffin - the instructions say that unless its Longlife you should heat it. i think its to kill something. thats why i always use LL as i'm too lazy and it doesn't affect taste anyway

Ah thats it, i have had mine a long time and always use the longlife/uht milk.

Making yoghurt is really really easy - yoghurt is just milk that has lots of a 'good' bacteria in it. All you need to do is add this bacteria to the milk and let them multiply. They multiply quicker in the warm and the more good bacteria in there, the less the odd stray 'nasty' bacteria can grow (so the milk doesn't go sour).
So if you use UHT you don't need to boil it (because the heat treatment means there are less nasties present in the first place) but warming it speeds up the multiplication process. Other kinds of milk you have to boil first to kill off more of the nasties and allow to cool.
Max temp is 46 deg c - 44 deg is better - if you don't have a thermometer warm to the touch. Add a couple of teaspoons of starter culture (I use yeovalley live yoghurt - and then if you are organised enough for the next batch you can use a couple of spoons of your homemade yoghurt) to about a litre of (warm) milk.
Semiskimmed or skimmed milk makes thicker yoghurt than full fat (so I've been told) and adding a couple of spoons of dried milk also thickens it up...
Put is somewhere warm - anywhere...so you can stand pots in a pan of warm water and keep heating it up, in airing cupboards -or I put mine on the top of a radiator. Don't stir. Usually takes a good few hours and then put it in fridge (and eat) when it seems like yoghurt!
Leaving longer will make it more acidic ...

All this stuff about killing the nasties - we have raw milk in our house. IMO UHT milk is much more unhealthy for your than raw. I would like to know how to make yoghurt out of raw milk. Any ideas?

You are going to have to boil it first, then let it cool down to 44 deg...
Raw milk will go off faster because there will be low levels of bacteria in it, that's why we pasturise milk - it kills a lot of the bacteria that could make you ill or sours milk ... UHT has even less bacteria cos it has been heated to a higher temp for longer...
To make yoghurt you are putting the milk in ideal bacterial growing conditions. The wanted yoghurt bacteria will compete with the nasties, if you have boiled the milk first there will be so few nasties that the yoghurt bacteria will win! If you don't boil the milk there will be too many nasties to start that they will win and you will get rancid milk instead of yoghurt (and it could even make you ill).
Hope that makes sense - just bring it to the boil first and maybe simmer for a couple of minutes and cool and you'll be fine (As long as you don't put the starter yoghurt into boiling/too hot milk - you will kill the wanted bacteria that way!)

I have used ordinery milk before and it hasnt set at all.

thanks unlucky83, that was very kind of you.

I have the lakeland yoghurt maker and have used it for about a year with no problem. The last two batches have both failed to thicken and just looked like milk after the usual 8 hrs, same uht milk, same yeo valley starter and same milk powder added. Confused and going off the idea now.

I make all ours without any special equipment, just scald milk, let it cool a bit then add some plain yog (saved from the previous batch) and stick it in an ordinary large thermos in the airing cupboard over night. It's not a hassle at all.

I tend to drain it for a bit on a cheesecloth over a sieve so it ends up thicker, more like Greek yoghurt consistency.

Every so often you'll need a new 'starter' of shop/farm bought plain yoghurt, but it's never failed to work.

I do when I have the time because my family are yogurt monsters. Here is a good tutorial to get you started. You can also make fruit toppings to stir-in, here.

I make this- to go with it.