Hi Sue,
I make all our yogurt and can tell you what works for me. I use the Euro
Cuisine incubator that holds 7 small glass jars. And yogurt makers are just
that - incubators. You could use a ice chest with hot potatoes or anything
that will hold a bit of warmth. Yogurt makers just keep a constant temp and
take out the guess work.
For my 7 jars I use just a bit over a liter of milk. You also need a
starter of some kind. You can use a good quality, non-flavored, with live
cultures, yogurt from the grocery or you can use a powdered starter. Once
you've made you've made your first batch of yogurt you can use a portion of
that batch to make your next one. I can usually get about 6 batches from a
starter before I start with a new culture again. I prefer a powdered
starter that I buy from a cheesemaking company here. If you check around
there are a variety of cultures for yogurt. They will each have slightly
different flavors and textures because of the different cultures each
contain.
To make your milk ready for the starter, most people will heat it just to
the boiling point and then cool it to around 116 degrees F. (46 C) You
then want to add a small amount of your milk to your starter - either the
powdered or 1/4 cup of yogurt and mix it well. Then add that back into the
rest of the milk. After that - incubate. My yogurt takes about 4 hours to
set. You can leave it longer it will just develop a sharper taste.
Now if you prefer a slightly more creamy, thick yogurt you can add 1/3 cup
of powdered milk and a sprinkle of gelatin (I use about 1/3 of a package of
plain gelatin) to the milk before heating it. If you prefer the very thick
"greek" yogurt you can pour your finished yogurt into a sieve lined with
butter muslin and let it drain overnight. (Save the whey from that, it's
good for a variety of uses)
I most times eat my yogurt with just a little honey drizzled over it or stir
in a spoonful of lingonberries but our apple mill right now has been making
a wonderful applebutter with pecans mixed in that is a special treat.
We go through a lot of yogurt in our household - even the dogs love it as a
special treat a couple times a week. So good for you.
Dona in Groton, CT where I'm making pretty good progress on a Flanders
edging that I started in Ithaca last month.
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