Aria said:
boufao6,I enjoyed reading your message on yoghurt. Would you share your recipe for yoghurt. Haven't made it in a long while. Think I would like to start making my own (if it is not too time consuming). Thanks
Aria, in order to make yoghurt, you need to keep the mixture of milk plus starter at a temperature that is higher than room temperature for several hours. For this reason, a yoghurt maker of one kind or another must be used. The yoghurt maker is simply a container of the proper shape with a heating element to provide heat for the yoghurt making process and a thermostat to stop it from heating beyond the required temperature. Such makers are usually available at health food stores.
Once you buy the equipment, you will definitely find in the box a booklet that explains its use and gives direction on how to make yoghurt. In addition, you can read my last previous post (#5) for some pointers on how to treat your milk before mixing in the starter.
The next thing you need and you can buy from the same place is yoghurt starter. It usually comes in sealed pouches with just enough starter for one batch of yoghurt.
After you make your first batch of yoghurt, you can save part of it and use it as a starter for the next batch so that you can cut down on your use of readymade yoghurt starter. This process can continue for several batches. Unfortunately, there will come a time that the yoghurt you will make will be of different consistency, sort of grainy with stringlike grains rather than smooth. This means that it is time to start the new batch with fresh starter and repeat.
The exact temperature of milk-to-yoghurt fermentation escapes me at the moment but you should be able to find it easily in Google or some yoghurt making instruction book. Once you know this temperature, it would be easy to make yoghurt in a reasonably warm environment by going through such tricks as using the residual heat of your oven after you bake something, placing your pot near a fireplace or space heater, wrapping the pot where you make yoghurt in a heavy wollen blanket, using a pot made out of an insulating material (eg. clay rather than metal) etc. This may take some trial and error until you get it right but if you are of an adventurous inclination, you might wish to give it a try.
Good luck!
