The word “Yoghurt” derives from the Turkish word for milk, which has undergone a process, resulting in a tart and semisolid mass. Yoghurt has been made across all parts of the globe for millennia. Different cultures have their name for Yoghurt and in addition their uses. Yoghurt is a versatile ingredient that is used in sauces, salads, bread, sweets, drinks, and more. We use yogurt in our Na’an Bread recipe, Read Full Recipe Here
This wonderful food doesn’t just provide us with ways to make many great-tasting dishes, but it is also good for our gut health. Yogurt was linked to the longevity of groups from Russia, Bulgaria, France, and the United States, by a Nobel prize-winning immunologist Ilya Metchnikov. The beneficial probiotics found within yogurt are Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. These 2 wonderful probiotics act as a shield for the intestinal wall, release antibacterial compounds into the microbiome found in our gut and enhance our body’s immune response. They also can pull apart cholesterol. Furthermore reduces the production of potential carcinogens. Such a wonderful food with vast benefits linked to its consumption. Just keep in mind, that some commercially produced variations contain sugar and some in excess. So the negative may outweigh the positive in this case, to avoid this you can simply make your own.
Yogurt can be made from a variety of milk from Cows, sheep, and goats. Each gives its own unique flavour. Cows milk is the most used milk for yogurt production because its readily available. The main difference when making your own compared to buying a store brought tub is the thickness and additives. Companies use thickening agents to get a more
desirable viscosity. Also, they have been known to use stabilizers such as Gelatin, starch, and other stabilizers to prevent the separation of whey and curd during the logistics of the yogurt.
If you prefer a thicker homemade yogurt but don’t want to go to all the trouble of thickeners then think about using reduced-fat milk. The manufacturers add extra milk powder to offset the lack of fat, which results in adding density to the protein network.
Making your own:
So you want to make your own yogurt after reading about all the benefits of this probiotic-dense food. Well, follow our recipe on Camscookery Read Full recipe here. We use a dehydrator for this process, but you can also do it in an oven set to 40’c. This is for the culturing part of the process.
To make your own yogurt it is essential to sterilize all equipment in the process. Mainly because we want to culture the aforementioned probiotics and not any additional bacteria which could have the reverse effect of the probiotics. Done by bringing a pot of water to a boil and submerging your equipment in it for 10 minutes. Be extremely careful when removing it, I have accidentally burnt my arm during this process. Now you want to heat your milk of choice to 90’c for 10 minutes. Traditionally the milk used to undergo prolonged boiling to concentrate the proteins and give a firmer textured result. But in modern days they can just add dry milk powder. Even with this added powder they still heat the milk. Once the milk has been heated it is then cooled down to the desired temperature for the culturing process. This temperature has a big influence on the final consistency. We cool it down to 40’c. Once cooled down, stir in a jar of yoghurt from your last batch or the sachet probiotics, decant into your sterilized jars and screw on the lids. Place into your dehydrator and leave for 8 hours. Then take it out and place it in the fridge. Alternatively, you can set the temperature to 30’c and leave for 18 hours. The main difference is whey retention. The yogurt cultured at 40’c will result in more firmness but it will leak whey. Whereas the yogurt cultured to 30’c will be finer in texture but retain more whey.
Want to make frozen yogurt? Well did you know that the ratio is 4 to 1? So 4 parts milk to 1 part yogurt. This makes a great alternative to ice cream.
So as you have read this is extremely versatile and traditional food boasts a lot of health benefits and uses. Also, the process to make your own is fairly simple and can actually save you a lot of money in the long run. All you need to make your next batch is a jar from your previous batch and some milk. So on and so forth. Just keep 1 jar every time and you will always have the ability to make yogurt. Alternatively, if you ran out, then go to your local shopping center and pick up some more, then use that to make another batch. The most vital step in the selection of yogurt to use. Is looking for the probiotics in the ingredients list. Alternatively, you can even opt to buy probiotic sachets online. Yoghurt has become a firm staple in our house and we make a batch every week. Soon we are even going to up the production because we now run out by the fifth day. This resulted in us going out and buying another dehydrator.
So what did you think about the information? Did you learn something new? Are you going to make your own yogurt now? Or do you have another method of making this wonderful food?
Well, let us know on any of our social channels or send us an email at camscookery2022@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.
References:
“McGee on Food & Cooking” By Harold McGee
This is an encyclopedia of kitchen science, history and culture. This book is an amazing resource we at Camscookery use all the time to study for our blog posts and recipes.
Featured image by Wesual Click on Unsplash