DIY Yogurt: Preliminary Results

I did my first batch as written, and added one full pouch of milk powder--to the one quart of skim, thinking I'd boost the protein. 

I put it in the slow cooker and followed the directions exactly.

Did everything exactly, to be ... EXACT.

And yet, no set. There was a skin that formed on top, yet underneath the contents were still liquid.

So I brought the water in the slow cooker back up to a boil (with the jars of yogurt fixin's in there), and then turned the cooker off and put the lid back on and ignored it all day. When I came home everything was set, but upon further inspection it looks like before I put everything in the jars, the milk must've scorched a wee bit, as there were flecks of brown in there. Totally edible no doubt, but the eye appeal was lacking.

And then there was the matter of the texture. Obviously, homemade is not going to be that glorious, luxurious, smooth texture. Mine was, for lack of a better word, mealy. Perhaps the proteins all clumped together. I don't know, to be honest. This was my first batch, so I'm behind the learning curve.

My mother-in-law in India makes yogurt without a slow cooker, without a yogurt maker, she just puts the remains of the previous day's yogurt into a vessel with some milk, and leaves it out at room temp. Nothing more complicated than that. But then again, she's in south India, where January temps are in the low to mid 80s--not to mention warmer after January, so pretty much the optimal temperature for all things fermentable.

I think next time, I'm not going to use the slow cooker for cooking the milk. Rather, I'm going to lazy bones it, and nuke the milk in the microwave, and with thermodynamics being what they are, when you microwave something, it's almost Newtonian: just as fast as something heats up, that's how quick it cools down.  

I'll bring the milk to a boil in the microwave, making sure it doesn't boil over, and then let it sit out to cool off, and once it has, I'll add some yogurt to it, and just let it be--for however long it takes for it to start to curdle up.

Anyway, grainy/mealy or no, it was still salvageable. I threw a handful of blueberries into it, and blitzed it with my immersion blender, and all was forgiven, to a degree. So this turned out to be a good blueberry smoothie--but let's try again to see if I get this yogurt thing figured out.

DIY Yogurt: The Prologue

Much like my pizza dough quest (which I feel quite confident has come to a glorious conclusion), I'm now going to try my hand at making my own yogurt.

My mother-in-law in India makes yogurt every day, has a nice little system of one day old, two day old, etc, it's a constant cycle from one batch to the next. And she's doing so without a yogurt maker or even a slow cooker (like I have) and surely, I can do this, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, I've searched around for a few recipes to get an idea, and since it's just me and the Maharajah, I'm not going to make a big-assed batch. He's going through a Nounos kick, and at $2.50 a 6 oz jar, the costs rachet up pretty quick, especially if we BOTH eat yogurt.

This weekend, I bought six jars (thereabouts) to hold us for a while (and for me to be in possession of those great little jars, which I can see fitting nicely in my electric pressure cooker), and have been thinking on the topic for a while.

This afternoon, I went to Whole Paycheck to pick up a few items (and somehow got out of there having spent less than $20--I did not even know THIS was possible!), and got a quart of skim milk.  I have some pouches of dry milk powder which I plan on adding some to the first batch, just to get an idea of texture etc, and will tweak things in subsequent batches, as I do with everything else I do.

This "tweaking" I do, my cousin refers to as "Maven-ing," as I find it next to impossible to follow a recipe verbatim. But the first time out the gate, I'll try to stay as close to a formula.

Anyway, I've divided things in half, and will start my first batch as a half batch of another recipe. 

The ingredients list is quite short:

4 C milk (cost: Stay tuned... my receipt is in the fridge!)
1/4 c plain yogurt (cost: $0--I have a couple cups of Siggi's in the fridge)

Optional ingredients:
1/4 C dry milk powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum powder ($13 a pound, but I have had it on hand for years--cost $0)

My approach is going to be:

Put milk in slow cooker for 2.5 hours. Leave lid on and let sit for 3 hours. Then mix in the 1/4 C plain yogurt. At this point, I'm going to try adding 1/4 C powdered milk (to boost protein) and perhaps xanthan powder, to improve texture as the yogurt sets up, and blasting it with an immersion blender to make sure everything gets dissolved. I will probably put the yogurt in the clean glass jars, and then let them sit in still warm slow cooker (turned off) for at least 8 hours. 

My timetable (if I do this tonight) will be:

7:30     Put milk in slow cooker for 2.5 hours
10:00   Turn off cooker. *I might put milk powder in and blast this with the immersion blender--as to do it at 1 a.m. might be too noisy for my neighbors.
1 a.m. (before I go to bed) Put 1/4 Cup Yogurt and xanthan gum powder in the warm, cooked milk. Portion into jars, and place back in cooker.  

Before portioning into jars, I'll put some Dalmatia Fig Spread in 1 or 2; and in the remaining jars, I'll put some elderberry syrup and a few blue berries and hope for the best.

Knowing me, I'm lazy and rushed in the mornings, so it's not outlandish to think I'll forget to put the yogurt in the fridge before heading to work--and I suspect the additional time at room temp can only assist the yogurt to do its thing. So at this rate, I won't know until Tuesday night or Wednesday how successful the first batch will be.  

This, of course, is assuming I get off my duff and do this. I'd have to set this up right before I start setting up for dinner tonight.  

Stay tuned.

Also: Stay tuned for the cost calculations--whenever THAT happens!

Crockin' The 'Gurt

If the crock pot's a-crockin', don't come a-knockin'!

A friend gave me her recipe for homemade 'gurt in the crock.

Crock Pot Yogurt
Recipe Notes - I add 1/2 cup of powdered milk to help thicken my yogurt slightly. It’s completely optional.

•Heat 1/2 gallon of milk (with optional 1/2 cup of powdered milk mixed in) on high for approx 2 hours (temp must be above 180 degrees).
•Turn off your crock pot off and let the milk cool in the pot with the lid on for approx 2 1/2 hours (until liquid cools to 110 degrees).
•Add container of plain yogurt or yogurt cultures (you can buy this at Amazon for a very reasonable price). Use a whisk to mix well.
•Place the cover back on the crock and wrap the entire crock pot in a thick bath towel or blanket.
•Let it culture overnight, 8-12 hours.
•In the morning stir yogurt (if desired) and store in glass quart jars or a container of your choice.
•For optimum texture, refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using.

Homemade yogurt isn’t as thick as the store bought kind because they add gelatin and preservatives to firm it up.

Mix your sweetener and fruits of choice in to the yogurt before eating.

ETA: 2/18/11 I made a batch last night. I varied the proportions a bit, as I have a smaller crock pot. I used a little more than 1 quart of skim milk, plus added an entire envelope of dried milk to it. Brought it to a boil on the stove, stirring to keep from getting burnt. Meanwhile I had my crock pot heating up. My crock doesn't have different settings. I tempered a bit of the hot milk w/the yogurt I was using as a culture (1/2 Greek type; 1/2 Indian "dahi"), then mixed it in once the milk had cooled a bit, wasn't boiling hot but still considerably warm. I poured it into the hot crock. Unplugged the crock, and wrapped it with a thick towel to retain the heat, and left it overnight. I woke up this a.m. with a crock full of 'gurt. It's in the fridge cooling off.