Monday, September 27, 2010

How to Culture Milk and make Yogurt

How to Culture Milk

One way to deal with excess milk is to transform it. Yogurt, cheese, sour cream, cultured buttermilk are all ancient methods of dealing with abundance. Milk spoils quickly at room temperature, but if certain bacteria colonize it, it becomes something new and useful Over time people learned how to encourage the bacterial colonization in different directions so that a humble pail of milk could yield yogurt or sour cream or farm cheese.

But why should you as a city dweller with a nice fridge, learn to culture milk? First of all it's good for you. When milk is cultured it becomes much more digestible because the live cultures break down lactose. Cultured products most famously yogurt, also colonize with good bacteria repairing damage done by courses of antibiotics and bad diet and helping to control yeast populations. What would we do without sour cream, yogurt smoothies and buttermilk for pancakes? Being able to make your own allows you to control quality and quality, avoid trips to the store and excess packaging.

Making Yogurt


Yogurt is a fermented milk product made tasty by a culture of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus (or Acidophiles) and Streptococcus Thermophilus and its health benefits are widely acknowledged if it has active cultures. To make yogurt you need to gather:

* One quart of milk. (Whole milk makes the creamiest yogurt, but you can use whatever you want.)
* One tablespoon of live yogurt as a starter. For this first batch you need live yogurt either from a friend or from store-bought yogurt. If you buy it be sure the container reads “contains live cultures.” Some yogurt is pasteurized which kills the cultures, but you can usually find live yogurt even in an ordinary supermarket. You can also order exotic yogurt cultures online if you are a real yogurt connoisseur.
* Quart jar
* Small, insulated cooler
* Thermometer

To begin you should sterilize everything that will come into contact with the final product. Keep your hands and work surfaces clean.

Pour the milk in a pot with a thick bottom or use a double boiler to prevent burning. Heat the milk up to 180 degrees. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Don't bring it to a full boil. Then remove it from the heat and let it cool to 110 While you wait for it to cool heat up your quart jar and your cooler by pouring hot water into them.

When the milk is down to 110 (this is a touchable temperature, like a bot bath) stir in just one tablespoon of live yogurt to inoculate the milk. More is not necessarily better. Use just the one tablespoon.

Pour the cultured milk into the hot jar, cap it and put the hot jar in the hot cooler. Fill the rest of the cooler with 110 water and maybe also jars of 110 degree water (literally hot water bottles!) Let it sit for 8-12 hours, checking the temperature of the water periodically and adding fresh hot water if necessary. Check on it after some time has passed. The yogurt should be thick and have a tangy flavor. If not, it needs a boost. Add one more spoonful of starter and heat up the cooler again by filling it with hot water. Keep this water around 110 degrees. The lactobacillus needs a hot place to breed. Let it sit again for several hours, and with luck it should firm up. If it doesn't maybe your culture is no good.

Your yogurt will keep for a long time in the fridge though it will get more and more sour as it gets older. Use some of your last batch of yogurt to make your next batch. AS long as it isn't covered in mold you know the cultures are still there.

Making Labaneth, or Yogurt Cheese

If you drain the water from yogurt you end up with a tangy spreadable cheese along the lines of cream cheese. This cheese is made anywhere people eat yogurt and goes by many names but we call it by its Lebanese name, Labaneh.

Take a big piece of cheesecloth and use it to line a strainer or colander of some sort. Pour in your yogurt. It shrinks down so if you want one cup of cheese use two cups of yogurt. Tie up the ends of the cheesecloth of make a bundle. Set the strainer with the bundle in it over a bowl that will catch the liquid that drains off. Put it in the fridge, and let it drain overnight or all day while you're at work.

When the cheese is drained it will be a little tangier than cream cheese but similar in texture. Fattier yogurt makes creamier cheese. You can flavor this cheese with herbs or fruit to make an excellent bagel spread. Or you can make a classics Labaneh sandwich by spreading it on bread or pita studding it with olives spicing it up with thyme and /or mint and garnishing with tomato slices.

By the Whey – That liquid that drains off is called whey and it is rich in protein. You can add it to smoothies or use it in the place of water in just about any recipe. It will keep in the fridge about as long as milk will keep.


Time for fun in the sun!

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