Homemade Yogurt Recipe from No Impact Man
I found the website No Impact Man on New York Times last week when I found the headline The Year Without Toilet Paper - a title too intriguing to pass by without reading. While reading further into his blog today, I found this great article, Do a dance for yogurt that isn’t in plastic tubs. I have been thinking about how many of our food products have damaging products for a while (I am embarrassed to confess not as long as I should have).
Recently it really struck me when my husband and I were in his hometown that has the *best* co-op with fresh organic local foods. They have great food in bulk and I found out that instead of buying the foods in plastic bags, you can bring your own containers, then weigh your containers before and after the desired food product in order to avoid making more waste from packaging. Brilliant! I am sure that this has been thought of before, but alas, it was an eye opening moment to see it in action.
So, back to yogurt. My husband and I eat a LOT of yogurt - bought in plastic containers - this would be a great recipe to try at home and see how it goes. The recipe looks a lot like making homemade pudding, but with a twist. From No Impact Man:
1) Boil whole milk (for some reason it doesn’t come out right with less than whole milk) in a large pot until it boils and foams at the top. Shut if off before it spills over.
2) Let the milk cool off until you can keep your pinky finger in the milk for 10 seconds without burning it (a temperature reading would have been great for this step but I don’t think they had these back in Greece 70 years ago), so this will be the most difficult step.
3) In a small bowl (that holds about 2 cups) add one tablespoon of live yogurt and beat it until smooth. Slowly add to this starter one cup of the milk from the pot stirring slowly until combined.
4) Transfer this mixture (in #3 above) to the pot of boiled milk slowly pouring it in the pot while mixing the pot of milk the whole time to combine thoroughly (with a spatula or long spoon).
5) Pour into glass or plastic containers and seal them.
6) Arrange the containers together and cover with 2 to 3 towels keeping them in a warm place of the house (and no, you don’t need some sort of a yogurt maker gadget to keep them warm). Let them sit overnight.
7) In the morning place them in the refrigerator and they will get cold. Yogurt is done.
8) Do a dance!
Things to find out include 1) where do you get live yogurt? 2) find reusable containers to use 3) figure out how much yogurt this recipe makes 4) how long does this yogurt last before it expires? I feel another cooking adventure coming on - I will keep you posted.
March 25th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Well, I guess we know what our next project is.
Nice find on this - it would be very slick to be able to make our own yogurt.
March 26th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
The moment you announce that you made a successful batch of yogurt, I will be at your front door. I looovvveee yogurt.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
We will keep you posted! I am excited to try it out!
April 12th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I will do a dance for yogurt. And i will do a dance for you! Wish I could walk over for a taste test — I\’m missing you of course. Let me know how it goes.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Off subject, Sorry.
I wasn\’t sure if you had that ad on purpose or if you just loved TAL but This American Life is the best radio show ever. And I\’m sure it will be among the best tv shows ever. Sorry if you don\’t know what I\’m talking about.
April 21st, 2007 at 1:22 am
Nice posting. I liked it. But I read recently plastic containers are harmful because of dioxins, although I buy a lot from the local shop.
April 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
a \\\\\\\”live yoghurt culture\\\\\\\” is just some old yoghurt (but not spoilt, obviously). save the last tablespoon from whatever tub you bought (or made) and try using that. Thats what my mom and her sisters do when they can be bothered making the stuff. They also prefer to set ands tore their yoghurt in metal containers, if that helps any. I think it has something to do wtih heat transfer. And when they tell you to keep the overnight mix in a warm place, they mean in a consistently warm place. The warmer the better (without hitting cooking temperatures). This is obviously for the bacterial culture to grow and do its thing. In winter this can sometimes be an issue and yoghurts don\\\\\\\’t always turn out very well.
April 28th, 2007 at 8:16 am
I have tried this - once. It is so exciting, once. There is something about finding tubs of yoghurt in the airing cupboard that makes one not want to repeat the experiment more than once.
Happy yogurt making, though - perhaps you will do it more often. Live yoghurt can usually be bought in the supermarket.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Hi All - thanks for the comments. I found some comments sitting in my moderation queue today and I apologize for the huge delay at getting them up on the site. This is all to say that I need to be writing more often
Joe Gats - yes, I am all a big This American Life fan. I admit, I have not yet seen the tv show, but love the radio broadcast. I wish the show the best.
Shams - it is difficult to avoid plastic containers. I admit, I currently take yogurt to work frequently in small containers for convenience. I wish there were more options. I would pay more if there were a “greener” option.
Rav’N - it sounds a lot like making the starter for sourdough bread. Thanks for the tip!
Juliet - I will definitely think about ventilation when I make my first batch of yogurt!
December 17th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Glass jars, just like plastic containers, come in many different sizes. I store my yogurt in them effortlessly. The twist-on lid ensures my yogurt stays in the jar, too - not schmeared throughout my backpack due to flimsy, snap-on lids.
Thank you for a good recipe for the lazy among us. I would rather hold my pinkie in scalding milk than have to dig out the thermometer. I look forward to trying this one today. Did we ever find out what this recipe yields?
Finally, I generally discard uneaten yogurt (yeah, right!) after 5 days. it was the “expiration date” recommended by the first recipe I tried, and I have simply stuck with it.