Yogurt making from chef Ryann

In the 5025 Corbett test kitchen this week a second try at making homemade yogurt was attempted. (I have dreams that someday, maybe in my retirement years, I will work in the Bon Appetit kitchen as a recipe tester.) My first attempt involved almond milk and a sub par incubator for the fermentation process. There were a lot of steps with this technique that were questionable. Like using a crockpot for the incubation phase or using almond milk in place of cow's milk, what was I thinking? The crockpot method didn't work for me because my crockpot cools pretty fast so the milk sat basically at room temperature overnight, rather than at a balmy 115 degrees like it should have. This explains why the result was just as the starting product, regular almond milk. Nope, it never set or got thick and creamy like yogurt should be because of the lack of heat. The fact that it was almond milk rather than cow's milk may have also contributed to this failure. But I read reviews where others had success with almond milk...they must be lying...

Anyway, the second attempt was magic. I woke up like it was Christmas morning ready to open my incubator to see what gifts I'd been given. Let me back up a few hours first though (ohhh the suspense). I did more research after my first failure to find other methods for yogurt making (it was an obvious place to start since my first flop failure). I found some very interesting facts about milk. Did you know that if milk is heated to 185 degrees, or just below boiling, it reduces the risk of bacterial growth? This is so important because of the long incubation phase needed to set the yogurt. I also learned that when milk is kept at a constant warm temperature (about 115 degrees) for 8-24 hours the live cultures you add will break down the lactose (the milk sugars). The milk sugar breakdown is what lactose intolerant people are unable to do, thus it causes all kinds of unpleasant GI symptoms. However if the live cultures break down the sugars for you during incubation then all people including the lactose intolerant can enjoy homemade cow milk yogurt. I know, it's wild. It's science! It's mmmmmmagic. 

I better explain all the tools and ingredients needed for this as I have already mentioned some. Obviously you need cow milk (whole, reduced fat or non fat). You'll need about a half cup of organic yogurt that has live cultures in it. It can be plain or flavored as long as it has live cultures. A double broiler, or make shift one, and a cooking thermometer are also needed. Last, a camping or mini picnicking cooler is needed for incubation.

The Process: 

Prepare the incubator: find your cooler and dust it off. Put a towel on the bottom of it. Set the cooler aside to use later.  

Prepare your tools: You can sterilize the thermometer and measuring cup in the boiling water you'll need for the next step. Sterilizing also helps to reduce bacterial growth. 

Heat the milk: heat a 1/2 gallon of milk in a double broiler to at least 185 degrees, make sure to keep under 200 degrees. Stir the milk while it's heating so it heats evenly and doesn't burn on the bottom. 

Cool the milk: Remove milk from the heat and let it cool in the pot to about 115 degrees. It takes about 20 minutes to cool on the counter. You can speed this up by placing the pot into a cold water bath, but be careful not to let any water get into the milk pot. Use your thermometer to check the temps.

Add the cultures: Once cooled to 115 degrees, add the 1/2 cup of store bought yogurt and mix well. 

Get ready for the incubator: Pour the milk from the pot into two large mason jars and close with lids. Find two other mason jars, fill them with boiling water, and close with lids. Put all four jars in the mini cooler on top of the towel and pull the sides of the towel up over the jars to cover so the jars are wrapped up to trap the heat. Close the lid of the cooler and let it sit for at least 8 hours, or longer. I've heard the longer you let it incubate the thicker it will become.

Below are two websites that also have a recipe and tips for reference. Check them out. It seems there are a lot of ways to do this, but find what works for you.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/09/diy-homemade-greek-yogurt-recipe.html?ref=search

http://lifewithlampnsofa.com/2012/05/12/homemade-vanilla-yogurt/