Our yogurt with strawberry jam, and yes, walnuts.
I love yogurt. I eat it almost every day. About a year ago Dan decided it would be a good idea to start making our own. He ordered a Yogotherm.
It’s basically a large thermos designed to turn milk into yogurt. (And other things, kefir, various cheeses.) You heat the milk to 185 degrees and then cool it back down to 110 degrees. Then into the Yogotherm with a yogurt culture. Eight to ten hours later you have yogurt.
I love the fact that I can use milk from a local dairy that does not have any antibiotics or growth hormones in it. There are no added sugars or sweeteners, no unpronounceable preservatives, colorings, etc. Other than milk and culture, the only things added are added by my choice.
Don’t have a yogotherm or yogurt culture? Don’t despair. Any thermos will do and you can use 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite store bought yogurt per half gallon of milk (I would try for an organic, plain yogurt) and you will have the same results. I have done this and it does work beautifully. You can continue to do this from your yogurt but know that eventually you will have to have new culture.
Dan is not as particular about his yogurt as I am. I like to strain it so that it becomes really thick, more like a dessert. He is just as happy eating it right out of the container. When you strain it, you end up with about a quart of whey and this just wonderful stuff. I use it for making oatmeal, sauces and bread. It adds a nice tangy flavor and is full of protein.
This week I am eating our yogurt with some of the strawberries that I picked from Willow Creek Orchards. Also, with the jam I made from the strawberries.
This is my favorite time of year for food. I picked raspberries at Pennypack on Friday and found local blueberries in the supermarket. They have all found a home in the yogurt and every day at 3:00 you can know that I am fixing my afternoon snack of homemade yogurt and the jewels of summer, berries.
We have been making yogurt since we bought a Waring Pro yogurt maker back in mid-April of 2010. We must have made over 50 gallons – at least 30 of them from the yogurt maker and believe me, using that yogurt maker is a blessing. We make parfaits for our church bake sale and even give away some to our homeless pantry at the church. So if you plan on eating yogurt on a regular basis, it pays you to use a yogurt maker. And best of all you can control what goes into the yogurt you eat.
We have made all kinds of yogurt from Siggis to Chobani to Activia and Activia is the best. We are now culturing a combination of Activia and a Bulgarian yogurt which is the best ever; the result has all the health benefits of Activia and the creamy taste of the Bulgarian yogurt.
If you are interested in learning more about the yogurts we have tried just see our website under Examples: http://mryogurt.info/
And we are glad to know of another enthusiastic yogurt couple on the Web.
Bill and Charlene