I decided to give the Greek Yogurt Starter Culture from NWFerments a try. The recipe is similar to my other yogurt recipes but they recommend lower temperatures than I have been using. Their instructions are here.
Ingredients
- 1 quart fresh milk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt as a starter (or Greek Yogurt Starter Culture)
Equipment
- Double boiler or heavy pot with lid, 8 quart capacity
- Five half pint jars with lids, sterilized
- Candy thermometer, reading range 0 to 225 °F
- Medium sized cooler or yogurt maker
Directions
- Heat milk slowly over a medium flame to 160 °F in double boiler or heavy pot. If using a heavy pot, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
- If you are not using a yogurt maker, heat water in a separate pot to 120-130 °F.
- Remove from fire, place covered pot in pan of clean cool water until milk is 110 °F.
- Add yogurt starter or stir up 1/4 cup of yogurt with a clean fork, add to the warm milk, stir thoroughly.
- Pour still warm mixture into the jars and cover immediately with the sterile lids.
- Place filled bottles in cooler.
- Add enough 120-130 °F water so that bottles are surrounded, but the water is below the lid rims.
- Close the cooler and set in warm place and let sit undisturbed for 4-10 hours. If the starter was active and the temperature does not drop below 104 °F, the yogurt will have gelled.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- If using yogurt starter rather than yogurt for your culture, the time to gel can take several hours longer.
- Save a half pint jar for use as a starter for your next batch.
- For a more firm yogurt, use 1 part heavy cream to 3 part milk or add 1 tablespoon powdered milk to the quart of milk prior to heating.
- A yogurt maker can be use that rather than the 120-130 °F water in a cooler.
