Home Made Greek Yogurt

[RileyWorm]

Hey girls (and guys!)
I know a lot of you make your own GY, and I'm wanting to try this. I've researched the general method, what I want is you all's tips/tricks/tools that you like to use (ie what kind of pots, how to store, etc, etc.) Especially interested in what liquid you use (cream? whole milk?) and how long you let it ferment.
Thanks!!

[Lildrew]

I would love to know this too!!

[katiesmemaw]

Me too!
Betty

[pendragginp]

<delurking>

Me three!

[LaraSuzz]

not me!

[shirleychef]

I like keeping my yogurt raw. Keeping yogurt raw is a tricky business because raw milk has a lot of beneficial bacteria and enzymes that can compete with the yogurt culture. Some batches work perfect and some do not. If you want a perfect batch every time use pasteurized milk/cream rather than raw milk/cream.


Raw Milk/Cream Full Fat Greek Yogurt
1 quart whole milk
1 quart cream (whipping if store bought)
1/2 cup prepared Greek yogurt or plain regular yogurt

1. Heat milk & cream to 100-110 degrees. Remove from heat immediately.
2. Add prepared yogurt and stir very well.
3. Pour into clean mason jars (pint or quart), put lid on.
4. Place in your oven with the oven light on (to keep it warm). Allow to ferment for 8-24 hours. According to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet folks the longer it ferments the less sugar you will have in the end product which means it will have a better healing effect on the gut.
5. Pour yogurt into a colander that is lined with Muslin Cloth. Pull up the sides of the cloth and tie in a knot or use a clip to keep it closed right above the yogurt blob. Hang over a bowl/pan in your fridge for 12-24 hours or until the whey stops dripping.
6. Plop yogurt into a bowl, scrape all the GY off your muslin cloth, gently combine the cream/milk layers. Do NOT beat or over mix!!
7. Store in the fridge.
8. Add fruit or desired sweetener when you are ready to eat it not to the entire batch. I personally think it stores much better plain.

NOTE: You can find muslin at any fabric store for less than $3 a yard. Buy a full yard... then you can cut it to size. You want large pieces so it is easy to tie up. Especially if you enjoy making the yogurt and end up doubling the recipe for a larger batch.

I have hung my GY at room temperature to drain when I don't have enough room in my fridge and it works fine.


Other tips:
1. Choose a yogurt culture that has live bacteria in it. Just read the label most do. You can use Greek Yogurt OR regular yogurt to make your Greek yogurt it does NOT mater. What make it "Greek" is the straining of the yogurt. So choose a plain yogurt that you like the taste and tartness level to make your yogurt out of.
2. You must ferment the yogurt at a temperature between 100 & 110 degrees or it will not thicken and become yogurt. If you have to use your oven, then take OUT the jars and wrap them in several large bath towels to keep them warm. Be sure to allow your oven to cool completely before putting the jars back in.
3. You can find many recipes for "crock pot yogurt" on the web. I find these recipes work really well if you are not going for a raw yogurt.
4. You can add stevia, sugar, honey, or any other sweeteners BEFORE you ferment. Especially if you are not going to hang the yogurt. I personally do not like doing this when I'm making Greek b/c I feel like I'm wasting sweetener b/c some will come out in the whey.
5. If you are NOT making your yogurt into Greek yogurt DO NOT STIR it until you are ready to use it or it can develop a "snotty" texture. Mixing after draining is ok, but do it as little as possible so the texture stays nice.

[RileyWorm]

Thank you so much Shirley! I have been dying to try this but worried I would mess it up.
I have a few questions...
Will any container with a lid work for the fermentation? Or does glass/plastic make a difference?
What affect does the length of the fermentation make on the taste/texture of the yogurt?
And, last one, sorry, but the yogurt I have that I use to start my homemade - it is very tangy, so will my homemade be tangy as well?

[heatherwagnon]

Originally Posted by LaraSuzz

not me!

lol me neither sorry just had to say it

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by RileyWorm

Thank you so much Shirley! I have been dying to try this but worried I would mess it up.
I have a few questions...
Will any container with a lid work for the fermentation? Or does glass/plastic make a difference?
What affect does the length of the fermentation make on the taste/texture of the yogurt?
And, last one, sorry, but the yogurt I have that I use to start my homemade - it is very tangy, so will my homemade be tangy as well?

You have to use a container that is ok at 100-110 degree's. I personally like glass b/c I KNOW it is very clean and free of bacteria. Plastic can harbor bacteria that could effect the yogurt culture.

The taste can get more tart with longer ferments but I think the tartness is usually tied more to the type of starter you use. I've fermented 24 hours and had a very mild tasting yogurt... other times I've fermented for 12 hours and had a really tart batch, I haven't figured it all out yet... and I've made LOTS of yogurt over the years.

It is possible that if you use a very tangy yogurt that you will have a tangy end product. So you may want to do a shorter ferment and a smaller batch and just see if you like it. You can easily cut the batch in 1/2 and just see how it turns out. Meaning 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, 1/4 cup yogurt starter.

[RileyWorm]

Thank you so much!!

[SunnyFL]

Sounds like a good idea!

But my lazy butt would just rather go to WF and buy my Voskos LOL...

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

Sounds like a good idea!

But my lazy butt would just rather go to WF and buy my Voskos LOL...

I know! :-) I have my own organic grass fed only Jersey herd and I still buy the yogurt often instead of making it... I'll go on kicks where I'm really good about making it then life happens and I start buying it again.... then we end up with an abundance of milk & cream and I start making it again. I'm thankful that I finally found some local stores that carry both Fage Total and Greek Gods... I'll have to check out the other brands that have been mentioned!

[RileyWorm]

My grocery stores do not carry any full fat yogurt at all, they used to carry 2% Fage (teeny tiny containers, but no more..) until I discovered my Schnucks store carries Cabot...I was worried about the tangy-ness, but it turns out I LOVE it. Reminds me of goat cheese....I have scarfed down the whole container in 1 1/2 days...save what I need to make my own.

[SunnyFL]

I would love to have fresh yogurt from fresh raw milk, wow!

[dbunny]

Originally Posted by RileyWorm

My grocery stores do not carry any full fat yogurt at all, they used to carry 2% Fage (teeny tiny containers, but no more..) until I discovered my Schnucks store carries Cabot...I was worried about the tangy-ness, but it turns out I LOVE it. Reminds me of goat cheese....I have scarfed down the whole container in 1 1/2 days...save what I need to make my own.

Are you in Missouri? We have Schnucks here, and I have only found them in St Louis...
You are right~ Cabot's is awesome!

[RileyWorm]

dbunny, I live in Illinois about 30 mins from StL.

[shelbyla]

Threadjack! Hiya to the midwest ladies! SIUC grad here, originally from Charleston...

[RileyWorm]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

Threadjack! Hiya to the midwest ladies! SIUC grad here, originally from Charleston...

My brother is a senior at SIUC right now! I LOVE Carbondale! Never would have been able to go to school there though, I would have partied myself right out of school! I went to SLU for undergrad.

[RileyWorm]

Yogurt makers, advice please!!!!

I *TRIED* to make the yogurt, needless to say it did NOT turn out.
I heated my milk and cream to 110deg. Transferred to another container, mixed in my yogurt starter, kept the yogurt warm for 20 hours. When I went to strain it, it ALL went through the cheesecloth. Literally, I had the strainer in the sink, lined it with cheesecloth, I was getting another bowl to set the strainer in for the fridge, NOPE, all my yogurt was down the drain! AH!
Was I supposed to layer the cheesecloth? I only used one layer. My fatal error I think.

[privatediva]

I'm not sure, but if you really used cheesecloth, then cheesecloth and muslin are not the same thing. Muslin is very tightly woven.

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by RileyWorm

Yogurt makers, advice please!!!!

I *TRIED* to make the yogurt, needless to say it did NOT turn out.
I heated my milk and cream to 110deg. Transferred to another container, mixed in my yogurt starter, kept the yogurt warm for 20 hours. When I went to strain it, it ALL went through the cheesecloth. Literally, I had the strainer in the sink, lined it with cheesecloth, I was getting another bowl to set the strainer in for the fridge, NOPE, all my yogurt was down the drain! AH!
Was I supposed to layer the cheesecloth? I only used one layer. My fatal error I think.

You cannot use cheesecloth... it must be muslin. Go to a fabric store and buy a yard of muslin. I have not ever seen any cheesecloth that will work for GY.

Here is a post I just put on my blog about Greek Yogurt, This is how I've been making it the past couple weeks and it has been FABULOUS.. I'm talking you cannot hardly tell the difference between my GY and the store bought GY.

The batch of Greek Yogurt I made this week has turned out to be the very best, creamiest, thickest yet! If you enjoy Greek Yogurt and want to try to make it on your own here is the recipe I use. You first start with a base yogurt recipe, then you strain it, it is the straining of the whey that makes it "Greek". So if all you want is regular yogurt then don't hang it/strain it and you have a wonderful fatty yogurt.

Yogurt Recipe

1 quart cream (raw farm fresh or whipping cream)
1 quart whole milk (raw farm fresh or pasteurized)
1/4 cup (rounded) prepared Greek yogurt or plain yogurt

1. Heat the milk and cream to 110 degrees. Remove from heat as soon as it reaches the correct temperature.
2. Whisk in the prepared yogurt. Stir very well.
3. Pour hot milk/cream mixture into clean jars. Screw on the lids.
4. Place jars in your oven with the oven light on.
5. Allow jars of yogurt to incubate in the oven with the light on for 12-24 hours. The longer the better. The longer it ferments the more reduced the lactose sugars are.
6. If you do NOT want to make this yogurt into "Greek Yogurt" refrigerate it until use.

Greek Yogurt
1 yogurt recipe
muslin cloth
colander
pan or bowl larger enough to suspend the colander

1. Line your colander with muslin cloth. Please note: cheesecloth will NOT work. You must have a muslin bag or muslin cloth. Muslin cloth can be purchased from any fabric store for about $2 per yard. Buy a whole yard so you can cut the muslin the size you want it for straining.
2. Place the colander over a bowl or pot so that it is suspended. You want to have it suspended so the whey can drip. You do not want your colander sitting in the bowl or the yogurt will will be sitting in the whey.
3. Poor the yogurt into the muslin lined colander.
4. Place the bowl/colander in the refrigerator.
5. Every 4 hours or so, take a scraper or spoon and scrape the sides of the cloth around the base of the colander especially. Do not stir the yogurt, just scrape it away from the sides gently. This last batch is the first that I scraped the bowl about every 4 hours throughout the straining time. You will want to strain the yogurt for about 12 hours or until all the whey has stopped dripping. I didn't scrape it during the night, but I did scrape it down right before bed, then again when I got up in the morning. I think that scraping the thickened yogurt off the sides of the muslin allowed for more whey to drain out of the yogurt. Please note: If you make a double, triple or quadruple batch (like I did) you will want to strain the yogurt for a minimum of 24 hours and scrape it a few times so that an optimum amount of whey will drain. I think it is harder to get a nice Greek yogurt when you do large batches. Scraping the muslin is the key to a GREAT yogurt when doing large batches. By large I mean 1 gallon of cream and 1 gallon of milk.
6. When the yogurt is nice and thick. Scoop it into a container. Lay the muslin on your counter and scrape off all the thick creamy yogurt that is stuck to it. Be sure to rinse your cloth very well immediately or it may not clean up well by the time you get around to washing it with your laundry.

Miscellaneous Information:

I do not know how long this recipe will last. This summer we had one batch make it about 10 days. If you are using pasteurized milk and cream I expect yours might last at least a couple weeks... if you don't eat it all by then. The milk and cream I use is raw and stays raw since I do not heat it above 110 degrees, so it does not last as long.

If you do not want to use a colander to drain your yogurt, you can tie up the ends of the muslin around a wooden spoon that is suspended above a pot or bowl, then put it in the refrigerator like that. You might not get as thick of a yogurt because you will not be able to easily scrape the sides of the cloth, so the middle of the yogurt batch in the middle of the sack/bag will be runnier.

I've had people ask me about adding sweeteners and flavorings. You can add sweetener or flavorings to your yogurt right after you heat the milk/cream. Add it when you add your yogurt starter. If you plan to make Greek yogurt I would not recommend adding sweetener until you are ready to eat it. Some of your sweetener will come out in the whey. How much sweetener you ask? If you are making a 2 quart batch you can use 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup, or organic sugar. OBVIOUSLY these sweeteners are not for those on phase 3 but your family would REALLY enjoy them! You may use your favorite phase 3 compliant sweeter. Just stir in some and taste it to see if it is as sweet as you might like it. Remember that as it ferments it will get tart. If you want to add vanilla flavoring or any other type of flavoring use 2 tsp per 2 quart batch.

Whey is a power food too. You can add it to your smoothies or use it to ferment fruits and veggies. For more information on using whey you can reference the Weston A Price website or see the many recipes in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I know there are many that blog that also use fermented foods. I'm sure if you did a Google search for fermenting vegetables with whey you will find many recipes that you can try. Whey can be added to homemade mayonnaise to extend it's shelf life.

[RileyWorm]

Thanks for the advice, I am not going to use the cheesecloth this time. Lots of other sites I researched said they used it, but I guess they doubled/tripled the layers without specifying. And thanks for the ideas for using the whey, I really hated to waste it.
I am working on batch #2 now.

Okay, now also realized my thermometer is not reading temp accurately, right out of the drawer it said 100deg. Didn't use it this time and used different one. I thought, man that got to 110 pretty quick!

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by RileyWorm

Thanks for the advice, I am not going to use the cheesecloth this time. Lots of other sites I researched said they used it, but I guess they doubled/tripled the layers without specifying. And thanks for the ideas for using the whey, I really hated to waste it.
I am working on batch #2 now.

Okay, now also realized my thermometer is not reading temp accurately, right out of the drawer it said 100deg. Didn't use it this time and used different one. I thought, man that got to 110 pretty quick!

I've seen people say cheesecloth too... but when I tried it even triple layered it would NOT work. Thankfully I had muslin. I make my own cream cheese and it requires muslin too. The muslin works GREAT and a full yard is usually about $2 at the fabric store.. well worth it! I don't cut mine at all so that if I want to tie it up I have plenty of fabric to work with.. BUT I make 1 gallon batches, so I NEED a lot of material to work with.

[Ghislaine]

The cheesecloth that's sold in grocery stores is very different from cheesecloth used by cheesemakers. I've used cheesemaker cheesecloth to drain yogurt before, just fine.

My attempts at actually making raw yogurt have been much less successful as it came out very liquidy. I may have to try the crockpot method next.

[1BellaDonna]

Okay, I know it's not "technically" GY, but I used to get plain yogurt and put it in a coffee-filter lined strainer (over a bowl). I'd leave it overnight like this in the fridge and would have a GY-style yogurt in the morning. It was easy, cheap and delicious when I had no access to GY. In fact, I had always hated regular American yogurt until I learned this trick. Now, I'm a bit lazy and pick up GY from Trader Joes (the best and most economical kind, IMO) but may start making my own again, if I find a good deal on full fat, plain yogurt.

[RileyWorm]

I may try the crockpot next as well. This batch has turned out good, so far, so good. Haven't tried straining yet. But it looks thicker. I had problems with my thermometer so I don't think my milk got hot enough.
The crockpot method sounds so darn easy, I'm gonna try it.

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by Ghislaine

The cheesecloth that's sold in grocery stores is very different from cheesecloth used by cheesemakers. I've used cheesemaker cheesecloth to drain yogurt before, just fine.

My attempts at actually making raw yogurt have been much less successful as it came out very liquidy. I may have to try the crockpot method next.

I SOOOO agree about the cheesecloth. I bought a good quality cheese cloth from a cheese company and it is so worth the investment. BUT I would still use muslin for GY b/c I like it better. Cheese cloth from any "local" store is very poor quality. The weave it horrible and it unravels so easily that I cannot even use it for my hard cheeses let alone straining anything.

My first couple batches of yogurt were flops too. I found that I didn't heat it to 110 and I also found that a little more starter sometimes does the trick. I like using already made yogurt as my starter. I've tried 2 different brands of powdered yogurt starter and both batches completely flopped. When I use already prepared yogurt I have much greater success.

The crock pot method is more tedious in my opinion. I find it much easier to heat, jar, and incubate in the oven rather than having to remember to shut off the crock pot, time it, add, time it, wrap in towel, time it, then strain/jar. I also found that crock pots vary in temp so testing the milk for the correct temperature is still important.

[RileyWorm]

Shirley thank you for your help. I have a bacth straining as we speak. About how much strained yogurt will i net? I used two quarts of liquid. I would like to get two large yogurt containers, is that possible? So far i love the taste it is suuuuper tangy!!

[shirleychef]

Originally Posted by RileyWorm

Shirley thank you for your help. I have a bacth straining as we speak. About how much strained yogurt will i net? I used two quarts of liquid. I would like to get two large yogurt containers, is that possible? So far i love the taste it is suuuuper tangy!!

Sorry i wasn't around.... I usually get a 64 ounce (glad/rubermaid type) container for every 1 gallon of yogurt that I strain, it is not filled to the tippy top so maybe it is around 58-60 ounces. How much did you end up with?

Did you scrape the sides at all during the straining? I find it gives me a thicker end product if I scrape the muslin 2-4 times during the straining. I have 2 gallons of yogurt finishing their 24 hour ferment today. This afternoon I'll strain 1 gallon worth b/c hubby & I need it for a CD tomorrow.

[Felina]

Shirleychef, how do you make the cream cheese?