Easy as...yogurt?

When Kyle suggested this project, I was initially excited… until I started thinking about all the delicious food I’d be giving up for a month. The harder I thought, the longer the list became: no more cheese, yogurt, honey-nut cheerios, wine (!), ice cream (!!!), or hummus. I’ve been running a bit recently, which means I’m constantly ravenous, so this was no small issue.

My challenge in this, my one month of glorious unemployment/summer vacation from classes, is to replace as many of those everyday food items without purchasing any packaging. “Impossible!” you might say, and I would answer “No! But often really frustrating!”

My first project, and arguably the most urgent, was homemade yogurt. I eat yogurt almost every day for breakfast, and I wasn’t about to give it up. I know that yogurt can be made, because every time I mention it to someone who’s made it, they say “Oh my gosh it’s sooooo easy!” As I found out, easy is a relative term.

Making yogurt involves heating up some milk to approx 180 degrees F. Don’t let it boil. Then you have to cool it down to 110 degrees (warm, but not hot). Add a bit of yogurt (to start the culture) and something sweet, if that’s your preference (I recommend pure maple syrup). Then place it in a jar and incubate for 4-12 hours, depending on how thick and tangy you want it to be. I put it in the oven with the light on, and this worked fine. I’ve also heard that you can wrap a heating pad around the jar or do the whole shebang in a crock pot. The kitchen is your oyster!

My first yogurt attempt ended up wasting an entire half-gallon of Strauss organic whole milk and turning it into sour, lumpy, cheese(ish) stuff. SOOOOOO EASY! Part of my problem was low-quality tools. Most of my kitchen implements (minus my one true love, a year-old kitchenaid mixer) come from thrift stores. This includes a meat thermometer, which I’ve never used, because I’ve never cooked a giant piece of meat. This meat thermometer, while quaint, also turned out to be unbelievably indecisive. If I tapped it with my finger, or even looked at it the wrong way, it would jump 20 degrees in a matter of seconds. Suffice it to say, the yogurt was doomed.

My second attempt was more successful, and I’m beginning to believe the homemade yogurt enthusiasts of the world. I bought a new thermometer (welcome to the digital age!) and came out with something that, while soupy and mild, was definitely yogurt. I only fermented for 6 hours, and next time I might try 8-10 and see what happens.

Join me next time for sorbet, which is currently a shit-show, but for which I have high hopes.

Cheers,

Audrey