I promised myself once I would never break a bone. So much for that
It’s been nearly five months. The bruises have faded, the fracture has remodeled, the deep, dime-sized gash in my hip has formed a lovely scar. I’m practically good as new.
As a child whose knees constantly demanded Band-Aids, I became fascinated by how quickly the body reacts to injury. From broken bones to deep wounds, the process of regeneration is like magic.
Inspecting my hip the other morning, I noticed a soft new layer of scar tissue. My eyes wandered over to the fresh yogurt I was blindly spooning into a jar, and then back to the scar. I thought, making yogurt at home is essentially regeneration. A delicious one at that.
You can make yogurt in your own home for a fraction of what it costs to buy. It is tastier, has a superior texture, creates less waste, and is more nutritious than most packaged varieties. And because it’s homemade, you control the variables. Like sweeter yogurt? Add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, cinnamon maybe. Want a thick yogurt? Start with milk that has a high percent milkfat, like 2% or whole.
The process requires only two ingredients and three to four steps, none of which are difficult: Heating and cooling (of milk); Inoculating with a starter (plain yogurt); Incubating in a warm environment (aka wrap in a towel); and Draining (through cheesecloth — optional). If you want to keep a batch going more or less indefinitely, save a tablespoon from the last batch and use it as the starter to regenerate more yogurt.
When just set it quivers like a plated flan — a beautifully creamy treat, to be sure. If you can harness your willpower and chill the jar several hours, it firms up like pudding, thick enough to hold your spoon upright. Yogurt could never taste better.
Shown above is a yogurt parfait I made for breakfast today. Yogurt on the bottom, cubes of cantaloupe, sections of blood orange (save that wonderful juice to sip), ground flaxseed and almond coconut granola. Pretty and extremely nutritious. A perfect way to “Eat Right with Color” for National Nutrition Month.
However you choose to eat it — out of the jar plain, in a parfait, dolloped on top of oatmeal or a hearty soup, with warm naan — remember to save that last tablespoon for yogurt regeneration!
Homemade Yogurt [makes 2 1/2 cups yogurt]
Both soy and goat’s milk should work as well as cow’s, though I haven’t personally tried either.
1 heaping T plain low-fat, whole milk or Greek yogurt, containing active cultures (but no additives, stabilizers, etc.) – I used Dannon Plain Fat Free Yogurt
2 1/2 c good quality whole, 2% or 1% milk
Heating and Partly Cooling: Over medium to medium-high heat, bring the milk to a full boil in a saucepan, then turn down the heat and simmer 7 minutes. Pour the scalded milk into a bowl, through a strainer or cheesecloth if you have acquired any brown bits around the edge, and cool until you can hold your finger in the milk and count to 10. (I worked by feel, but if you’d like a temperature target, shoot for 110° F. It should be about 20 minutes either way.)
Inoculating: Place the yogurt in a small dish and add some of the milk to it to warm it up, then whisk it back into the milk.
Incubating: Pour into a clean glass jar, wrap with a towel or scarf and put in a warm place for 8 hours or overnight. (I chose to place them inside of the not-running microwave.)
Draining (optional): Line a colander or mesh strainer with tight-woven cheesecloth or butter muslin (even an old, clean white t-shirt or or handkerchief will suffice). Set it over a pot or bowl deep enough to hold up to 1 c liquid. Pour or scrape the yogurt into the colander and drain until it has lost close to half its volume in whey, usually about 3 to 4 hours. Turn out the drained yogurt into a larger bowl, and stir it as smooth as possible with a wooden spoon.
After the rest, put the jar in the fridge to chill before eating. The yogurt will last 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Make sure to save a few tablespoons to make the next batch. It will most reliably keep up its (culture) activity if you use it within a week (preferably less) of making.
Adapted from The Family Kitchen
I used to make yogurt at home, but with a culture I got from someone’s home. It does not work well anymore with the store bought yogurt. What kind of yogurt did you use as the starter?
Oooo, I must try this! My yogurt love comes and goes, but I’m sure if I was making it fresh that it would be permanent. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Beautiful parfait! Glad to hear you’re healing nicely. I am such a sloooow healer that I get very upset when I do something that causes a scrape or worse.
@Soma: Maybe it was beginner’s luck, or maybe the store bought yogurts have improved, but I used a tablespoon of Dannon Plain Yogurt. Nothing special. The milk was store brand 2%, and actually the expiration date was for the day I made the yogurt. Homemade yogurt is something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. The fact that the milk was set to expire was my impetus to get on it — lo and behold, it worked. And it is better than I imagined it would be!
@Nicole: I am quite certain your fondness would grow with the homemade variety. Though to be fair, I LOVE yogurt, especially plain. (I’m odd?) Nuts to the slow healing. I must be an anomaly b/c I heal quick in terms of scrapes and such, but bruises last FOREVER.
This is such a fun thing to try – i have been doing my best to make whatever I can at home to save money and this looks like it could be a fun, tasty science experiment. I imagine a T of greek yogurt would also work as a starter? Thanks for sharing!
It’s pretty amazing actually all you can do with milk. I really like yogurt and I remember that it was one of the first thing I tried when we got our first bottle of fresh raw milk.
Your fresh homemade yogurt looks deliciously thick.
@Lisa: Isn’t it great to feel self-sufficient, even if in the smallest ways? I love it. Haven’t tried Greek yogurt, but it should be perfectly fine as long as there are active cultures, and no additives or stabilizers. Happy yogurt-ing!
@Vanille: Wow, you made raw milk yogurt! I’m sure the end result is light years past yogurt made with store brand 1% milk. Some day!
I’ve always wanted to make yogurt at home. It’s been on my food-to-do list for quite some time. Thanks for sharing! Lovely pictures. Happy RD Day :-)
Thank you for this! I always forget how simple it is to make homemade yogurt….my Grandma use to make it all the time and we would have it fresh everymorning for breakfast (either plain, with fruit or even on bread with jam) yum! Lovely pictures xo e
I love the idea of making your own yogurt. I am addicted to the stuff and would love to try doing it myself. It seems pretty simple! And your pictures look delicious, I love the fresh fruit piled high in your yogurt jar. Great recipe!
@Trish: Time to tackle the list, I’d say… or at least the yogurt part. Happy RD Day and National Nutrition Month to you, too!
@Eva: Really, your grandma made yogurt? That’s so awesome. Dan’s grandma had chickens, and thus fresh eggs for his visits, as well as freshly dressed beef and pork from the livestock on her farm. We had waffles from a box mix, doughnuts from Honey Dip. Ah well, I enjoyed it at the time :)
@Elizabeth: Thanks! It is very simple, sooo tasty. My fiancée is not a big fan of plain yogurt eaten as is, but he said he could definitely eat this on its own. High praise! I made another batch last night, waiting for me to dig in momentarily.
Now that looks like a mighty good breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day.
Such a great idea! All of us (Elsa included) loves yogurt, but we have never made it ourselves. We will definitely have a go at this, as soon as we are back home again.
Oh, and that parfait looks so delicious!
I’ve been wanting to make my own yogurt for a long time now! It does seem so very simple to do – it’s just the waiting that would kill me :)
My grandmother often makes homemade yogurt. She swears by the homemade variety and I know why- because it’s absolutely simple and delicious to make! lovely post!
Science! I love it! My husband has been curious about making yogurt and cheese ourselves. This looks do-able, so maybe we will start with this!
@Brian: Certainly not bad at all, and with a registered dietitian’s stamp of approval to boot!
@David: I think homemade yogurt for you and Luise, especially Elsa, would be a wonderful thing, since you control everything from start to finish. Have you settled back at home yet? Let me know what you think of the yogurt-ing process and result!
@kickpleat: The waiting is difficult, though I find that if I do it on a day when I have lots of chores, grocery shopping, etc., then it’s almost waiting for me and not the other way around!
@kamran siddiqi: Thank you, Kamran. Grandmothers always seem to know best, don’t they? Does she plan to pass her recipe down to you someday? What a treasure for you!
@Crepes of Wrath: Do-able indeed. Check out my previous posts about making mozzarella cheese at home, too!