Yogurt

We go through a lot of plain yogurt. I eat it daily and we cook with plain yogurt as well. I like making my own yogurt so I always have a ready supply on hand. It is really super easy to make. I use an old Salton Yogurt Maker that has 5 individual cup but there are other ways to do it.


Scalding Milk

One of the first steps is to scald the milk. That means bring it to a boil "without" scorching. Immediately remove it from the heat and allow to cool to the proper temperature or if you have a yogurt thermometer to the "add starter" temperature. Be careful when you do this step as it takes little time for milk to burn giving either lumps or an off taste to your yogurt. I use 2% milk. Once the milk has been scalded, I ladle out a little into a cup then stir in about 2 tbsp of instant milk powder. This gives a richness without adding a lot of fat. Then about 2 tbsp of plain yogurt either store bought with active bacteria or ideally from the last batch is added to the milk when the temperature is correct. The 5 oz cups are loaded then placed in the yogurt maker and left for at least 10 hours.

In the Cup

I like my yogurt sharp. Sharp is the only way I can describe it but to me it gives a bit of a tingle to the tongue. While my husband likes adding a little fruit to his yougurt I prefer it plain. He stirs in frozen fruit and eats it that way. The 5 oz cups of my yogurt maker are just perfect single serving size.

Rich Creamy Yogurt

Rich and creamy with just the right amought of tartness makes the best yogurt in my opinion. It also needs a nice mouth feel and for that reason I am always looking for how the yougurt spoons. The best yogurt keeps it shape on the spoon.