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!)
  
  

Making Yogurt is Easy, Yo!

I've been making yogurt with success for quite some time and now that i'm good at it, it is just like making a pot of coffee, or something just as routine.

In principle, making yogurt involves giving a 'good' bacteria culture the ideal habitat in which to breed. In this case, they are a little colony of lactobacillus whose babies like warm milk. What baby doesn't like warm milk? So theoretically, infusing warm milk with bacteria colonies and maintaining an ideal breeding temperature for the little critters is pretty simple.

I used to make yogurt in a tupperware and then keep in in an esky/cooler packed with bottles of hot water to maintain the temp. I was finding that the results were a little irratic, depending on how diligently i was maintaining the temperature. There are lots of variations on the internet, using ovens, crockpots, piles of blankets etc.

I was originally turned off by the 'Easiyo' yogurt maker because it is actually meant to be used with prepackaged powder mixtures containing the bacterial culture and powdered milk - however these are not as cheap as just buying your own milk and reserving a little yogurt from a previous batch as a starter culture. Anyway, i invested $20 on an Easiyo yogurt maker a month or so ago - it maintains the idea temperature really well, and now that i know i can easily make yogurt without the Easiyo packets, i haven't looked back! Wow i sort of sound like an Easiyo info-mercial (except on the website they highly DO NOT recommend using milk in a DIY fashion, claiming you cannot guarantee product safety or something).

I've also read that your 'home' culture takes on a little identity of its own and is somehow better for you, but i haven't confirmed that scientifically. I do notice that if i accidentally don't save any yogurt for my next batch and have to buy a pot of yogurt it takes a few batches for the flavour to mellow. Usually the first few have quite a sharp sour flavour in comparison to yogurt made with the following 'generations' of starters.

After a day or so in the fridge i find the yogurt gets even tastier and thicker - we use it now instead of sour cream and sometimes i let it strain for a really long time and then add salt to make a kind of 'cream cheese' (quark). The best thing i think about making yogurt at home is that bea really loves it and is finally eating mainly unsweetened yogurt, which she's never liked before. . .

You really don't have to use an Easiyo maker for this 'recipe' (but you can order them online just google Easiyo). i think a really good substitute would be a thermos, cooler or 'esky' and jars or containers inside that contain the milk and culture. Then you can just add hot water straight into your cooler. I guess the problem with this might be finding a small enough cooler so you aren't filling your kettle a bunch of times to get the level high enough that it immerses the jar.

Julia Child




continuing with the impromptu culinary theme this week. . .

i suppose around Christmas minds turn to food and preparation for the season. it has been quite hot lately and i haven't really been so craft motivated. laying under a fan and reading has been a top priority in my spare time.

i must say if you like food and haven't read this book, you really should! it is beautifully written, portrays such an inspiring image of Julia Child's personality, and will make you feel it is necessary to acquire giant copper pots, the Larousse Gastranomique, and some escargots. . .

fishnet coconut crepes with pear and green mango salad


there is a gigantic green mango tree across the street from our house in a vacant lot. Over the week we've seen lots of folks coming by to pick a few to take home.

i LOVE mangos in all their forms - but the pine-like scent of a green mango and its promise of a fresh and tart taste i find particularly alluring.

so I got out my basket and stick and went picking. bea came happily and picked them up for me where they fell.



for the crepes (will make about 10, depending on your frying pan size)

2 or 3 eggs
1 cup of plain flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus extra for cooking)
pinch of salt
1 cup coconut milk

a ziploc bag or milk carton


For the salad (enough for 2 or 3 people)

2 green mangos peeled and shredded (I used a julienne vegetable peeler)
2 ripe pears, julienned
teaspoon of honey
0.5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

whisk all the crepe ingredients and put through a strainer to remove any
lumps.

mix all salad ingredients and squish it a little with your hands to get
the juices flowing.

to make the fishnet crepes pour your crepe batter into a ziploc bag or
old milk carton and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners (i like the
bag because you can pop it in a bowl with the hole facing up so the
batter doesn't leak in between crepes).

turn pan to low heat and drizzle in some oil. drizzle the batter in a
zigzag motion first up and down, then side to side, and finally in a
concentric spiral to link the mesh.

carefully flip using the largest spatula you own.

continue with the rest of the batter and top with the salad and maple
syrup.

we liked the fishnet effect of the pancakes because they felt very light
and the maple syrup was absorbed very nicely! they look a bit fancy but
really don't take much more effort at all.