You, Too, Can Make Your Own Everlasting Know-It-All

I discovered recently that Gosling quite likes yoghurt. Critter and hubby both like flavoured yoghurt, but since Gosling is only 9 months old, I decided that plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain was probably the way to go with her. So I bought a tub of Greek yoghurt, and fed it to her. Success. She preferred it with a little sugar, but would eat it without - with the addition of a startled "THATS SOUR!" face.

I remembered that my mother used to make yoghurt when I was growing up, in fact I'm not sure I remember her ever buying the stuff - she always just used milk to make some - so I asked her about it, and she told me that the yoghurt maker was actually still in the cupboards, and I should have a go. So I did.

Its surprisingly easy. Heat milk, cool it down, plop in some yoghurt to start it off, keep warm for 4 hours, whack it in the fridge. Really, the 'keep warm' part is the most difficult, which is where the yoghurt maker comes in handy. It also has a thermometer, making it easy to tell when to stop heating/cooling the milk.



MAKE SOME YOGHURT!!!

You need:

• a saucepan, big enough to hold all your milk, with a reasonable amount of space at the top - ie don't fill it too full.
• a stovetop
• preferably a thermometer - probably a candy thermometer
  
• 1L milk (or however much you want to make) - fullcream please. I dont know if light will work, use at your own risk.
• 1Tbsp natural yoghurt (aussie Tbsp - thats 4tsp. If you are making a different quantity, use 1tsp per cup of milk.)
• a jar - big enough to fit 1L milk - with a lid (or several smaller ones, or one smaller one, depending on how much you've made, but you need lids.)
• probably a funnel
• somewhere to keep your milk warm
• a fridge

Stick your saucepan on your stove, med-medhigh heat, and pour in a litre of milk (thats about 4 cups, or 2 pints for those not familiar with litres).

Milk on the stove

Heat your milk - 85-90 celcius (185-195 farenheit). If you have a thermometer handy, that will make things a lot easier. If you don't, DO NOT LET THE MILK BOIL. It should take about 20-30 minutes, or more, to heat up, depending on how hot your stove is. A skin will form on the top of the milk. There will be bubbles - on the top of the milk, a bit like froth. Not rolling bubbles like boiling. I REPEAT, DO NOT LET IT BOIL.

Once your milk is well heated, take it off the stove, and turn your stove off. I always forget that part. Let the milk cool down, to about 40ish celcius (105 farenheit). Again, easier if you have a thermometer. If you don't, it took my milk about 30 minutes to cool down. 40 is a little higher than bodyheat, so it will feel warm, but it shouldn't be HOT. DO NOT LET IT GET COLD. You need some heat for the yoghurt to work.

Now comes the yoghurt bit. Add about 1Tbsp NATURAL yoghurt (no flavours, colours, gelatin, fruit, sugar, what-have-you) to your milk, and give it a good stir. It might not dissolve completely, thats ok. As long as its not just sitting there in one big blob.

NATURAL yoghurt. No other stuff!

Dont worry too much about the Tbsp being level, or a measuring spoon. Or you can, if you want.

Pour your yoghurted milk into your jar(s). This is easier with a funnel (unless your saucepan has a pouring point, in which case you should send it to me for examination, but don't expect to get it back, because, uh, things get lost in the post. Yes.. thats it... lost in the post). Then put the lid on the jar(s) LOOSELY. What exactly does loosely mean? I'm not sure. There wasn't a definition. What's worked for me is to have it tight enough that the jar doesnt fall off if I pick it up by the lid, but loose enough that it still rattles around if I jiggle it up and down, and it still turns easily.

Now you have to keep your soon-to-be-yoghurt warm for quite a while. I have a flask made exactly the right size to fit the jar, so thats easy. You probably don't, or you wouldn't need these instructions. Things you can try:

• Maybe you have an eski (insulated box, generally used for keeping food/drinks cold), or styrofoam box (with a lid). Put your soon-to-be-yoghurt in the middle of the box, fill some more jars/bottles/whatever with hot water, and place them around the s-t-b-y, near but not touching. You could even wrap a teatowl around the s-t-b-y to make sure it doesn't come in contact. Lid the box. Put it somewhere it won't be disturbed. Check it every now and then to make sure everything is still warm, and refill the hot water jars as they cool
  
• Some poeple have had success with a VERY LOW HEAT oven. You want to keep it warm, not cook it
  
• You could try making your own insulation with batting and.. I don't know.
• Search Google to see what's worked for other people.

Insulating flask! Yay!

Leave the s-t-b-y alone for at least 4 hours (unless you have to refill hot jars to keep it warm, of course) and then check it, to see if it's yoghurt yet. If it isn't, put it back how it was and leave it alone for a bit longer. (My first batch took a good 5 hours, and was still very runny - apparently the first batch, started with BOUGHT yoghurt, usually takes longer to work. I believe it, my second batch - started from MADE yoghurt - was almost as thick as bought stuff in 4 hours.)

Looks set...

..but its a bit runny still.

Once it is set you can put it in the fridge, but remember: the longer you leave it, the tarter/sourer it will get. If you like it mild, fridge it as soon as it's set. If you like it tart, leave it in the heat for longer.

Your yoghurt can be easily modified with flavours (my son likes it with strawberry milk powder stirred through, or a little bit of sugar. Mum uses honey), and will be good for about a week. Just make sure you keep some to start the next batch.