We eat a lot of yogurt, so I make it all the stinking time. We make so much yogurt that I bought the Yo Gourmet Electric Yogurt Maker because it makes 2 quarts at a time. And I am lazy. I need something that I can plug in and forget.
Of course, when I bought my yogurt maker, I needed it right then, so I had to pay full price. (We were following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.) I don't regret the purchase, but I would have gladly waited if I could have. I have a friend who found a yogurt maker with individual serving cups at a yard sale for $1. I would have much rather spent $1, than the $60 I did, but I digress.
If you are not as lazy as I am, you can try:
You Can Make Yogurt in Your CrockPot!
How to make yogurt with a heating pad
Make yogurt using a cooler chest
Make yogurt in your oven
Make yogurt with a cardboard box and sheets!
I am not going to give instructions, because everyone of the links I posted gives instructions specific to the method.
Here are some tips, though-
~The type of milk you use will determine how tart your yogurt is. The less fat, the more tart. Also, the longer that you let it ferment, the more sour it will be. If you don't like sour, just let it go for the minimum amount of time.
~If you want thicker yogurt, I know you can stir in ether dry milk powder or gelatin. I don't know how much of either, sorry.
~Do not add fruit until you are ready to serve. It changes the texture and it won't set up right.
~ After it is done fermenting be sure to let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours to set up. Otherwise, it will be runny.
~ Where I live you can only buy plain yogurt in the big container. I freeze the remaining yogurt in ice cube trays to keep for future use. Just measure 2 T in to each section and freeze. Once frozen, pop the yogurt cubes out and freeze in a zip top freezer bag.
~You can use your homemade yogurt as a starter, once your yogurt cubes are gone. Just be sure to remove some from each batch to use in the next one.
~You can add flavorings while making it, though. Crunchy Chicken makes espresso flavored yogurt this way. She also makes yogurt using Chai Tea as a base.
~You can flavor the yogurt with sugar free, fat free pudding mix. (I suppose you could use any instant pudding mix, if you are worried about artificial sweeteners.) Jello cheesecake flavor is particularly yummy.
Also, let me tell you about my newest yogurt obsession.
1 quart plain yogurt
1 box sugar free, fat free pudding mix - pistachio flavor
1 can crushed pineapple in juice
Mix and fall in love. Apparently, there is a salad called Watergate Salad that I had somehow forgotten about until I tasted this yummy goodness. Normally, Watergate salad is made with whipped topping, but the yogurt is just as tasty, and better for you.
So let me know how your yogurt turns out.
Image by vigilant20 via Flickr
3 comments:
I had one of those yogurt makers with the single serve cups-I was not at all impressed and have been thinking I need something like you have.
I may try the crockpot thing though first to see how that works.
That milk/tart thing makes sense now that I think about it I usually only like the plain whole milk yogurt.
I couldn't imagine liking the individual cup makers, either. For one thing, we just eat way too much to make it feasible and who has the room in the refrigerator for all those cups?
A friend used the crockpot method and she said it worked pretty well. Let me know how you like it!
I used the crockpot method a couple of weeks ago. It turned out great and has really saved us on the yogurt purchases! Thanks for putting this on here. :)
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