Homemade Yoghurt

I am thrilled to welcome Lailah Rose as a guest blogger to Gracious Goodness. Lailah Rose has gained celebrity status in thermomix circles for, amongst other things, her failsafe bread and yoghurt recipes. Her facebook group, Thermomumma, has in excess of 21,000 members and she is in hot demand. I’ve been fortunate to have multiple interactions with Lailah and found her to be a wealth of information and inspiration. At just 25 years of age, she is the mum of 2 beautiful girls and a beautiful son, and has two home based businesses as well as her Thermomumma page.

As I have been receiving lots of questions about making yoghurt  from members who don’t own a thermal cooker and hence aren’t a member (yet) of Thermomumma, Lailah has agreed to let me publish her yoghurt recipes and tips, so that I can direct all our Gracious Goodness members here. If you want the latest version of all Lailah Rose’s recipes you will need to join Thermomumma on facebook. These recipes are reproduced as written in Thermommuma but I have added a few notes at the end for those cooking on stove top and/or using a dehydrator for incubation. This is a long post but hopefully between Laliah and myself we have answered most questions about making yoghurt.

Thermomumma’s Yoghurt – TM5 Automated setting

Total time: 8 hrs approx

Ingredients

Plain yoghurt base…

1/2 cup full fat milk powder 1/4 cup starter (full fat pot set yoghurt – yoghurt with live cultures in the ingredients list) 1L full fat UHT/longlife milk

Optional, for a sweet version add… 2-3 tbs sugar 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Add all ingredients to a super clean bowl.

Select the ‘plain yoghurt’ recipe in the automated menu and skip the prompts until the screen says ‘turn speed selector to start’. Now turn your dial & walk away. This process will take roughly 8 hours.

Refrigerate before serving. It will thicken up in the fridge.

Thermomumma’s Yoghurt – Easiyo Incubator

Total time: 8-24 hours

Ingredients

Plain yoghurt base…

1/2 cup full fat milk powder 1/4 cup starter (full fat pot set yoghurt – yoghurt with live cultures in the ingredients list) 800g full fat UHT/longlife milk

Optional, for a sweet version add… 2-3 tbs sugar 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Add all ingredients to a super clean bowl & heat 4 minutes, 37 degrees, speed 2.5.

Pour 680ml of freshly boiled water into Easiyo thermos & lightly place the red baffle inside above the water.

Pour yoghurt mix into the plastic Easiyo yoghurt container & screw the lid on tight, place this inside the thermos and pop the thermos lid on.

Leave the thermos on the bench in a nice warm spot to culture for about 8-24 hours. Do not disturb.

Once the mixture has set place the yoghurt container into the refrigerator overnight to firm up before serving.

Thermomumma’s Yoghurt – Electric Yoghurt Maker Total time: 8-24 hours

Ingredients

Plain yoghurt base… 1/2 cup full fat milk powder 1/4 cup starter (full fat pot set yoghurt – yoghurt with live cultures in the ingredients list) 1L full fat UHT/longlife milk

Optional, for a sweet version add…

2-3 tbs sugar 1-2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Add all ingredients to electric yoghurt maker & whisk till mixed.

Incubate for 8-24 hours.

Once the mixture has set place the yoghurt container into the refrigerator overnight to firm up before serving.

Thermomumma’s Yoghurt – Notes & Tips

Fridge Life

This yoghurt will easily last 2-3 weeks if no one double dips.  Always judge by smell and taste.

Don’t forget!

Once your yoghurt has set, place 1/4 cup into a clean container & store somewhere in the fridge where no one will eat it. This can be used as your yoghurt culture starter to make your next batch!

Using fresh milk? 

You MUST first cook your milk at 90 degrees for at least 10 minutes, then allow it to cool back to under 37 degrees before using. This breaks down the proteins in the milk. This is why I use UHT as I can skip this process.

Full fat or low fat milk?

Make sure to use full fat products for the best results.

Runny yoghurt?

If your yoghurt hasn’t set in the allocated time & is still a milky consistency it’s most likely that it didn’t stay warm enough during the incubation time, or hasn’t been left long enough. Next time pour some boiling water into the Easiyo thermos & yoghurt container to preheat & take the chill off the plastic. This will ensure the yoghurt stays nice & warm when incubating & doesn’t drop temperature too fast.

Curdled yoghurt?

If your yoghurt has curdled and is clumpy it’s most likely that it was too hot during the culturing process, left for too long or your starter was starting to go bad.

Tart yoghurt?

Can be one of two things. If you use a tangy natural pot set yoghurt as the starter, this will reflect on the new yoghurt. I prefer using a sweet greek or vanilla yoghurt. Also if you make a plain yoghurt (no sugar or vanilla) and culture for too long your yoghurt will be tart. The little bacteria in the yoghurt eat milk sugars & turn them into lactic acid.

Using an Easiyo sachet as a starter?

You may split the full sized Easiyo sachet into 4 portions & use 1 portion (1/4 packet) in place of the starter. Store the remaining 3 portions in your freezer.

A note from Gracious Goodness :

Can I make yoghurt without an electric yoghurt maker or thermal cooker?

Of course you can! These two devices make life really easy, as they heat and monitor your mixtures temperature for you but with a little bit of patience and care it is still easy to make yoghurt at home without them.

All you need is a thermometer and a heating element. Follow all other directions in the Thermomumma recipes but utilise a saucepan and stove to heat the milk and the thermometer to check milk temperature. You will need an Easiyo (or similar) yoghurt thermos to incubate your milk mixture if you don’t have a food dehydrator.

Can I use a food dehydrator instead of an Easiyo thermos?

If you already own a food dehydrator then chances are you know how great they are at keeping food at constant, low temperatures and how efficient they are to run. I own a Sunbeam DT600 which has removable trays inside a rectangular oven. I follow Thermomumma instructions to the point of incubation. I pour my milk mixture into any number of containers (depending on how much yoghurt I am making) and place them directly into the dehydrator, set the temperature for 40 degrees and the timer for 10-12 hours. Refrigerate after incubation to allow the yoghurt to finish thickening up.

Do you have to add milk powder?

No, not at all. Infact, yoghurt was originally made using just raw milk which was allowed to ferment until it turned into yoghurt! The milk powder helps to thicken the yoghurt though. It does add additional carbohydrates, fat and calcium to the yoghurt. If you omit the milk powder expect a slightly runnier, but still delicious, yoghurt.

Can you add fruit to the yoghurt mix?

I have successfully added cooked (stewed) fruit to my yoghurt mix prior to incubation. Care needs to be taken to ensure that you do not introduce too much fruit liquid into the milk mix or the yoghurt may not thicken adequately. Acidic fruit may cause the yoghurt to curdle. I had the most success with stewed apricot, strawberries and blueberries. I found the shelf life of my yoghurt was also shortened slightly by the addition of cooked fruit.

Can you add fruit to the finished yoghurt?

This is perhaps the easiest way to get a fruity yoghurt. Simply stir fresh or cooked fruit through your natural or sweet yoghurt.

Can you make sweet yoghurt from natural yoghurt?

Absolutely, in fact this is often what happens in our house as all the sweet yoghurt gets eaten first! Simply add a sweetener such as honey, maple syrup or sugar, a splash of vanilla or a dollop of fruit puree to your natural yoghurt and stir. Delicious! I will put a caveat here though, that if you start with a particularly tart natural yoghurt you may not lose all of that tart edge despite adding sweetness.

Does yoghurt fit with a LCHF lifestyle?

Consuming milk can be contentious on a low carbohydrate diet as milk naturally contains sugar in the form of lactose. A good thing about making your own yoghurt however is that the longer you ferment it the more lactose is consumed by the bacteria giving you a lower carbohydrate yoghurt. It is often suggested to ferment for 24 hours to ensure the maximum amount of lactose is consumed. This will give a very tart yoghurt. The other benefit of making your own LCHF yoghurt is that you can add additional cream to your yoghurt mix to increase the fat content. I have experimented with making yoghurt simply from pure cream but had limited success. My best results are with 1 cup of pure cream to 1 litre of full fat milk plus yoghurt culture fermented for 24 hours. I don’t add milk powder to my LCHF yoghurt as I don’t want the additional carbohydrates but it still stays thick due to the addition of the cream. To be honest though, it is easier to make a normal yoghurt and add some heavy cream to individual serves. This allows much greater control over the taste and heaviness of the yoghurt. If you are wanting to make a sweet LCHF yoghurt the addition of xylitol in place of sugar works well and does not affect the yoghurt culture. I find that being quite liberal with the vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder helps to curb the tartness of the 24 hour ferment.

Vanilla essence, extract, paste or powder?

This really comes down to personal preference. Vanilla essence is a commercial, artificial vanilla flavour, it is generally not sweetened. Vanilla extract can be made at home (link to recipe here) or purchased commercially, it is a natural extraction of vanilla flavour from the vanilla bean. Often, but not always, commercial vanilla extracts have added glucose so they are sweet to taste.

Vanilla bean paste is ground whole vanilla bean in a glucose or rice syrup, so that the flavour infuses the paste. Sistermixin’ have a great recipe for DIY vanilla bean paste if you balk at paying $10 for a tiny jar or tube from the supermarket. Vanilla bean powder is ground, dehydrated whole vanilla beans. It is not sweet to taste but packs a punch particularly when allowed time to infuse into a dish.

Personally, I use 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract and another 1 tsp of vanilla bean powder when I make sweet yoghurt. You will find that the vanilla bean powder wants to settle at the top and bottom of the yoghurt mix on standing, this is not a problem. Simply stir the vanilla beans through the yoghurt prior to serving.

What containers make the best yoghurt?

Well, that depends on how you are making the yoghurt and what you want to use it for… if you are using the Easiyo thermos then it will come with a tubular plastic container that is designed to fit the unit – so this is the obvious choice in that instance.

Personally I like to keep my yoghurt in glass jars as I feel that it remains air tight better and as a result lasts longer (not to mention no nasties leeching into your food from prolonged exposure to plastic).

But I also have reusable Sinchie pouches that I sometimes make yoghurt in if we are traveling or when the kids were younger.

The size of your container really doesn’t matter – sometimes I make individual serves in glass jars, other times I make 1.5L batches in large jars, sometimes I use the 900ml Easiyo plastic containers, other times I use the 100ml sinchies pouches. They all incubate for the same time and if you use a food dehydrator you can put as many in as you can fit.

Sandra xo