Originally Posted by SilverEm
How I make yoghurt:
Needed: Cream, a bit of plain yoghurt, large saucepan, candy thermometer, glass jars, and a way to keep the yoghurt warm for several hours.
1) Mix whatever proportions of hwc and half-&-half you wish, or 100% of either one if you don't have both. (aka light cream and double cream)
2) Bring cream mixture to 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit. (While waiting for cream to heat, put 1 tablespoon of plain yoghurt, for each cup of light cream, in each jar. One tablespoon is for a 6-8 ounce jar. Have jars at room temp.
It's best to let the yoghurt starter warm up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or a bit higher, which is why this is done at this point. I use Dannon, plain, whole milk yoghurt for starter.
3) Let cream cool to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
While cream is cooling, turn on your yoghurt maker to let it warm up.
If you don't have a yoghurt maker, here are possibilities for keeping the yoghurt warm for its incubation. Set up your preferred method while the cream is cooling. If the incubation temperature is too cool, the culture can't multiply, and if it is too hot, it will kill the culture.
- Wrap a heating pad around the jars and cover. (Or put the jars and heating pad into a styrofoam cooler.)
- Set the jars on a radiator, if it is not too cool or too hot. (105-110 degrees is ideal.)
- Pre-heat a thermos with hot water. Measure the temperature so it isn't too hot.
- Use an oven with a pilot light, or which can be set at 105-110 degrees.
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4) Take the cream mixture which has been cooled to 105 degrees, and pour it into each jar, mixing well with the yoghurt starter.
5) Put the jars into your yoghurt maker, or pour mixture into preheated thermos, etc.
N. B.: Incubation time is a minimum of 4 hours. (Shorter times mean less fermentation, and the yoghurt will be more liquid.) The longer it incubates the less lactose there will be. Yoghurt is a process of fermentation. At about 18 hours, the lactose will be reduced as far as possible. For those wishing to avoid any taste of sweet, this is useful. (Or for those with Crohn's, IBS, etc.)
I use a bit of yoghurt from the last batch for a starter. The starter needs to be plain yoghurt, so that the fermentation will work well. I buy Dannon brand, plain, from whole milk, when I need a starter. Any plain yoghurt will work.
If you decide to buy a yoghurt maker, I like the Yo-Life with the tall cover, so that one can use jars from home. I also like that it has no automatic shut-off so that one can let the yoghurt incubate as long as one wishes.
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I use 160-165 as the high heat temperature for the cream mixture, as that is the temperature Homestead Creamery uses for their low-heat pasteurization. (I called them.)
N. B. Letting the yoghurt cool some, at room temperature before putting in the fridge, allows the yoghurt to set up firmly. I let mine cool in the yoghurt maker for a while, and then, put the lids on the jars, and let it cool to room temp. This makes a nice firm yoghurt.
I eat my yoghurt plain, and sometimes serve it with one of my homemade gelatins.
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