Today it is known that the yogurt it is a valuable and healthy food. And this applies even more to homemade yogurts. Easy to make, extremely inexpensive, and excellent in both flavor and nutritional properties, homemade yogurt is a experiment worth trying if you want to prepare a perfect product yourself in every way.
It just takes a little milk and a glass of yogurt to start a practically infinite production. Yes, because if you save your homemade yogurt you can use it to make more.
Homemade yogurt, what you should know
If you think that to make a good homemade yogurt you need dozens of utensils, we will correct you right now. All it takes is a initiatorthat is, a natural base to start acid fermentation.
So start with a simple cup of yogurt, full-fat or low-fat depending on your needs.
Thanks to the heat, the lactic ferments of the yogurt transform the milk into a cream with a sour touch. It is delicious with fruitbut it is also used as a base for savory sauces (tzatziki, for example).
The secret of a perfect homemade yogurt? Find the Proper temperature balance of ingredients.
The milk must not be too hot, otherwise it will inactivate the cultures. Likewise, the yogurt should not be too cold.
homemade yogurt recipe
homemade yogurt
Light sweet dish
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 5 minutes
Standing time 6-8 hours
servings small cups
Calories per person 102
Total calories 720
INGREDIENTS
– 1 l of whole milk
– 1 glass of unsweetened whole yogurt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Boil the milk in a saucepan. Once it starts to boil, turn it off.
- Allow to cool and use a food thermometer to check that the temperature is between 37 and 38 degrees.
- Eliminates the patina that has formed. Next, pour the room temperature yogurt and a few tablespoons of milk into a large jar. Mix well, add more milk and continue mixing. Pour the rest of the milk and distribute the mixture in the jars.
- Close them well and let them rest in a warm place, around 35 degrees, away from drafts. The oven off with the light on will be perfect.
- Let it sit for 6-8 hours. Once it’s ready, let it cool down to room temperature and then store it in the fridge on the coldest side.
Yogurt, a very valuable food (always)
Yogurt has very ancient origins. The first towns that produced it, mainly in pastoral communities, were those of Central Asia in 6000 BC They found that by storing milk in skins made from animal stomachs, a cream was created that lasted longer than milk.
The product was then exported throughout the West, and over the years it evolved more and more. For this, a series of studies conducted in the 1900s by Eastern European physicians and researcherswhere yogurt was consumed in large quantities.
The isolation of the bacteria responsible for the fermentation of milk, the Lactobacillus bulgaricusand the analyzes on the Bulgarian population longevity grew interest in yogurt. This meant the creation of the first industrial plants. From then on, yogurt reached everyone’s homes.
Homemade yogurt with the yogurt maker
The yogurt maker allows you to speed up production of homemade yogurt. It is a kind of incubator that houses a certain number of glass jars and provides the right amount of heat to activate fermentation..
Process
- Grab a jar of yoghurt and a liter of UHT whole milk at room temperature. In this case, the milk is already sterilized and does not need to be boiled.
- Add two teaspoons of yogurt to each clean, dry glass jar.
- Then, pour in the milk, trying to add the same amount to each jar.
- Carefully mix the milk and yogurt.
- Put the jars in the yogurt maker without their lids and cover them with just the yogurt maker lid.
- Let her work for 6-8 hours. Then, turn off the yogurt maker and if you like the consistency of the yogurt, let it cool and after 30 minutes close the jars with their respective lids.
- When they are at room temperature you can store them in the fridge. They will last about two weeks.
Useful tips for a good preparation
If your first experiment with homemade yogurt isn’t very successful, don’t be discouraged. Quite the contrary: learn from the experience for the next time.
Too Sour Yogurt
If the yogurt is too acidic, you may need to reduce the fermentation/incubation time. The yogurt will be less compact, but also less sour.
plain yogurt
If there is a little lack of flavor, it may be that the yogurt you used as a base is not of the best quality. The flavor will improve when you prepare it again if you use your homemade yogurt, much richer in cultures and flavor, as a starter. Use half the amount indicated in our recipe.
A “yellowish” serum
If a yellowish whey forms, the yogurt may have gotten too hot. It might just be enough to mix it up so it goes away and use less starter next time.
if there is water
The formation of water can be due to a change in temperature during preparation. The starter may have been too cold or the milk may have been too hot. In this case, you will have to pay attention to these aspects in your next attempts.
It’s also possible that the yogurt you’ve used as a starter isn’t particularly good. Try another brand.
The vegan version of homemade yogurt
Homemade yogurt made with vegetable soy drink is also very easy to prepare. The procedure is practically the same, only the ingredients change. That is, soy yogurt and soy milk.
Values ​​and nutritional properties
As we have already said, the yogurt It is a rich, nutritious and healthy food. Not only is it an excellent source of special proteins and calcium, but thanks to the presence of milk enzymes it helps to reactivate the intestinal bacterial population, rebalancing the microbiota.
From this point of view, homemade yogurt is more effective because each time it is used as a initiator (you always have to save a little) increases the quantity and activity of the ferments.
Finally, the nutritional properties are identical to those of industrial yogurt. Each 100 grams contain 3.8 grams of protein, 3.9 grams of lipids and 4.3 grams of carbohydrates. Here is a list of its main nutritional values.
- Vitamin C: 1mg
- Calcium: 125mg
- Potassium: 170mg
- Match: 105mg
- Vitamin A: 38mg
- vitamin B1: 0.4mg.
Homemade yogurt in the diet and menus
Have homemade yogurt for breakfast in the morning, with lots of fresh fruit, a handful of nuts and seeds, and whole grains (try our oat granola). Breakfast will be complete and very satisfying. You can also limit sugar.
A homemade yogurt sauce flavored with garlic and salt to dress the salad has fewer calories than the classic tablespoon of oil from the vinaigrette. Likewise, you can use it instead of mayonnaise for your sandwiches.
