Slow Food in a Modern Kitchen

Hi there, Shawna here from Pinkiss Pottery with another tasty treat for your slow kitchen. Since last month we covered making your own granola, I thought this month we would learn to make our own yogurt to go with your tasty granola. You're all experts at making granola now, right?

Yogurt is simply fermented milk or cream and making yogurt is a super simple process that you really don’t need any special equipment for, you can just use what you have around the house (of course you can purchase a yogurt maker if you're super into kitchen gadgets but it’s not really necessary). The one tool you may want to pick up is a candy thermometer, it takes some of the guesswork out, but you can still make yogurt without one. So lets get started!

Organic Yogurt Starter Cultures by Wells of Health

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
• A medium size saucepan
• A larger saucepan or stockpot that your smaller pot can fit into (optional)
• A candy thermometer (optional)
• A clean metal spoon / whisk
• A glass bowl or glass jars (a great way to recycle your sauce jars) to keep your yogurt in
• A way to keep your yogurt mixture warm, you can use a bath towel wrapped around a glass container, a picnic cooler with hot water in it, a hot water bottle or heating pad (be super careful if you use an electric heating pad and DO NOT leave it unattended), a gas oven with the pilot light on or a thermos. Your goal is to keep the yogurt above 80° F for an extended period of time.
• 1 quart of good quality milk (you can use any fat content of milk but the higher the fat the thicker your yogurt will turn out, I have read about people adding powdered milk to low fat milk to make it thicker but I haven’t personally tried that)
• 2-3 Tablespoons of starter yogurt (you can use store bought plain yogurt with live active cultures *good bacteria* for the first batch and save some of your homemade yogurt for the next batch)

* Make sure all of your tools are clean and dry before you start this. A good run through the dishwasher should do the trick.

Vintage mixing bowl and refrigerator dish by Jadite Kate
Vintage Thermos by The Brown Sweater


Step 1: Fill the larger saucepan with water and place the smaller pan inside of it (a water bath helps keep the milk from scorching so you don’t have to watch as carefully but you can just heat the milk directly on the stove if you don’t want to do this step). Add your milk to the smaller saucepan and heat until it reaches 180° F (if you are not using a thermometer you should be able to see the milk turn foamy with a skin over the top). Don’t stir the milk during this step or your yogurt might get grainy.

Step 2: Take the saucepan off of the heat and let cool to 110-115° F (you should be able to hold the pot for 10 seconds without burning yourself). You can place the pan in a bath of ice water to speed up this process. Once the milk has cooled, take about a cup of it out and mix in the yogurt starter, whisk this into the rest of the milk.

Step 3: Transfer your milk mixture to the glass jars or container and create your warm place of choice. If you are using the picnic cooler, simply wrap your yogurt container in a towel and place in the cooler next to a container of hot water. Leave it alone for 4-24 hours depending on how you like your yogurt. I prefer to simply do this before bed and leave it overnight. If you have trouble digesting milk try leaving the yogurt for 24 hours, the lactose in the milk will be eaten by the good bacteria making it easier to digest (change the hot water at least once during this time).

Step 4: Move your yogurt to the fridge to chill.

How can you enjoy your homemade yogurt?
• Spoon over fruit and top with your homemade granola!
• Use it as a substitute for sour cream
• Use it instead of milk with your morning cereal
• Make smoothies
• Make Greek style yogurt by placing your yogurt in a cheesecloth lined colander and letting it strain until thick.
• Add 3 / 4 cup of sugar to 3 cups of strained yogurt and run it through your ice cream maker to make the most delicious frozen treat.
• Strain your yogurt even longer to make yogurt cheese
• Mix 1 Tbs. yogurt and 1 Tbs. honey for a moisturizing face mask
• Swirl with jam and freeze for popsicles

Vintage Silver Ice-Cream Scoop from Unas Attic
1920s Homaid Freezer - Ice Cream Maker from Rerun’z Vintage Shop

Did you know that yogurt has been around for at least 4,500 years? Many different cultures claim to have invented it but there is no clear evidence that anyone can truly claim the first yogurt. Yogurt can provide 9 grams of protein per every 6 ounces and can help in the prevention of osteoporosis, reduce the risk of high blood pressure, help regulate your digestive system while helping you feel fuller therefore reducing your caloric intake.

Eating yogurt has so many health benefits and making it yourself cuts down on harmful (and in many cases hard to recycle) plastic containers while reducing your grocery bill so I hope you give it a try and let us know how you enjoy your yogurt in the comments section of this post!

~ Shawna of Pinkkiss Pottery