I’m kind of a procrastinator so I just started that January fitness thing everyone else does. I dusted off my Meh yogurt maker, made a batch, and ate that instead of Toaster Strudel for breakfast. I mixed frozen berries with a bit of sugar and let it get gushy in the fridge overnight then added it. It looks kind of disgusting but tastes really good.
We had a yogurt thread before but I’m ready for another one. Anyone out there making yogurt?
(I just bought a smaller maker from Amazon for $11 because the Meh one makes way too much.)
@sammydog01 I’ve made buttermilk a couple of times, which is pretty close, but with (probably) different cultures. Didn’t use a yogurt maker or anything though; we just got store-bought buttermilk, poured some into a gallon of pasteurized milk from the store, and let it sit out in (80º+) room temperature for a few days.
I added some frozen blueberries and sugar to some of it, and it tasted exactly like store-bought blueberry yogurt. Pretty good stuff, and super easy, but I didn’t do it for health, I just love buttermilk and yogurt.
@Dweezle Nice! I don’t have an 80+ degree room though. I actually shorten the time I use for yogurt because I like the texture but store bought stuff is too yogurty for me.
@Dweezle@sammydog01 I may have to try this if you were good eating it instead of toaster strudels…lol…that was my breakfast this morning. I love them. I do like yogurt though also. I’ve doctored up yogurt by add fruit and granola and honey, etc. but never homemade. Love the idea of making it with less preservatives and fake flavorings.
@mehbee You do need to bring the milk to boiling and let it cool down to around 100 degrees as the first step but if that’s not a killer give it a try. The machine is cheap enough, but you need a candy thermometer too. Store bought yogurt is kind of strong for me. (Raspberry toaster strudel is my favorite! I may just change them over to dessert from an actual meal.)
@mehbee@sammydog01 Yogurts don’t generally have preservatives, as preservatives would be harmful to the bacterial culture that makes it yogurt. Fermenting milk into yogurt makes lactic acid, which preserves it naturally. The only additives most yogurts have will be some sort of gelatin, pectin, or carageenan to give it a more attractive, smooth, gel-like texture instead of a thin, runny or clumpy texture. That’s all that’s in the yogurt I buy, anyway, and I just buy whatever’s cheapest anywhere I go.
@Dweezle@sammydog01 That’s good to know, of course lately I’ve been putting so much crap in my body I don’t know wo I’m worrying about one type of food.
@mehbee we’ve been making yogurt for over 5 years now. We started with a machine, and moved away from it since it’s easy enough to just wrap a container in a blanket and put it in the oven (don’t turn it on!) or in a cooler or something similar to incubate.
If you’re really interested, I’ll write up some more. Don’t be too overwhelmed by most recipes you see online. These are really the only crucial steps:
Bring milk to a boil
Let milk cool to ~120 degrees F
Stir in a tablespoon of live yogurt start (most plain yogurts at the store will work great!)
Incubate for 8-9ish hours
Let it cool before eating (warm yogurt is super gross)
Beyond that it’s just getting into particulars that aren’t essential.
Welcome to the wonderful world of yogurt making! I think that old thread you mentioned was mine, from a couple years ago maybe?
We make yogurt almost every week, and our record so far is over a year keeping the same start going.
If you need any tips or ideas to keep it going, let me know! Back in the day my wife and I started a yogurt blog: Yogurt Yogurt Yogurt …we’ve totally slacked off lately (new job, 2 young kiddos, new house, etc), so we haven’t posted anything in a while. But we’re still making yogurt!
@luvche21 That’s the thread! I used to make your orange juice recipe but got lazy. I bought some jam with honey that is really good. I’m trying to get down to the lowest amount of sugar I find tolerable. (Turns out I need a lot of sugar.)
What yogurt start did you use? We’ve tried loads of different kinds, and our favorite is Danon Oikos - we don’t like the original flavor, but the yogurt we make from it is super tasty.
@luvche21 I’ll check Kroger. Thanks. The manual says if you use your own yogurt as starter it shouldn’t be older than 3 or 4 days. That’s a problem for me. Do you keep it longer than that?
@sammydog01 Yeah, when we kept it going for over a year, we made it almost every week, generally 7 or 8 days apart. After making a batch, once we were ready to make more we would take a spoonful of that batch for the next one. So it’s essentially using the newest batch for the next one. If you wait too long, it doesn’t get as firm.
@luvche21 My wife just gave our yogurt maker to charity but when she used to use it she would use the Trimona “Bulgarian whole milk plain yogurt” that she was buying anyway as a started, and she was happy with the results.
@duodec Where did she find the start? I used to live in Bulgaria! That’s really why I make my own yogurt, to mimic their yogurt as much as possible. The start I normally use has the Bulgarian strain in it, mixed with a couple others, so it’s close!
@luvche21 We’re in the 'burbs of chicago. There used to be a small grocery chain called Joe Caputo’s Fruit Market; they carried tons of imported foods including both the Trimona yogurt and a ‘ful cream’ yogurt that my wife also liked. They got bought out by Butera’s but the one near us still carries a lot of the import foods, though stock has been spotty.
I think I’ve seen it at another store but its been a while… “Eurofresh” I think. Also a place called Harvest Fresh had some that she liked but I don’t recall if it was the Trimona. Haven’t been to either in a couple of years.
@mfladd do you use the app ibbotta. They keep having greek gods yogurt coupons. I have gotten a bunch of free after coupons greek gods yogurt over last few months
My wife wants to try homemade yogurt. We received an Instant-Pot for Christmas and it has a yogurt setting on it. Can anyone make recommendations or steer us away or towards doing this process?
@tohar1 I was just about to chime in about the instant pot. It does a fine job of making yogurt but its not set it and forget it entirely. I just wish I could skip the pasteurization part - as I use pasteurized milk. As you can see from the instant pot recipe - there is much to be done. The straining process is also annoying. With all that said - you yield a lot more yogurt for a lot less than what you would pay at a grocery store and you know all the ingredient(s).
@tohar1@makhay Don’t get turned off from the long steps though, it really doesn’t have to be overly complicated. I’m not sure what the instant pot does, but these are the only crucial steps:
Bring milk to a boil
Let milk cool to ~120 degrees F
Stir in a tablespoon of live yogurt start (most plain yogurts at the store will work great!)
Incubate for 8-9ish hours
Let it cool (warm yogurt is super gross)
Then, if you want to strain it to make it thicker (like Greek yogurt), you can if you want, but it’s totally not required. I often think that step is too much work.
Check out this old thread I started a few years ago for some more tips if you’re interested!
@luvche21@tohar1 Unstrained yogurt?! How dare you!? Straining yogurt is required if its to be consumed in my house - unless you are trying to make shanina! Also - the leftover whey can be used in your fruit smoothies for added protein.
@sammydog01 that’s why we normally don’t strain it, unless we have a special purpose (which is normally for making a cheese ball with it, which is super tasty!)
@makhay@tohar1 Oh how I miss shanina! Although I know it by the name ayran from living in Bulgaria a decade ago or so. It took a while to get used to, but now I really like it. For some reason, a cold glass of ayran was my favorite beverage while eating pizza!
I’ve made yogurt many times… at least three times on purpose and the rest as a side effect of allowing milk to age in the fridge. (While this sounds gross, and usually is, on several occasions I’ve gotten a really good yogurt.)
Over the years, I’ve learned that there are many good things that come of various types of fermentation and it is not always a good thing to throw things away.
We make yogurt at home in the instant pot, too. I don’t have much to add to what @luvche21 already said who is an expert! Except that we use pint glass jars in the IP (rather than using it as a vat), fresh culture from Oikos every six or eight weeks when ours starts staying “drinkably runny”, and whole raw milk. It’s a weekly process, 5 pint jars to net about half a gallon of yogurt at a time. The family likes theirs sweetened with jam; I prefer mine unsweetened.
@2palms Is the process fairly simple with the instant pot? We might get one someday, and it would be a plus if making yogurt was easier with it as well.
@mahkay just reminded me of my love for ayran, which you might enjoy if you like unsweetened yogurt. My recipe is half yogurt, half water, with a pinch of salt to taste. Make sure it’s served really cold or with ice. Excellent with many meals, especially pizza!
I’m kind of a procrastinator so I just started that January fitness thing everyone else does. I dusted off my Meh yogurt maker, made a batch, and ate that instead of Toaster Strudel for breakfast. I mixed frozen berries with a bit of sugar and let it get gushy in the fridge overnight then added it. It looks kind of disgusting but tastes really good.
We had a yogurt thread before but I’m ready for another one. Anyone out there making yogurt?
(I just bought a smaller maker from Amazon for $11 because the Meh one makes way too much.)
@sammydog01 I’ve made buttermilk a couple of times, which is pretty close, but with (probably) different cultures. Didn’t use a yogurt maker or anything though; we just got store-bought buttermilk, poured some into a gallon of pasteurized milk from the store, and let it sit out in (80º+) room temperature for a few days.
I added some frozen blueberries and sugar to some of it, and it tasted exactly like store-bought blueberry yogurt. Pretty good stuff, and super easy, but I didn’t do it for health, I just love buttermilk and yogurt.
@Dweezle Nice! I don’t have an 80+ degree room though. I actually shorten the time I use for yogurt because I like the texture but store bought stuff is too yogurty for me.
@Dweezle @sammydog01 I may have to try this if you were good eating it instead of toaster strudels…lol…that was my breakfast this morning. I love them. I do like yogurt though also. I’ve doctored up yogurt by add fruit and granola and honey, etc. but never homemade. Love the idea of making it with less preservatives and fake flavorings.
@mehbee You do need to bring the milk to boiling and let it cool down to around 100 degrees as the first step but if that’s not a killer give it a try. The machine is cheap enough, but you need a candy thermometer too. Store bought yogurt is kind of strong for me. (Raspberry toaster strudel is my favorite! I may just change them over to dessert from an actual meal.)
@mehbee @sammydog01 Yogurts don’t generally have preservatives, as preservatives would be harmful to the bacterial culture that makes it yogurt. Fermenting milk into yogurt makes lactic acid, which preserves it naturally. The only additives most yogurts have will be some sort of gelatin, pectin, or carageenan to give it a more attractive, smooth, gel-like texture instead of a thin, runny or clumpy texture. That’s all that’s in the yogurt I buy, anyway, and I just buy whatever’s cheapest anywhere I go.
@Dweezle @sammydog01 That’s good to know, of course lately I’ve been putting so much crap in my body I don’t know wo I’m worrying about one type of food.
@sammydog01 I think I’m going to try it. Can’t hurt! Blueberry are my favorite.
@mehbee we’ve been making yogurt for over 5 years now. We started with a machine, and moved away from it since it’s easy enough to just wrap a container in a blanket and put it in the oven (don’t turn it on!) or in a cooler or something similar to incubate.
If you’re really interested, I’ll write up some more. Don’t be too overwhelmed by most recipes you see online. These are really the only crucial steps:
Beyond that it’s just getting into particulars that aren’t essential.
@luvche21 This is great information, thank you. Please share anything you want to!!
And I just hooked up my Wii and will try to do some Just Dance this afternoon. Hope I don’t break a hip.
Here it is if anyone wants to join me.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY3OZXA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Welcome to the wonderful world of yogurt making! I think that old thread you mentioned was mine, from a couple years ago maybe?
We make yogurt almost every week, and our record so far is over a year keeping the same start going.
If you need any tips or ideas to keep it going, let me know! Back in the day my wife and I started a yogurt blog: Yogurt Yogurt Yogurt …we’ve totally slacked off lately (new job, 2 young kiddos, new house, etc), so we haven’t posted anything in a while. But we’re still making yogurt!
We still make these pancakes and this banana bread about once a month. But my favorite is this yogurty orange julius and this drinkable yogurt. We have moved from orange juice to those awesome Mexican fruit nectars (Jumex brand).
p.s. if you don’t have fresh fruit handy all the time, jam works well too!
@luvche21 That’s the thread! I used to make your orange juice recipe but got lazy. I bought some jam with honey that is really good. I’m trying to get down to the lowest amount of sugar I find tolerable. (Turns out I need a lot of sugar.)
What yogurt start did you use? We’ve tried loads of different kinds, and our favorite is Danon Oikos - we don’t like the original flavor, but the yogurt we make from it is super tasty.
@luvche21 I used Chobani because it was the only unsweetened one they had in small containers. I’ll look for Oikos.
@sammydog01 Oikos unsweetened is harder to find, but I usually find it at a Kroger affiliate store. IMO much tastier than Chobani.
@luvche21 I’ll check Kroger. Thanks. The manual says if you use your own yogurt as starter it shouldn’t be older than 3 or 4 days. That’s a problem for me. Do you keep it longer than that?
@sammydog01 Yeah, when we kept it going for over a year, we made it almost every week, generally 7 or 8 days apart. After making a batch, once we were ready to make more we would take a spoonful of that batch for the next one. So it’s essentially using the newest batch for the next one. If you wait too long, it doesn’t get as firm.
@luvche21 My wife just gave our yogurt maker to charity but when she used to use it she would use the Trimona “Bulgarian whole milk plain yogurt” that she was buying anyway as a started, and she was happy with the results.
@duodec Where did she find the start? I used to live in Bulgaria! That’s really why I make my own yogurt, to mimic their yogurt as much as possible. The start I normally use has the Bulgarian strain in it, mixed with a couple others, so it’s close!
@luvche21 We’re in the 'burbs of chicago. There used to be a small grocery chain called Joe Caputo’s Fruit Market; they carried tons of imported foods including both the Trimona yogurt and a ‘ful cream’ yogurt that my wife also liked. They got bought out by Butera’s but the one near us still carries a lot of the import foods, though stock has been spotty.
I think I’ve seen it at another store but its been a while… “Eurofresh” I think. Also a place called Harvest Fresh had some that she liked but I don’t recall if it was the Trimona. Haven’t been to either in a couple of years.
@duodec Well, next time I’m in Chicago I’ll try and stop by the market! I head there every few years for a conference.
I’m to lazy to make yogurt. But I do have a new favorite. Fuck Chobani, I fell in love with this yogurt I found at Walmart…
So fucking good!
@mfladd do you use the app ibbotta. They keep having greek gods yogurt coupons. I have gotten a bunch of free after coupons greek gods yogurt over last few months
@CaptAmehrican oooo…I don’t but thanks for the info.
I just get Wally’s whole milk yogurt, by the time get done throwing shit in the blender, it don’t matter what the yogurt tastes like.
I just threw up in my mouth.
Tastes like yogurt.
My wife wants to try homemade yogurt. We received an Instant-Pot for Christmas and it has a yogurt setting on it. Can anyone make recommendations or steer us away or towards doing this process?
@tohar1 I was just about to chime in about the instant pot. It does a fine job of making yogurt but its not set it and forget it entirely. I just wish I could skip the pasteurization part - as I use pasteurized milk. As you can see from the instant pot recipe - there is much to be done. The straining process is also annoying. With all that said - you yield a lot more yogurt for a lot less than what you would pay at a grocery store and you know all the ingredient(s).
@tohar1 @makhay Don’t get turned off from the long steps though, it really doesn’t have to be overly complicated. I’m not sure what the instant pot does, but these are the only crucial steps:
Then, if you want to strain it to make it thicker (like Greek yogurt), you can if you want, but it’s totally not required. I often think that step is too much work.
Check out this old thread I started a few years ago for some more tips if you’re interested!
@luvche21 @tohar1 Unstrained yogurt?! How dare you!? Straining yogurt is required if its to be consumed in my house - unless you are trying to make shanina! Also - the leftover whey can be used in your fruit smoothies for added protein.
@makhay Straining it would put me over the amount of time I want to spend making yogurt.
@sammydog01 that’s why we normally don’t strain it, unless we have a special purpose (which is normally for making a cheese ball with it, which is super tasty!)
@makhay @tohar1 Oh how I miss shanina! Although I know it by the name ayran from living in Bulgaria a decade ago or so. It took a while to get used to, but now I really like it. For some reason, a cold glass of ayran was my favorite beverage while eating pizza!
I’ve made yogurt many times… at least three times on purpose and the rest as a side effect of allowing milk to age in the fridge. (While this sounds gross, and usually is, on several occasions I’ve gotten a really good yogurt.)
Over the years, I’ve learned that there are many good things that come of various types of fermentation and it is not always a good thing to throw things away.
We make yogurt at home in the instant pot, too. I don’t have much to add to what @luvche21 already said who is an expert! Except that we use pint glass jars in the IP (rather than using it as a vat), fresh culture from Oikos every six or eight weeks when ours starts staying “drinkably runny”, and whole raw milk. It’s a weekly process, 5 pint jars to net about half a gallon of yogurt at a time. The family likes theirs sweetened with jam; I prefer mine unsweetened.
@2palms Is the process fairly simple with the instant pot? We might get one someday, and it would be a plus if making yogurt was easier with it as well.
@mahkay just reminded me of my love for ayran, which you might enjoy if you like unsweetened yogurt. My recipe is half yogurt, half water, with a pinch of salt to taste. Make sure it’s served really cold or with ice. Excellent with many meals, especially pizza!