Yogurt is a delicious fermented milk product.
It turns out due to the fact that fermented milk bacteria ferment milk under certain conditions, which gives the finished product a characteristic color, taste and texture.
In addition, yogurt is a useful fermented milk product, which has a beneficial effect on the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.
Thus, regular consumption of yogurt stimulates metabolic processes and normalizes the bowels.
How to make yogurt at home: is it possible?
Today, you can find a huge assortment of various yoghurts on the shelves, but finding a truly useful and safe product is quite difficult. However, yogurt can be made at home, and it is quite simple, as it may seem. But the advantages of homemade yogurt in comparison with the goods sold are obvious:
1. Home-made yoghurt is a natural, environmentally friendly product, without dyes, preservatives and other chemicals, and harmful additives.
2. You can easily control the calorie content of the finished product, it’s enough to use milk of different fat content.
3. Homemade yogurt is an opportunity to express your imagination. Experimentally, you can achieve different thicknesses. In addition, many different variations can be made from classic yogurt, resulting in a lot of unique and interesting desserts. They use such fillers as fresh berries, fresh and canned fruits, dried fruits, muesli, flakes, chocolate or coconut chips.
4. Yoghurt, cooked at home, is excellent for preparing various types of sauces, for filling fruit and vegetable salads. Thanks to this product, the usual salty, sweet, spicy dishes acquire new interesting tastes.
5. Homemade yogurt is stored in the refrigerator for three to four days. The main condition is that the container with yogurt is tightly sealed. After this time, homemade yogurt is not suitable for consumption. But this fact is another proof that the product is natural and does not look like long-term store storage, which, unfortunately, only a name comes from real yogurt. 6. It is noteworthy that for making yogurt it is not necessary to have a yoghurt maker, the product can be prepared with the help of improvised means, such as a pan, a slow cooker, a jar, a thermos and others.
How to make yogurt at home: what you need for this
For the preparation of homemade yogurt, two ingredients are required: milk and sourdough. The rest can be added, focusing on your taste preferences.
Milk. Ideally, it is best to buy fresh country milk, you can also buy 10% cream. For the preparation of low-calorie yogurt is enough to take milk 3.5-5% fat. The main thing is that the original product is pasteurized, not sterilized, and not long-term storage. The use of baked milk is also acceptable, the taste of ready-made yoghurt will be tender, caramelized.
The milk is poured into an enamel pan, brought to a boil, and then cooled to 45 degrees. To measure the temperature, you can use a kitchen thermometer. If the milk is hotter than necessary, all the beneficial trace elements and bacteria will simply die.
Sourdough. Also, to make a delicious dessert, you will need a starter. You can use ready-made yeast or “live” natural yogurt with a short shelf life.
Let us consider in more detail what is better to get for making dessert.
• Dry starter can be bought in specialized stores or a pharmacy, they are sold in small bottles. Per liter of milk, two capsules are enough.
The advantages of this type of starter in the storage time, resistance of bacteria and in the amazing taste of the finished product.
• Liquid sourdoughs, unlike dry ones, are not as popular as they have some drawbacks. First, their shelf life is not so big, only 3 months, but it was revealed that already at the end of the first month many live bacteria simply die. Secondly, the taste of the finished product is not so delicious. Usually, yogurt, prepared on the basis of liquid sourdough, turns out to be slightly sourish and not very pleasant viscous consistency. • Although “live” yogurt is permissible to use, yet many experienced cooks do not advise doing this, considering that when combined with milk, not only the necessary useful microorganisms, but also hidden pathogens will multiply. And then, homemade yogurt will be no different from desserts sold in stores. In addition, if they exceed the permissible rate, there is a possibility of poisoning and getting food infectious diseases.
Therefore, if you want to get a really useful product - use a special dry sourdough of any company for its preparation, especially it is not difficult to get it.
How to make yogurt at home: cooking technology
As we have already found out above, it is possible to prepare not only natural yogurts, but also with additives, but the cooking technology in any case begins with the classics, and you can add any favorite fillers and additives to the finished product.
1. Recipe for homemade yogurt cooked in a yogurt maker
Of course, the presence of yogurt maker facilitates the process of making a healthy product. Its undoubted advantage is that the “machine” maintains a constant desired temperature. To make a yogurt in a yogurt maker, mix two capsules of a dry dressing or a tablespoon of liquid dressing with one liter of milk. Pour the mixture into a container, soak for 10 hours.
2. How to make yogurt at home in a thermos
If there is no yogurt maker, and you want a tasty and healthy product, you can use a regular thermos for making yogurt, the main thing is that the neck is wide - it will be more convenient to cook.
The technology of preparation does not differ from the previous recipe, you need to pour in the cooled to 45 degrees milk, add leaven, mix. Remove to an inaccessible place and stand for 6-8 hours without disturbing the product - the thermos can not be rearranged, shaken, yogurt should not be mixed. Ready yogurt is poured into a sterile container and cleaned in the refrigerator.
3. How to make homemade yogurt in a pan
To prepare the product in this way, you need a thick-walled pan, which retains heat for a long time. So, pour warm milk mixed with sourdough into the pan, close the lid. Expose the container on the hot water bottle or hot battery and wrapped in a thick warm blanket, leave it for 6-8 hours. It is permissible to use a glass jar or a ceramic pot instead of the pan.
4. Alternative cooking options
In addition, you can cook the product in a slow cooker. The technology is similar. Many modern multicookers have a built-in “Yogurt” mode, but if there is none, then you can use the “Heating” function.
You can also use the oven to make a dessert, in this case, the oven is heated to 40 degrees, kept the container with milk and sourdough for 5 hours. In this case, it is better to use glass containers.
How to make yogurt at home: the reasons for failures
It happens that the technology is respected, but yogurt did not work. Why is this happening and what could be the reason for the failures?
• The main secrets of successful product preparation are correctly selected fresh sourdough, high-quality milk, sterile containers and a constant uniform temperature at which yoghurt ferments.
• In addition, the product can not be prepared in aluminum and plastic containers. All containers must be clean, including containers, thermometers, pots, which boil milk, spoons and other necessary utensils.
• Fillers and additives: berries, chocolate and others, it is best to add not into the preparation, but into the finished product. Bacteria for normal work need only dairy environment. Sugar, fruits and other fillers will lead to the development of unwanted yeast and putrefactive bacteria, which will spoil the product at the preparation stage.
• Also, do not add starch or dry milk for thickening, this is the task of regular milk. The density and caloric content of the finished product depends on the fat content of the original product. • The finished product is best removed immediately to a cold place so that the process of fermentation and reproduction of bacteria stops, otherwise the finished yogurt will turn sour.
• It happens that yogurt does not ferment. The reason may be hot milk or low-quality sourdough. Milk temperature should be 45 degrees, not more.
• By the way, if the milk is too cold, the yogurt will turn out to be too liquid or viscous.
How is yogurt served?
Yogurt perfectly with all fruits, you can serve the product with peaches, bananas, berries, pears and others. Also delicious yogurt with berries: strawberries, raspberries, currants and others. In yogurt, in addition to fresh fruits and berries, you can add jam, fresh juice.
For breakfast, you can serve yogurt with oatmeal and honey or muesli. You can fill salads with yogurt, on its basis you can make ice cream and various desserts.
As you can see, cooking yogurt at home is simple; the main thing is to choose the right products and the container used for cooking. Do not forget that desserts cooked at home are always healthier and tastier than the store. Cook with pleasure.
