Homemade Greek Style Yogurt
There is nothing better than creamy homemade yogurt. It is soooo much better than anything you can buy in the store. Yogurt is especially good for your gut microbiome as it contains probiotics, which are live microorganisms that help balance the bacteria in your digestive system. A friend of ours, Dr. David Perlmutter, has written extensively on the importance of gut health.
I’m extremely lucky because my husband, Mike, has found a new hobby… making homemade yogurt. He uses grass-fed, organic milk and controls the thickness of the yogurt by the amount of time that he strains it at the end. We perfer a greek style yogurt which is thick and creamy. Like making sourdough bread, you use a starter for making yogurt as well, which is approximately 3 tablespoons of yogurt per quart of milk. We try not to forget to reserve a starter for the next batch.
If you really want to go down the yogurt rabbit hole, I recommend the book, Yogurt and Whey; Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life by Homa Dsahtaki. She is also the founder of White Mustache Yogurt. It is a fabulous cookbook not limited to yogurt recipes but also includes many interesting recipes for uses of whey and yogurt.
My favorite breakfast is this homemade yogurt topped with berries, ground flax seeds and walnuts. Bonus for the environment: no plastic containers are needed!
Homemade Greek Style Yogurt
1 half gallon of organic, grass-fed, whole milk
6 tablespoons plain yogurt
Pour the milk into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the milk reaches 180 degrees. Use an instant thermometer for accuracy. Stir often and be careful the milk does not scorch.
Remove milk from heat and let cool to 115 degrees. Pour 1 cup of the warm milk into a separate bowl and stir in 6 tablespoons of plain yogurt until incorporated. Add the milk and yogurt mixture back into the warmed milk. Stir to combine.
Put a lid on the saucepan and wrap it in towels to keep warm. Let stand undisturbed in a warm place overnight for at least 4-5 hours. The longer you let the yogurt incubate, the thicker and tangier it will be.
For Greek style yogurt, put yogurt in cheesecloth, place in a colander over a bowl and refrigerate overnight. The whey will filter out to make a thicker yogurt.
Spoon the yogurt into mason jars and refrigerate.