I decided to make yogurt over Memorial Day weekend. Halfway through my adventures in acidophilus, yogurt’s “friendly” bacteria, I almost gave up, ditched the project and headed outside into the spring afternoon. After all, isn’t weeding more fun than watching milk curdle?
To the uninitiated, trying to turn liquid dairy into a thick, wholesome treat seems akin to a magic trick — a feat best left to the Stonyfields of the world behind the factory doors.
But after some frustrating hours that I will never get back, when my concoction felt like fussed over sour milk instead of luscious, creamy yogurt, nature took over. Waking up the next morning, I had yogurt. Amazing!
Ever since moving to an agricultural pocket of Southern Maine and making friends with a third generation dairyman, I had all kinds of do-it-yourself milk products in my head. Yogurt, that nutritious fruit and cereal counterpart, had long been on my mind.
“Yogurt is easy to make,” said no one ever. Except for the person I live with, a counter culture artist of the DIY first wave. The more you live in Maine, the more you realize, anything is possible. A trip to a farmers market reveals that everything from honey to chaga to incredible-looking hummus can be conjured up if you have the time and the tools.
It turns out yogurt requires more time than tools. In fact, everything (save for a dairy thermometer) is likely in your kitchen right now.
Like sourdough bread, yogurt making is a live process. Pay close attention to your heat levels. Yogurt bacteria is killed at high temperatures, and it won’t grow below 90 degrees.
After all, “yogurt has been made for hundreds of years by persons who never heard of thermometers,” wrote iconic nutritionist Adelle Davis.
And if you have live cultures on hand, you can always start over. No shame.
For my first yogurt foray, I consulted makeyouronwyogurt.com and a book called “Let’s Cook it Right,” published by Davis in 1947. Toggling between the two, I found the truth was somewhere in the middle. This is a natural process, and thankfully it’s forgiving. That means you are not tied to recipes, once you have a feel for yogurt making, you can go by instinct.
In the end I was left with a lot of whey (a delicacy in itself). Though nutritious, it made my yogurt a tad watery but still very delicious when served with cereal and berries. Tasting notes are not too tangy, wholesome with a slight hint of sourness.
Homestead Yogurt
yields a half-gallon
½ cup of store bought yogurt with live and active cultures (I used The Greek Gods yogurt)
8 cups whole milk (I incorporated raw unpasteurized milk from Leary Farm in Saco)
A dairy thermometer would help (meat thermometers don’t work.) You can always get folksy and test the temperature on your wrist.
Pour milk in a large saucepan and cook on medium heat, watching closely. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes at below boiling. Watch closely so milk doesn’t skim or burn.
Remove from heat and let cool to 110 degrees, an ideal temperature for adding yogurt culture. Since my thermometer was not working, my test was lukewarm, safe enough to feed a baby.
Add the live culture and stir.
Set aside in a warm ceramic bowl (fill with hot water and empty just before pouring in warm concoction) and cover with a lid for the next few hours. You are instructed to keep the mixture warm. I found that two hot water bottles (refilled twice over a few hours) set on the sides of the bowl and covered with a towel did the trick.
Leave undisturbed for at least 4 hours, or until the consistency looks like yogurt.
Once that has happened, refrigerate.
DIY yogurt is more forgiving than baking, but like popping out a quiche, it requires time and patience. Satisfaction is in the details. And whizzing past the yogurt aisle, with its price creep (looking at you Greek yogurt), is now a chance to feel satisfied, not snookered.