Dean Torges
R.I.P. 11/4/2016
If you caught the interesting episode last night Good Milk Gone Bad on making yogurt and want to try it yourself, I can offer some seasoned advice to supplement the program's instruction.
Alton uses 1/2 cup of starter culture per 1/2 gallon of milk. Don't use more than a tsp of starter in your milk, regardless of the amount of yogurt you wish to make. I use a tsp per gallon of 2% milk, and the reason for this is that too much starter makes for a sour yogurt. A tsp and no more creates a mild, flavorful result.
Also, Alton recommends heating the milk to 120*F. I guess this is OK if you are using pasteurized milk that is completely sterilized, but it won't work if you are using whole milk from the farm, or if there are the slightest contaminants in the milk, on the carton or in the utensil you use for heating the milk. Recommend that you scald the milk. Bring it to 180*F and then cool to 110*F before adding the culture.
I didn't know you could mix honey into the milk before adding the starter. I'd be reluctant to do this because if it were contaminated in the slightest with bacteria it would cause failures and therefore the risk wouldn't be worth the small convenience. Moreover, since you really should heat your milk to 180*F, you'd be destroying much of the nutritional value of the honey. And if you only use a tsp of starter, you won't require additives to sweeten the yogurt until it's on its third or fourth day in the fridge.
Also, you don't have to go to McGyver extremes for incubating the culture. I preheat our oven, turn it off, cover the mixed milk in a few insulating bath towels, set it on an over rack and close the door until morning.
I'd mention, too, that you cannot move or cause the yogurt to tremble in any way while it is incubating or it will fail. I have memories of my mother threatening the lives of my brother and me when we'd go running through the house while she had yogurt on the stove top. (She had an old Tappan gas range with a pilot light between the burner, and would cover the eyes, situate the yogurt over the pilot light, cover the glasses with a dish towel and Voila!)
Yogurt is easy to make if you follow a few precautions, and homemade yogurt is to store bought as homegrown tomatoes are to hydroponic ones.
Alton uses 1/2 cup of starter culture per 1/2 gallon of milk. Don't use more than a tsp of starter in your milk, regardless of the amount of yogurt you wish to make. I use a tsp per gallon of 2% milk, and the reason for this is that too much starter makes for a sour yogurt. A tsp and no more creates a mild, flavorful result.
Also, Alton recommends heating the milk to 120*F. I guess this is OK if you are using pasteurized milk that is completely sterilized, but it won't work if you are using whole milk from the farm, or if there are the slightest contaminants in the milk, on the carton or in the utensil you use for heating the milk. Recommend that you scald the milk. Bring it to 180*F and then cool to 110*F before adding the culture.
I didn't know you could mix honey into the milk before adding the starter. I'd be reluctant to do this because if it were contaminated in the slightest with bacteria it would cause failures and therefore the risk wouldn't be worth the small convenience. Moreover, since you really should heat your milk to 180*F, you'd be destroying much of the nutritional value of the honey. And if you only use a tsp of starter, you won't require additives to sweeten the yogurt until it's on its third or fourth day in the fridge.
Also, you don't have to go to McGyver extremes for incubating the culture. I preheat our oven, turn it off, cover the mixed milk in a few insulating bath towels, set it on an over rack and close the door until morning.
I'd mention, too, that you cannot move or cause the yogurt to tremble in any way while it is incubating or it will fail. I have memories of my mother threatening the lives of my brother and me when we'd go running through the house while she had yogurt on the stove top. (She had an old Tappan gas range with a pilot light between the burner, and would cover the eyes, situate the yogurt over the pilot light, cover the glasses with a dish towel and Voila!)
Yogurt is easy to make if you follow a few precautions, and homemade yogurt is to store bought as homegrown tomatoes are to hydroponic ones.