How to Make Yogurt at Home

australianyouthlifestyle

Sep 15

Yogurt is one of those power foods that can keep you full, maintain your gut health and help you get some proteins. If you're a fan of yogurt and want to test your skills by making it at home, you should first get a yogurt making kit. These things contain the starter culture you'll need to turn regular milk into a thick and delicious yogurt you can use for your granola or muesli breakfasts, but also salads and dressings for lunch and dinner.
These kits are the best and easiest way to achieve the right structure and flavour. And who knows, maybe you'll become so good at making this, that you'd want to turn it into a business. Here's what you need to know.

Why is Yogurt So Good For You?

healthy homemade yoghurt — Source: greenqueen.com.hk

Yogurt is a dairy product known to contain high amounts of proteins, calcium, vitamins and live culture (probiotics) that will enhance the gut microbiota. This is essential for a healthy gut and proper digestion. Probiotics are the key to a strong immune system. This is why every nutritionist will tell you that this dairy product should find its place in your diet

Choose a Yogurt Starter and Milk

When you're making yogurt at home, you should choose the right yogurt starter culture and milk. The basics for making yogurt at home are the same for all types of yogurt starters and milk (all you should do is add the bacteria to the milk and let it culture). However, there are some nuances to using various yogurt starters and milk.

Naturally, the first thing to do when choosing your yogurt making kit, you should first choose the yogurt culture; consider how it works and choose the one that works for your lifestyle. Some starter cultures are direct-set or single-use, which means each of them will make one batch of yogurt. Other starter cultures are reusable, so you can make yogurt over and over again simply by using a bit of yogurt from your previous batch as a starter.

Consider how the milk will interact with the starter culture you want to get; non-dairy milk is most suitable with a vegan starter culture.

Prepare the Milk for Making Yogurt

Now that you have chosen your starter culture, you should apply heat to your milk to set it for culturing. This procedure for culturing a batch of mesophilic yogurt with pasteurized milk doesn't need any heat, but if you're making pasteurized thermophilic yogurt, heat the milk at 70º C and then cool it to a culturing temperature of 43º C, before adding the yogurt starter culture.

Inoculate the Milk

Using the right proportion of culture in milk is essential. The right amount of milk will give the bacteria the necessary nutritious environment and will thicken the milk properly. Make sure to follow the recipe on your yogurt making kit to get the right results.

Let The Milk Culture

While the yogurt culture, its temperature should stay constant and the yogurt shouldn't be disturbed. If you're choosing thermophilic yogurt starters such as Greek, Traditional Flavour, Mild Flavour or vegan, keep the temperature 40-45º C. You'll also need a yogurt maker or an appliance of that type to keep the necessary temperature. If you're choosing to make mesophilic yogurt starters such as Viili, Filmjölk, Matsoni, and Piimä, keep a temperature of 21-25º C. You can culture these yogurts on your countertop.

How Long It Takes for Yogurt to Culture?

The culturing time is the key factor in preparing a great yogurt. How long it will take? It depends on the yogurt culture and your taste and texture preference. The longer you leave the yogurt to culture, the more tart and thick it will get. You can always consult the instructions that are included in the yogurt making kit you got.

Natural Separation During Yogurt Culturing Process

As the culturing process comes to an end, the yogurt will start to separate into curds and when. Curds are solid and whey is liquid. The whey is nutritious and you can use it for cooking or culturing or you can stir it back into the yogurt. If you're working out and are trying to get some whey protein, you can consume the whey, it's a healthy natural protein. Separation happens because the yogurts culturing took too long or too fast. When the yogurt starts to separate, it won't be too long before the bacteria begin to die off. You'd want to keep an eye on your yogurt as it cultures.

Keep Your Homemade Yogurt in the Fridge

homemade yoghurt in a fridge — Source: nwedible.com

Thermophilic yogurt needs a 2-hour cooling-off period that will ease the transition between culturing temperature and refrigerator temperature.
A finished yogurt should stay in the fridge for at least 6 hours to stop the culturing process. Once the fermentation is stopped, it won't restart even if you put it back to room temperature.

How to Make Yogurt Thicker?

If you want thicker yogurt, all you need to d is drain the whey from the finished yogurt. It's one way to do it; it will create a thick Greek-style yogurt. If your yogurt-making kit offers another method, you can follow that tip. However, this one is perhaps the simplest one.

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