Well, I'm back at it. Even with a 75 degree day here in Minnekota I managed to kick out a gigantic batch of Greek yogurt today. This is the third week and the third time that I have tried this recipe and I get perfect results every time. My family and I go through about three large tubs of plain Greek yogurt a week. For those of you who are Greek yogurt buyers, you know that it kicks my wallet almost $20 a week ...that's $80 a month! Geez. I figured there has to be a better way...after all, I'm saving up for a pair of "Cate the Great" Sorels (for next winter) and at this rate, I will be there in no time.
Enough blabbing, let's get to it.
Ingredients:
3qts. fat free organic milk (I like DejaMoo),
1/4 powder milk (fat free),
2tsp fresh Greek yogurt (a week or less old-I have just been using a bit that I put aside from my batches)
You'll Also Need:
digital meat thermometer
4 qt kettle with lid
two large towels
strainer
cheese cloth
The recipe I found said to heat the milk in the microwave until it reached 180 degrees, and I tried that the first two times and it worked fine. (it took about a half hour in my microwave) This seems to be the magic number to break apart the proteins in the milk. Today, I put it my large kettle an heated it on my stove for about 15 minutes..stirring a lot so a skin didn't form (but if it does, just remove it).
Next you need to let it cool to 110 degrees. I am always in a hurry, so instead of letting it cool at room temperature for 40 minutes or so I put the kettle in an ice bath in my sink and it cools very quickly (less then three minutes today). Next I poured in a 1/4 cup of powder milk (for texture and extra protein) and 2 tsp. of fresh Greek yogurt. Whisk until the milk has dissolved. Now, the most important part (and the trickiest in my opinion). The yogurt has to grow for 8-10 hours at 100-110 degrees. Now some of you may have an oven that you can set to 100 degrees (lucky!) and let the yogurt set over night, but I do not. I work during the day and preheat my oven for 1 minute then put the lid on my kettle and wrap in towels (this helps maintain a consistent temperature). Pop the towel wrapped kettle in the oven and place your digital thermometer reader in the oven to keep on eye on the temp.
My oven stays a pretty consistent 100 degrees from several hours by keeping the door closed and turning on my oven light (kind of reminds me of the EZ-Bake oven my daugters have). If the temp does get below 98 degrees, just preheat again for about 10 seconds and that will slowly bring the temp back up. Do not be one of those people that peek in the oven to see how it's doing...your yogurt will be just fine. You can check it between 8 and 10 hours (I like 10) and you will see how the yogurt is now thick with a layer of whey on it.
To make it "store-bought thick-n-creamy", use cheese cloth to cover your stainer and gently pour or ladle the yogurt from the kettle to the stainer. I like to save the whey for my smoothies and other cooking tasks so I place a bowl under the stainer. I get about a quart to a quart-and-a half of whey so make sure you have a large enough bowl. Let the yogurt set for 30-45 minutes (until it's reduced by about half) and then ladle the yogurt into a container to refrigerate.
I like to whisk it before putting in the fridge. By morning it's nice and chilled and ready to eat. Add anything you like, fruit, honey, grapes (yummy) and then pat yourself on the back because not only did you save a bunch of money, if you're like me, you'll get giddy like a kid on Christmas morning being able to successfully make your own Greek yogurt.
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