I have recently gotten really into making my own yogurt again.
A few years ago I was regularly making it with the little Donvier
device, but I was never super happy with the results. Although everyone said homemade yogurt tasted so wonderful, mine, I thought, was inferior to my favorite storebought brands. It was runnier and tasted wan. I tried straining it, but my strainer’s holes were too large, and the idea of washing out a yogurty cloth once a week was more than I could bear. The whole process already involved a lot of milk splashes to wipe up. When I realized that a quart of Whole Foods conventional plain full-fat yogurt tasted better and cost less than what I was making, the Donvier gathered dust for a few months before being relegated to the storage closet.
Now that I’m not shopping at Whole Foods and the baby is eating a ramekin of yogurt at least twice a day—she’s struggling with the whole cup thing, so this makes me feel better about the milk she isn’t drinking—I ran the numbers again and decided homemade might make sense. Instead of getting out the fiddly machine, though, I turned to Anne Mendelson’s wonderful Milk, which explains how to make it in a big bowl left in a warm place. This method had never really seemed trustworthy to me before, but now that we’re renting an apartment with a gas stove I thought I should give it a whirl. In fact, it works perfectly, and the big bowl (instead of eight tiny cups) means fewer milk splashes to clean up.
The most valuable information Mendelson provides, however, is about the importance of straining the yogurt. Everything I had read heretofore made this step sound optional; Mendelson insists on it. Indeed, it turns out straining makes the difference between ho-hum yogurt and yogurt you’d consider stealing from a baby. Perhaps because my fourteen months of motherhood have involved a lot of rinsing out of rags and tiny clothes, lining the strainer with cloth—a clean old burp cloth, in fact—no longer seems like a big deal. Of course, it does mean that a quart of milk produces less than a quart of yogurt. But you need less to be satisfied—theoretically, at least.
I have always been down on maple syrup, but so many people love it on plain yogurt that I finally decided to give it a try. That’s how baby and I eat it since there’s no good yogurt fruit in season right now, and it is out of this world. As is Anne Mendelson—Milk is a delight to look at and to read. It’s full of recipes I want to try, everything from lassi to beef stroganoff. I’d like to read straight through (it’s more text than recipes) but so far have contented myself with flipping around. It’s good for that, too.
Here’s how to make yogurt: You need 1 quart whole milk and 2 tablespoons plain unflavored yogurt containing live cultures. (The ingredients information on the yogurt container should confirm whether your brand contains live cultures. Also, you can make a larger batch—I usually do 2 quarts at a time now—but she recommends that you start small.) Gradually heat the milk in a very clean, heavy saucepan. Stop just before it begins to boil. I use a medium flame and stop when small bubbles have started to gather around the edges (and sometimes the center) of the pot. Then move the pot off heat and let the milk cool until it is not quite hot to the touch. As an insecure person, I have to use a thermometer for this part—you want 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes a good half hour or more. Meantime, put the yogurt into the container you’re going to use for incubation. I use a big glass bowl.
When the milk reaches the proper temperature, whisk or stir about a cup of it into the yogurt in the incubation container. Then gently stir in the rest of the milk. Cover with a plate, a lid, or plastic wrap and stash somewhere warm and draft-free. A turned-off oven with a pilot light is ideal, and that’s what I use, but if you have to leave it on the counter you might just swaddle it in dishtowels, as you would a bowl of dough. In any event, if the room is too cool, the yogurt will just take longer to incubate, according to Mendelson. Mostly she emphasizes that the milk should not be disturbed as it turns into yogurt; you don’t want to be moving the bowl about or bumping into it while you make a pot of coffee.
The yogurt is “done” when it has “the consistency of a delicate custard, not a heavy pudding.” She says this will take 4 to 6 hours. I usually leave mine for about 8 because I do it overnight.
Now it’s time to drain the yogurt. Line a strainer with tight-woven cheesecloth, a piece of butter muslin (!), a handkerchief, a cotton burp cloth—you get the idea. Set it over a big bowl and scoop the yogurt into the cloth. She says to drain until it has lost almost half its volume, 3 to 4 hours at room temperature. I think mine has lost only about a quarter of its volume in that time, but it has already achieved a consistency I like, so that’s when I scoop the yogurt back into its container and beat it smooth with a wooden spoon.
Oh, Mendelson also says the whey—the liquid that drips out of the yogurt—is nutritious and is considered a tasty and cooling beverage in many parts of the world. I’ve been giving it a shot but can’t say I’m a fan…yet! I do enjoy its eerie greenish glow, however.
