The Easy Way to Make Yogurt -
Home Made Milk Yoghurt
WHY MAKE YOUR OWN YOGURT?
Home Made Yoghurt has over 10 billion good bacteria in each and every tea spoon! That is over 10 times more than any supermarket yoghurt that has been in transit or on the shelf for a week or more! Having 100gr of your own yoghurt is equal or better than taking 30 probiotic capsules!
Also, if you add a single pro-biotic capsule to your own yoghurt blend, you will be able to cultivate and multiply it 1000-fold! Thus, using a single Bio-Kult capsule in your own blend will give your own yoghurt 14 strains of good bacteria. Note that ALL regular supermarket yoghurts have a maximum of 4 strains (some brands have only 2)!
Finally, its all about the TASTE and the FRESHNESS. This recipe will make super THICK and CREAMY yoghurt which will taste amazing.
NUTRIENTS AND HEALTH BENEFITS
Regular Bacteria in Yoghurt
Bifidobacterium lactis
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus
Streptococcus thermophilus
If you ADD a capsule of Bio-Kult Bacteria:
You get the chance to cultivate 14 strains of good bacteria:
Bacillus subtilis |
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Bifidobacterium bifidum |
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Bifidobacterium breve |
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Bifidobacterium infantis |
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Bifidobacterium longum |
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Lactobacillus acidophilus |
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Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus |
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Lactobacillus casei |
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Lactobacillus plantarum |
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Lactobacillus rhamnosus |
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Lactobacillus helveticus |
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Lactobacillus salivarius |
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Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis |
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Streptococcus thermophilus |
YOUR STARTING POINT – THE GOOD BACTERIA:
Find a variety of natural live yoghurt which you like the best. All batches from now on will be very similar – but much fresher. Look for the words ‘natural live’ or ‘natural cultures’ or ‘probiotic’:
TOTAL Fage Classic Greek is superb. Even their 0% is gorgeous. Yeo Valley – Their Greek is gorgeous, but also their green natural pot. Rachel’s and Onken Natural – are both very nice! Marks & Spencer and Lidl's Greek are excellent! Tesco’s Greek and Sainsbury's Greek are also fine.
DO NOT BUY:
Yoghurts with fruit or flavourings – the additives will kill any live bacteria. Buy it NATURAL and add fruit your self. Be sure that low-fat yoghurts have no added sugar (dextrose / glucose etc).
Absolutely DO NOT buy Actimel or Activia – THEY ARE highly processed, with over 20 addetives!
The ONLY thing YOGHURT SHOULD CONTAIN is MILK + LIVE CULTURES! THAT'S IT!
MAKING YOGHURT AT HOME
I recommend using an EASIYO FLASK and UHT long life milk.
The EasiYo flask is now on special offer at LakeLand for half-price (just £8.49) and it is not electrical. All you need is boiling water!
The reason I recommend using UHT long life milk and not fresh milk, is that UHT milk is already sterile. Keep it at room temperature (in the larder?) and it will be perfect for the EasiYo flask.
Any long life UHT milk is fine (including Aldi, Lidl and own brand milks) - I personally recommend using Moo Organic Whole UHT Milk.
Make sure that your EasiYo container is clean and as sterile as possible. Remember three simple rules:
1/. HEAT KILLS the good live bacteria – so never put your yoghurt / milk / cultures in temperatures over 50c.
2/. BAD BACTERIA is much stronger than the good ones. If you use FRESH milk, then first KILL all bacteria in it by heating to 85c, then let cool to ROOM temperature and only then inserting the good stuff. Wash your hands before handling the blend and container.
3/. DETERGENTS KILL all bacteria, both good and bad. If you must wash the container, make sure all detergent is cleared and its best to rinse off with boiling water before using.
HOW TO MAKE THE YOGHURT
You will need:
About 950ml of UHT milk - at room temp of 16c-22c.
3 tbsp yoghurt starter culture (Yeo Valley, Rachel's, Total etc.)
3 tbsp of dried milk powder (not essential)
1 powder content from BioKult or any other probiotic capsule - not essential, but good practice if you have any! Alternatively, you can use 1 tbsp KEFIR
Put half of your milk in the 1 litre container. Add the yoghurt, milk powder and probiotic powder (if you have it).
Close and shake well for at least 25 to 30 seconds! Vigorous shaking is important for a smooth result! Then fill to the top with the rest of the milk.
Add boiling water to the line and immerse the container in the water. Close the flask and leave for between 7 to 9 hours.
7 hours = very creamy, almost sweet yoghurt. Probably 5 to 6gr sugar.
8 hours = nice, slightly tart yoghurt. Probably 3 to 4gr sugar.
9 hours and over = full bodied tangy / tart yoghurt.
The water temp in the EasiYo flask will drop after 9 hours to below 40c - so the Yogging process actually stops. So it will make no difference at all if left for between 9 to 18 hours. No longer than 24 hours, though!
Leave in the fridge to cool for at least another 8 hours and Enjoy!
NOTE. The dried milk powder is the thickening agent that makes this blend as thick and creamy as a Greek Style Yoghurt! If you prefer your yoghurt less thick, then leave the milk powder out!
Also, remember NEVER ADD HONEY to natural yoghurt! Honey is a very powerful anti bacterial - so it will attack and destroy all the good bacteria in your yoghurt!
Personally, I have never used anything other than FULL FAT 4% milk. So, can guarantee the thick and creamy Greek like consistency only with this. I imagine that if you use skimmed milk the consistency might be more runny and you might need to strain the yoghurt in a muslin cloth to make it thicker.
Remember that you can use three spoons of your own yoghurt for the next batch!
It might be good practice introducing a different Yoghurt to the mix every 5th or 6th batch.
I tried it with full fat goat's milk a couple of times, but it ended up quite runny. Same runny results with rice and almond milk. So I'd say the milk powder is less effective there.
Most Natural Live Yoghurts only have 2 to 4 strains of active bacteria, so making your own yoghurt gives you an excellent opportunity to BREED other good bacteria as well. Bio-Kult is the most expensive on the market, but has the best variety of bacteria (14 strains).
Instead of taking 3 or 4 a day in capsule form, just insert the content of one capsule into the yoghurt when making your own and let it feast on your milk (cost £10 for 60 or £19 for 120 on Amazon ).
... So if the sound of 2 billion bacteria per capsule sounds great ... how about 10 billion bacteria per spoonful of your freshly made yoghurt, on day one. This diminishes daily, but it is much better than buying supermarket yoghurt that was in transit and/or on the shelf for a week or more - thus last year's Which! magazine said that in 8 out of 10 of the supermarket NLY checked, 80% of the 'live' bacteria were already dead!
FINALLY, AN EVEN EASIER WAY
If the method, above, was not easy enough...
Yes. It is possible to use the EasiYo powder sachets to make great yoghurt in their own EasiYo flask. I recommend using their Bio-Greek sachets. If you buy these from LakeLand, you can get 20 sachets for £17.50 (buy 10 get 10 half price).
DO NOT USE WATER with the sachets! Instead, only use a qurter of the sachet content (40gr) with UHT MILK, milk powder and Bio-Kult, as above!
Any questions? Just e-mail me :