Leslie's Gas Oven Yogurt

For all you potential yogurt makers who don't have a yogurt maker, and who live somewhere cold where it can be hard to maintain a warm enough temp for your bacterial culture here is a nice post for you. This will also be a good option for the downunder winter (we don't have indoor heating and things can be a bit chilly).

This post was all exciting for me because it was written by a GUEST! Her name is Leslie, and she was my friend in high school. I don't think I have actually seen her since then, but luckily for facebook she piped up and said 'hey i make yogurt too! but in my oven'. i thought it might be fun to have someone else post something on my blog, and to learn about another way of making yogurt. . .

So, without further ado, see below for Leslie's Gas Oven Yogurt (although i am assuming you could also use an electric oven as long as you can get it to the right temperature. . .)

Thanks Leslie!




You will need. . .

• a large pot/sauce pan


• 1 gallon of milk (you can use any kind of milk depending on the fat content you desire- I use whole milk/Homo for yogurt)


• a whisk


• a thermometer (I use a hot drink thermometer ie. for latte making)


• 3tbs of a good plain yogurt with live bacterial cultures


• metal spoon for mixing


• gas oven or an electric heating pad/blanket.

STEP 1:

• Fill your large pot with some water and bring to a boil (this ensures that your pot is clean). Once it has come to a boil you can dump out the water.


• Pre heat your oven to 150 fahrenheit or as low as it can go.

STEP 2:

• Pour your milk into the clean pot and place it on your stove at a medium/high heat.


• Keep a close eye on it and whisk often to avoid any milk burning to the bottom of the pot.


• You will need to keep track of the temperature using your thermometer. The goal is to scald the milk and get it to 180 degrees fahrenheit. When its almost at 180 it will start to froth.
  
  
  

STEP 3:

• Once it has reached 180 fahrenheit remove the pot from the stove and submerge it in a sink full of cool water


• You now want the milk to drop to 110 fahrenheit. Continue whisking till it reaches 110.

STEP 4:

• Once the milk is at 110 fahrenheit add the 3 Tbs. (aprox. its Ok to add more) of yogurt directly into the milk.


• Whisk in the yogurt so that it is nicely mixed with the milk

STEP 5:

• Place the pot in the middle of the oven and cover with a lid ( the lid should not be too tight- I use a clay baking sheet placed on top of the pot) (note: I'm guessing this is because you don't want condensation to form and drip into the yogurt, making it more watery? -Hsu-Yin).


• If you cant get your oven temperature under 120, then try propping the door slightly open.


• The Heating Blanket method requires you to place your pot on to a heating pad on high heat and cover it with a clean dish towel.

STEP 6:

• Set your timer for 7hrs and head off to work,school or go do what ever you do.

STEP 7:

• Take the pot out of the oven and stir up the yogurt. It should be starting to look like yogurt at this point and should have firmed up a bit. You should also see a watery film on top (this is good).


• Mix it all up till it looks smooth
  

STEP 8:

• Pour the yogurt into some containers ( I use glass mason jars, and old yogurt containers- make sure they are very clean first).

STEP 9:

• Place the containers in the coldest part of your fridge over night.

STEP 10:

• Add your flavourings of choice - honey, jam, vanilla, stewed fruit etc, or leave plain. We like ours with peanut butter! (sorry leslie, i lost that last bit about your preferred toppings in an editing error!)