Homemade Yogurt

Finally got around to trying to make homemade yogurt. It was amazingly easy and I do believe that making your own is quite cost-effective.

Here is the recipe that I found worked the best for me.

HOME MADE YOGURT

4 cups of water-divided
1 3/4 cup dry milk powder
1 1/2 Tablespoon of plain yogurt with active cultures

Mix the yogurt into two cups of water and mix the dry milk mix into the other two cups of water. All you do now is put both mixtures together into a quart sized glass jar and put it in a warm spot for 12-15 hours. Once you have yogurt, chill it in the refrigerator.

When I make this, I actually start with lukewarm water from the tap and set mine on top of the refrigerator because it tends to be warm up there. If I have something cooking in the crock-pot, I set the jar between the crock-pot and the wall, another warm place. The original recipe suggested a heating pad, It did not say what setting to use but this might be something to experiment around with.

You can get yogurt with active/live cultures at just about any grocery store, Dannon and Old Home are two brands that come to mind who use active cultures. I would make sure that the yogurt is plain just because your homemade yogurt will be more versatile once it is done. Once you have made a batch, you will be able to use the yogurt you have made to make your next batch.

Here is the recipe for one of the things I have made with my homemade yogurt, so simple and so yummy.

CREAMY CUCUMBER SALAD

2-3 cucumbers-peeled and sliced thin
1 small sweet onion-sliced thin
sea salt (regular salt will work too)
1 cup homemade yogurt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Pepper to taste

Mix cucumbers and onions in a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt, enough so that they start to juice a little bit. Let them sit and juice for about an hour. If they make a lot of juice, drain them so your salad isn't too runny. In another bowl mix together yogurt, lemon juice and pepper. When cucumbers are ready, pour your yogurt mixture on top and mix gently. This is where you can add salt to taste if you like. There should be enough salt already on the cucumber and onions but if there isn't feel free to add some.

There is a lot of experimenting I want to do with my homemade yogurt but I am actually thinking I can substitute it for sour cream in most recipes. I have found that the one thing to keep in mind is that when you buy yogurt or sour cream from the store, there is salt in it if for no other reason than that they add salt to add weight. When you are cooking with your homemade yogurt, keep in mind that your homemade yogurt doesn't have salt added. Otherwise, take your homemade yogurt and have a blast trying it in new and old recipes.