Homemade Yoghurt

This homemade yoghurt is gloriously creamy. Once you have tasted your own homemade yoghurt, you would have second thoughts about buying from the supermarkets. I have never thought that yoghurt is so easy to make, and no special equipment is needed except for a small cooking pot and a bottle to store, that's all! This is the fifth batch of yoghurt that I have made for the past six weeks! Once is just not enough. For flavoured yoghurt, just scoop some yoghurt in a bowl and mix with whatever you fancy, blueberry filling, strawberry sauce, fresh chopped fruits and I even mix it with homemade apricot puree. It can be used in baking, cooking and even in ice-cream. My daughter love to turn this into watermelon smoothies! I got this wonderful yoghurt making recipe from the magazine "flavours", contributed by Catherine Lau, our local cookbook author, with more recipes on uses of yoghurt.

A thermometer might be useful, but it isn't necessary.  I use the 'feel touch test' and it always worked out fine. Mine usually takes about 40-45 minutes for the milk to be at the right temperature before adding in the culture. If you have not made yoghurt before, try it out, it is very easy and takes just about 5-10 minutes to prepare, mix the culture at about 40-45 minutes later (depends on how fast the milk cools to the right temperature), and leave for it to set for 8-10 hours.

Creamy plain yoghurt, good on its own!

Delicious, blueberry flavoured yoghurt.  I use blueberry pie filling.

Plain and tangy with some frozen blueberries

With fresh papaya and apples.  Try it with fresh ripe mangoes or pineapples, strawberries.....your pick!

I will be using homemade yoghurt to try out recipes, can't wait to try some of them!.  Each batch that I made usually lasts only 2-3 days, enjoyed mostly by my kids.  They don't ask me anymore whether have I bought any yoghurt, the question from them now is "Mommy, did you make any yoghurt?" Got to make a double batch next time!


Plain Yoghurt
(source from : Flavours magazine)
"The yoghurt produced with this set of instructions has a mild, refreshing tartness. You can control the acidity of the yoghurt by increasing or reducing the fermentation time : a longer fermentation produces more acidity."
Ingredients :
1 litre fresh full-fat cow's or goat's milk
1 tbsp live yoghurt culture ** (I use 2 tbsps)

Instructions :
Step 1 : Heat the milk.
Heat the milk over low heat, stirring gently, until bubbles begin to appear on the surface (82 to 85C); remove from heat. Heating the milk kills any unwanted microorganisms that may compete with the yoghurt culture, and it makes the yoghurt thicker.

Step 2 : Cool the milk to lukewarm.
The milk is ready when your fingers can comfortably dip in the milk for a few seconds. The ideal temperature is between 42 to 44C. The yoghurt culture multiplies too slowly below 42C, while a temperature over 44C kills the culture, both will not produce good yoghurt.

Step 3 : Add yoghurt culture
First, add about 1/4 cup of the lukewarm milk to your culture and mix well. Then, pour this mixture back into the remaining milk and stir well. Pour the cultured milk into a clean, dry, 1 litre capacity glass jar, or any other non-reactive container, and put the lid on.

Step 4 : Fermentation
Set the jar on the countertop in your kitchen and wait for the culture to convert the natural sugar (lactose) in milk to lactic acid which coagulates the milk into yoghurt.
In our Malaysian weather, this typically takes 8 to 10 hours for cow's milk and 12 to 14 hours for goat's milk. Insulating your jar in a small styrofoam box of drink cooler cuts the fermentation time by half.
To test for readiness, slowly tilt the jar to one side; cow's milk yoghurt is thick and will not flow much while goat's milk yoghurt is viscous and has the consistency of a pouring custard. Both yoghurts thicken some more upon refrigeration.

Step 5 : Store the yoghurt
Put the jar in the refrigerator immediately to slow down fermentation. Yoghurt will last for about 2 weeks, increasing in tanginess the longer you store it. Remember to use only a clean, dry spoon to scoop out the yoghurt from your jar to prevent premature spoilage.

**Live Yoghurt Culture
To obtain starter culture, buy a container of the best plain yoghurt with live cultures you can find. Because different brands do give different results, check the labels to ensure they contain yoghurt making bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus. Freese the yoghurt in 1 tablespoon portions. I usually buy a 1kg tub of Greek-style yoghurt and freeze it in ice cube trays. Thaw a cube in a saucer at room temperature before adding it to the lukewarm milk. You could reserve a tablespoon of your last home-made batch of yoghurt as starter culture, if you prefer, but I find that this method produces yoghurt that is inconsistent and decreases in quality with each subsequent batch. Soy yoghurt with live cultures are available at selected supermarkets in the Klang valley: use this as a starter in the same way as cow's milk yoghurt.