It’s time for breakfast! You’ve got tons of fruit in your fridge but you don’t have anything you can use it with. That is unless you head to the store and get a tub of Greek yogurt.
Greek yogurt has a unique taste that pairs well with most fruit and other additives. You can grab a tub of it from the store or you can make your own. We will warn you that once you learn how to make Greek yogurt, you won’t be able to go back to the store brand stuff.
The best part is that it’s not too hard to make. Check out this handy guide for the basic step by step process.
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Why Not buy the Store Brand Stuff?
Even if you buy the most expensive brand of Greek Yogurt in the store, it’s no match for what you can make at home taste-wise. Making your own also costs much less than buying several tubs of yogurt.
You’ll spend around 5 or 6 dollars on a single quart of Greek yogurt in the store. Grabbing a gallon of milk and a starter is cheaper by a long shot. It’s also not too hard to prepare the stuff so, why not make Greek yogurt at home?
Choose the Milk
To start things off, you’ll need to pick out what milk you want to use. The type of milk you get will have an impact on the overall texture and taste of your final product. Many people go with whole milk which is a viable option.
You can also use 2%, 1%, or even skim but the final results may not be that thick. You can combat this by thickening it using milk powder or unflavored gelatin.
As far as the milk’s processing goes, both raw and pasteurized milk will do. You can use ultra-pasteurized but it can be a little bit of a pain to work with.
Grab a Starter
The next thing you’ll need is a starter. The starter is a bacterial culture that will ferment the milk’s sugars into lactic acid and give it that yogurt consistency that you’re looking for.
You’ve got a couple of options that you can use as a starter. The most accessible and easy to use is plain, store-bought yogurt with active cultures. The problem with store-bought yogurt is that you’re limited to what you see in the dairy aisle.
That’s where freeze-dried cultures come in. There’s more of a variety and you can find brands that are made with specific yogurt types in mind. Like Greek Yogurt.
Heat up the Milk
Once you have your ingredients in front of you, it’s time to start by heating up the milk on a stove. You’ll need to bring it up to a temperature of 190-degrees. This will get rid of any microbes that may combat the culture you picked out.
Scalding it will also result in a better texture. Keep it on the burner for around 30 minutes or so. Make sure that when you’re stirring it, that you don’t neglect the bottom of the pot.
If you do, the milk will burn and stick. You don’t bits of burned milk in your yogurt. It’s not a pleasant taste.
Let the Milk Cool Down
You can’t add the culture to the milk while it’s still hot. If you do you’ll kill it and your milk will never become the yogurt it’s meant to be.
Let the milk cool down to 105 degrees or until you can hold your hand over the milk for at least a few seconds without burning yourself.
Add Your Starter
If you’re using a freeze-dried starter you can stir it right into the milk. If you’re using store-bought yogurt, you’ll have to thin it out a little bit first. If you don’t it won’t stir into the milk evenly.
You can thin out the yogurt by using a small amount of warm milk in the pot. Once the yogurt is a little smoother, you can pour it into the rest of the milk and mix it until it’s nice and combined.
Let It Incubate
Now comes the moment of truth. You’ll incubate your mixture and if you did things right, the culture will slowly turn the milk into delicious yogurt. There are a couple of ways you can incubate it.
One way is by actually buying an electric yogurt maker. If you don’t make yogurt that often though, it will be an unnecessary space hog. Especially since you can use your oven.
Turn on the oven light and pour your mixture into a glass jar. Wrap the jar in a towel and place it in the oven for a while.
Strain the Yogurt
If you want to make Greek yogurt that’s creamy and spreadable, you’ll need to strain it once it’s done incubating. Scrape your yogurt into a cheesecloth or even a coffee filter and hold it over a bowl.
You don’t have to pour the contents of the bowl down the drain either. You can feed it to your cats, bake something with it, or even drink it if you want to.
Refrigerate
After you’ve strained the yogurt, put it into a container and place it in the fridge. If you leave it out your yogurt will get too sour and won’t be good. Kind of like any other dairy product you get from the store.
How to Make Greek Yogurt That’s Perfect Each Time?
Greek yogurt makes the perfect addition to any breakfast. You can toss fruit in it or eat it with granola.
While you can pick up a tub of the yogurt from the store, learning how to make Greek yogurt is much more satisfying. It’s cheaper too. Never eat store brand Greek Yogurt again.
Did you enjoy your yogurt? We have more where that came from. Check out our blog daily for all the latest and tastiest recipes.
