Room Temperature Yogurts

  I love yogurt, especially when its homemade but I don't always have time to make it. That is until I discovered a type that is easy to make, fits in with my schedule so I can have fresh yogurt every day.

There are two types of yogurt.  The first one is the one we are most familiar with.  Its classified as thermophilic which requires a certain amount of heat to set. 

The usual way for this yogurt is to get a variety of yogurt with live cultures, heat the milk, add the starter, put in jars and heat over night until they set.  The other choice on this type of yogurt is to buy a dried starter that is added to the heated milk.  You can get Bulgarian, or Greek, or other variety, each of which produces a specific flavor.

Unfortunately, most of the store bought yogurts use bacteria which lasts only one or two generations but eventually looses its power to regenerate. For the most part the bacteria has been  selected to create a specific type of yogurt so it doesn't have the same staying power as the older types of yogurt. 

On the other hand, if you buy a heirloom variety, you can keep using one batch to start the next batch again and again without having to buy a new starter, every two to six generations.  Heirloom varieties can be either thermophilic or mesophilic

 Mesophilic is a type which sets at room temperature.  This means you just add the starter to milk, let it sit out for a few hours and it sets.  I've been using this type for the past two months and really enjoying it. The variety of yogurt I use is from Scandinavia.

I got my starter from a company on Amazon.  The directions said I should not use boxed (ultra pasteurized) milk but living out in the middle of nowhere, that is the only type of milk I have access to other than the evaporated canned milk.  Both work so I get more of a yogurt drink which I enjoy having with my dinner every day.  It does not work as well with powdered milk.  I think it goes through the milk faster so I have to put it in the fridge much sooner.

When my starter arrived, I chose a packet, stirred it into about 1.5 cups of milk, covered it with a towel and let it set overnight till I had a thick mixture.  I threw it in the fridge for a day or two and then had it.  I love it as its not really acidic.  The variety I selected seems to have a sweetish taste to it.

I grab a cup at dinner time, leave a bit, pour more milk in and cover.  By the morning, I have a nice batch and it seems to be reproducing as well as it did on the first day. This batch is several weeks old and going strong.

Its consistency is much like the yogurt I had in Iceland and Finland at breakfast in the hotels. Since its not extremely thick, I can drink it, use it on my serial, add it to any recipe which calls for yogurt such as bread or cakes and it works wonderfully.  I'm now a believer in this type of yogurt. 

I'd tell you the exact type but I just grabbed a packet and used it before I could figure out which one of the four varieties in the box.  I plan to take some with me this Christmas holidays so I can try it with the milk in gallon containers.

This type does work with soy milk but I don't like the flavor it produces.  I tried it with Almond milk but again it doesn't work.  Next thing on my list is to try the yogurt starter for nondairy milks to see what type of product that produces.  I might try starting some in a day or two.

Let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear.

11 Uses for Yogurt!

  I love yogurt.  I eat a fair bit of it, mostly the Greek style because I prefer its thickness.   I use it in cooking or eat it straight.  I might mix in granola or fruit but I often eat it plain.

I ran across something which made me realize that you can use it for other things.  Please use plain yogurt for the following uses.

1.  Eating it can help your diarrhea go away because yogurt has the proper bacteria to help restore and balance the intestine.

2.  It contains Alpha-Hydroxy acid which can help even out skin tone, tighten pores, cleanse skin, and even help freckles fade over time. So use it as a facial and help your skin.

3. Spread yogurt over a sun burn to help the skin repair itself.  You spread it over the effected area, leave for 20 minutes, then rinse off.

4.  Yogurt can be used instead of mayo in tuna fish sandwiches.  It can also be used as a replacement for sour cream.

5. Yogurt makes a great hair conditioner.  Work yogurt into clean wet hair and let set 10 to 15 minutes before rinsing.   Yogurt is good for itchy scalps and helps control dandruff.

6.  Mix one tablespoon of honey with one cup of yogurt and rub it all over your hands.  Let it stand 10 to 15 minutes before rinsing off.  It will leave your hands smooth.

7.  Mix 1/2 finely ground walnuts with a cup of yogurt.  Rub this all over your feet to exfoliate and smooth them.

8.  If you add food coloring to plain yogurt, you have edible finger paints  so you don't have to worry about the safety of your finger paints.

9. It is said that yogurt is good for relieving the itch of athletes foot. Apply yogurt to the infected area, let dry and wash off with water and dry.

10. If a baby has a yeast based diaper rash, spread yogurt over the rash instead of a commercial diaper cream.

11.  Use it instead of cream in soups.

I love yogurt and I have it with granola for  breakfast or add it to Indian dishes for a smooth tart flavor.  How do you use it?

Yogurt

  I love yogurt but sometimes shopping for it can be hard because there are so many different types to choose from.  Due to where I live, I look for the types I can use out as starter or I buy starter from a couple of different companies.

Recently, I've seen yogurts made from non-dairy milk, in addition to the regular ones so what is the difference among all of them.  Are they all healthy?

First you have to look at fat content for regular yogurt.  There are three classifications of yogurt in this group.  First is regular yogurt which is made from whole milk and must have at least 3.25 percent milk fat.  Next is low fat yogurt made from low-fat or part skim milk and has a milk fact content of between .5 and 2 percent.  Last is the non-fat yogurt made from skim milk with a content of less than .5 percent milk fat.

Since most of the low fat and non-fat yogurts are unable to thicken on their own, some sort of thickener such as pectin, gelatin, or carrageenan (made from seaweed) is used to make it look like regular yogurt.

In addition there are other ways to classify yogurt and that is by the type.  Recently, there has been an increase in  Greek yogurt so you can find it in most stores.  They say Greek yogurt is thicker due to it being strained before use, or because it has a higher milk fat content.  I've used some as starter for my yogurt at home and its come out quite thick.

According to one article, you have to be careful when buying the Greek yogurt because some companies are adding a thickener to it.  This type of yogurt is said to be better to cook with because it does not become as thin and runny as regular yogurt.

Another style of yogurt we see is Balkan or set style where the mix is placed in containers and left to incubate so it creates a thick texture while Swiss or stirred style and is stirred while incubation is taking place to give the final product a nice creamy texture. 

In regard to the non-diary yogurt, the liquid requires a thickener to actually set it.  There are vegan starters from places like Cultures for Health which can be used to make yogurt from non-dairy milks but these are one time use packets and cannot be reused like regular yogurt.

I've been told by friends you can use a regular yogurt starter with non-diary milks but you need to add sugar so as to give the bacteria something to eat.  I do not know if it works at all.  I plan to try it sometime with I have a moment.  I have read that its best to use homemade nut milks because the commercial ones may have additives which interfere with the process.

If anyone has experience making their own non-dairy yogurt, I'd love to hear from you.  When I get a chance to experiment, I'll let you know how it goes.