Sunday, August 28, 2011

Yoghurt is so easy

I have been making my own yoghurt for a while now and have it down to a fine art. I can do it while I am making my lunch before I go to work. First thing to do is to put some hot water in the wide necked thermos I set it in. This preheats the thermos so that it stays warm for several hours.
Next put two and a half cups of milk in a microwave jug on High for two and a half minutes. Add half a cup of milk powder and a teaspoon of honey.
The honey takes the acidic edge off the flavour.






The temperature at which you add your culture is crucial - too hot and it kills the culture bacteria , too cold and it won't multiply. I always know the temperature is right when I can just keep my little finger in the milk for 10 seconds.




Add a tablespoon of starter - this is just some shop bought yoghurt which has a live culture.Tthe amount is not crucial .A smaller the amount of culture probably just means it takes longer for the culture to grow enough in this amount of milk.Tip the hot water out of thermos and pour in the milk.



Then by the end of the day, the yoghurt is ready. Put it in the fridge overnight and by morning it is just the right consistency. You can use this yoghurt as your starter culture a few times but it becomes more and more acidic. Thats when you need to buy a new one to start again. Oh and don't forget to actually add the culture - once I wondered why my yoghurt hadn't set by the end of the day and then realised I hadn't actually added the vital ingredient! That's what can happen when you are trying to do several chores at once!

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