Thursday, September 07, 2006

Bwaaahaaahaaa....

It's alive! lol O.k. maybe not alive, but it worked! My yogurt is a success! Here is what I did...

3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup natural sugar

Heat to 185-190, stirring occasionally.

Cool to 110-115 and take some of the cooled milk and mix it with your starter (2 tbsp yogurt). Add the mixture to all the milk and stir. Add 1 tsp vanilla. Stir.

Pour all into yogurt maker and cook until set. Mine took 7 hours.

Refridgerate 3-4 hours and then enjoy!

The test subjects, I mean my kids, all said that the yogurt is sweet and not sour but that it is creamier than the Stoney Field yogurt. I'm thinking that they must do something special to make the cream rise to the top because mine stayed incorporated into the yogurt but it even so it was a success! I did just about everything that the instructions said not to and it was fine. It said not to add flavored yogurt as your starter and I used the French vanilla yogurt that I had on hand. I also added the flavoring before it cultured and it doesn't say that you can do that. So what I've learned is as long as you heat the milk to the right temp and let it cool to the right temp and add a good starter, you will be fine.LOL

Blessings,

Lisa

I forgot to mention that the consistancy is thick and creamy, not liquidy like other yogurts I've made. It really looks a lot like the Stoney Field yogurt.

Edited to say that the cream is rising to the top! And Isaac is now drinking a bottle of the new yogurt and milk and he hasn't noticed the difference. This is a BIG DEAL! He normally notices when the yogurt is different and then he won't drink it but this, he's really enjoying. Whoohoo!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay.. spill the beans.. what yogurt maker do you own! I have to switch over since my little guy only likes the yobaby stuff.

Lisa in Jax said...

I bought the Donvier Yogurt Maker from Tuesday Morning for $19.99. It's regularly priced at $41.99. It has 8 jars that can make up to 6 cups of yogurt at a time. It worked really fast! The instructions said that yogurt could take up to 10 hours but mine was done by 7. I'm very happy with it!

Blessings,

Lisa

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try Tuesday a.m. tomorrow. I buy the Brown Cow by the CASE....8 32 oz containers....I get two cases a month. I'm thinking this may be cheaper...if they like it. They use maple syrup to sweeten and I could....

Oh the cream part...did you use non-homogenized milk? I know the cream is on the top of Brown Cow because it's not been homogenized....but maybe I would trade that for home made.....

De'Etta

Lisa in Jax said...

I'm sure the maple syrup would work, probably the same amount. For the milk, I only have access to homogenized but I'm sure you could use any that you have. If it's not pasturized it says to boil the milk before making the yogurt. I added the cream because I was trying to recreate the yogurt that my kids eat. I'm sure that if your milk has a high cream content you could leave it out. This is the best yogurt! I tried it last night and I couldn't tell the difference. Very rich and creamy.

Blessings,

Lisa

Anonymous said...

You are selling me on this. Part of me says "just keep buying it in cases" and part of me says "it's only 19.99 - give it a try". They have some of the same ones at our TM....I just ordered two cases of yogurt....but when I get low I could try making it..... I wonder if I could make strawberry and peach and such...all without dyes and synthetic flavors....

I tried the oven and top of the fridge route and swore I'd never try yogurt again...but maybe...

De'Etta

Lisa in Jax said...

O.k. I given this some thought.LOL I think in order to add fruit, you would either have to add the fruit to the milk during the high temp process or add an "all fruit" preserves once the milk has cooled and you're adding the culture. Otherwise I think you could culture the wrong kind of bacteria.(You know, something on the fruit.) You would want to make sure that your fruit is sterile by cooking it with the milk. I really think this is how the yogurt makers do it and why so many have so much trouble with their homemade yogurt.

I was really surprised with the end product because I too have said "Never again" to making my own yogurt. The stuff I got before I couldn't even pay someone to eat.LOL This stuff is good! I'm not sure if 6 cups would be enough for your family though but it would be enough for you to experiment and decide if this is something you would want to do on a regular basis. Don't forget to save some of your Brown Cow yogurt for the culture, I would use an unopened one for it.

Blessings,

Lisa