Making (Greek) Yogurt

[q8D]

If you want Greek style yogurt, one gallon will yield about one half gallon after straining. Whole milk is around $3/gallon where I live, so economically speaking, you'd be paying three bucks for a half gallon of yogurt, and that's a great price. You can definitely use 2% if you'd like.

I saw a recipe on making Tibetan cheese for dogs where you can add powdered milk to increase curd yield, I wonder if that would work for yogurt as well? Don't know how much it would effect taste seeing as its a fermentation.

 

[StrawberryDouche]

I saw a recipe on making Tibetan cheese for dogs where you can add powdered milk to increase curd yield, I wonder if that would work for yogurt as well? Don't know how much it would effect taste seeing as its a fermentation.

I don't know if it increases curd yield, but it would certainly increase the protein. You can actually make yogurt using powdered milk.

 

[indomitable snowman]

I saw a recipe on making Tibetan cheese for dogs where you can add powdered milk to increase curd yield, I wonder if that would work for yogurt as well? Don't know how much it would effect taste seeing as its a fermentation.

I add it sometimes. It doss help with thickening as there's now more protein and I get less whey waste (I known there's things you can use it for, I just don't most of the time)

OP, instant pot is great, but one caveat, I don't think the boil gets hot enough. It seems to cut at about 170, to getter better results I think 185F is a better target temp. Higher temp helps with how the proteins denature.

I like to use the Icelandic skyr as a source sometimes but any yogurt will do. Just use plain (or in a pinch vanilla) you don't want fruit bits getting in while you ferment. You can play around with the length, but I usually do 10-12ish hours overnight.
I used to use a colander and a big coffee filter instead of cheesecloth to strain, but recently got a Greek yogurt strainer that makes it easier.

Also for fun, I've added heavy cream to the milk to make a super rich ~10% yogurt. I need to try that again to make frozen yogurt and see how that is.

 

[CallmeCicada]

(I known there's things you can use it for, I just don't most of the time)

A quick low effort way to use the leftover whey is to boil your pasta in it. Adds a little flavor to the noodle and you don't have to feel like you're wasting the left of whey water. I should add, you might not like how it tastes so cook only a small amount as a test before you cook the whole meal.

 

[Kikemaster]

You should ask for the real Turkish yogurt instead

Nice meme, its actually Bulgarian.
The bacteria that forms it is Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. The places you can find it naturally are the Bulgarian ethnic lands.
On topic:
I've made plenty of "yoghurt" myself. Usually the best result is when you "base" it. You take actual legitimate yoghurt with the bacteria (important, as this is what has to exist in order to ferment like it needs to) and put a little bit of it in each batch of milk. Generally one spoon per 500ml of milk.
As far as the milk goes, it is best to go for unprocessed milk and just boil it yourself. Store-bought milk has plenty of additives that interfere with the bacteria. If you do have to use processed milk, add 5-10g of salt per 500ml jar in order to somewhat counteract this.
Store all jars bundled together in a dark and warm place. I usually just put two blankets on top of the batch. Then leave for a day and a half. Afterwards, you should be pretty much done. If you want to speed up the process, put the jars on a heated plate at about 35-40C.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

The longer you let it incubate, the tangier it will be. Most people like it around 12 hours. Those people are weak. Go for at least 16. Just buy one of those single serving yogurt cups to use as your starter. It will last a remarkably long time in the fridge. At least a month.

What I do is set it for 12 hours, and then inevitably forget it or put off dealing with it for more hours. It will retain most of that heat as it cools down, and there are different mesophilic strains in the yogurt that are more active near room temperature.

But I have finally strained yogurt and it was definitely a good idea. I drank the liquid separately.

 

[CrunkLord420]

Status update: I'm fully yogurt-pilled. The instant pot makes yogurt from my generic skim milk just fine. I found it works best when you do a full pot, my initial smaller batches seemed a bit grainy (until I strained it). I bought a smallish yogurt strainer with a metal mesh thing, works well. Also tried the cheese cloth, also works well. The larger metal mesh strainers are really expensive for a piece of glorified plastic. I tried some generic yogurt with unclear bacteria in it, it worked. I also tried some super organic all-5-bacteria definitely-live cultures and I think it worked even better (or maybe it's because I transitioned to full pot batches). My yields for skim milk aren't bad, you'd probably want to remove 20% whey to make regular yogurt, it's very thick at 50% whey.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

What have you guys been doing with your whey runoff? I mixed it with tomato paste to create sauce, and added it to other random sauces.

 

[CrunkLord420]

What have you guys been doing with your whey runoff? I mixed it with tomato paste to create sauce, and added it to other random sauces.

I dump it directly into the nearest fresh water lake during spawning season.

Update to my straining method: I use a grade 90 cheese cloth inside a collapsible vegetable steamer which I then place inside a mixing bowl and cover with a plate. It's a superior and cheaper alternative to those purpose made strainers. Make sure you get a vegetable steamer where you can unscrew the center post. The legs of the steamer basket provide a stand-off to allow the whey to drain into the mixing bowl.

 

[Battery Low]

What have you guys been doing with your whey runoff? I mixed it with tomato paste to create sauce, and added it to other random sauces.

Mixture of feeding it to my sourdough starter, and mixing approx 1.5 litres to 250ml honey, adding a tablespoon of aforementioned starter and brewing a sort of dry-white tasting booze.