Homemade Raw Yogurt

There are so many recipes online for making yogurt, and I think I have tried most all of them! Some with better success than others. In an attempt to save you all some time and pain in making yogurt, I thought I would list my success with raw milk making without the addition of powdered milk or other thickeners such as pectin etc.

Now, I will mention that you are more than welcome to purchase a starter culture! In the long run they are more economical...but I haven't done that yet. You will just want to find a starter that doesn't contain excessive additives geared at thickener your milk. Yogurt isn't supposed to be super thick! It is more meant to be a pourable consistency. Americans seem to have an obsession with it being an extremely thick gelatinous consistency. Get your family used to the way yogurt is naturally made. It is just another way to cut out the additives!

So, you will notice that this is a recipe for Raw yogurt. There is much debate that goes on in the cultured dairy world about weather to bring the milk up to 180, like you do for pasteurized milk, or not. The proponents of heating talk about killing off the competitive bacteria so your culture will take. My issue with this is that you are than consuming a large amount of dead pathogens that your body doesn't have a "Que card" for in how to handle them. (See the Raw milk post.)
So, if you have it raw, why create this process intentionally! If the cow you got it from is healthy there should be a nice balance of good and bad bacteria, and the culture will just enrich your bacteria counts! If you start with pasteurized milk, than you must bring the milk to 180. This is because pasteurized milk provides the perfect breading ground for bad bacteria to multiple! So, you need to re pasteurize it, or your culture WON'T TAKE! and you just wasted milk! :)

Most sites also talk about needing a yogurt maker for incubation, and than there are the thousands of homemade ways to incubate. I have, again, tried almost all of them! I will tell you that without a doubt I get the best results with the water bathing method! I will explain more in the technique section.

Pretty much I feel like I have run a test kitchen in order to figure out the best way to make home-made yogurt, simply because my son loves it, it is a fabulous pro-biotic food that is great for the gut flora when consumed after every meal or with every meal along with kefir, but that is for another post!


Okay here we go with the recipe:

Start with 1 quart minus 3/4 cup of raw milk preferably milk that is at least 3-4 days old (I don't have a great scientific reason for this, but I find my milk sets the best when it is this old)

1 room temperature 6 oz container of Brown Cow yogurt or another Organic non growth hormone yogurt with live cultures and no fillers. (brown cow just started to add pectin to their yogurt! Bo ho. 60z is 3/4 of a cup just so you all know. If you are starting from a large container of Hawthorne of seven springs go with 3/4 cup! Stay away from yogurt with inulin for culturing! )

Candy Thermometer

small or large Cooler (or in our case a heater)

Clean (or sterilized) 1 quart wide mouth mason jar

small whisk


Technique:
In a stainless steal pot bring 1 quart of raw milk to 110 degrees over medium heat. Keep a careful watch on the milk as the temperature will rise quicker than you think. Stir the milk occasionally to prevent cooking on the bottom. You can also use a double boiler if you are more comfortable.

While the milk is heating set your culture in a water bath of water aprox. 115 degrees. Stir your starter to bring it up to 100-105 degrees. This won't kill your bacteria, but it will allow for better assimilation with your milk.

When the milk and the starter are both temped, remove the milk from the heat, and whisk the starter into the pot with the milk. Whisk until well combined. Pour the mixture into your wide mouthed mason jar, leaving a 1/2 inch to 1 inch from the top to give the bacteria some space to ferment. Place the lid on your jar tightly.

Fill a Cooler with water 120 degrees. It is very important that the water is not above 120 degrees! It can be as low as 110. Our tap water when put to "hot" produces water that is aprox 130 degrees, just to give you a feel. So, this water shouldn't require stove top heating. Use your candy thermometer to make sure that your water temperature is right. Place the jar submerged in the cooler for 12-24 hours.

Why so long? This allows for the bacteria to successfully eat away all the lactose and makes the end product extremely digestible! After all you are making it homemade, you mind as well make it optimal in nutrition! :)

I check the temperature of the water bath after 8-10 hours and add some more hot water as necessary try to keep the temperature around 100-105 degrees. If you don't it is okay! Your yogurt will still come out, I think it just improves the flavor and consistency. If you have a yogurt maker, obviously, instead of water bathing you would just place in a the maker!

As you can see from the picture, when the yogurt is done, you will see a yellowish layer of whey at the top. You are welcome to strain this off for soaking your grains, and for a thicken more protein dense yogurt. You can also than immediately strain all the whey out if you are making homemade cream cheese or cottage cheese. Nourishing traditions cookbook has the instructions for both of these things!

A note about using probiotic capsules. I have done this several times when I was too lazy to go out a get a starter. It does culture the milk, and it does taste sour like yogurt, but my experience has been the yogurt is runnier than using an actual starter. I have read that it is due to too many "bacteria" in the probiotic capsule. N, J and I eat it anyway, and it is perfect for smoothies or drinking. So, in a pinch I find it to be an acceptable substitute, but you will have to be the judge of that for your own family! :)

Happy yogurt making and please let me know how it goes for you! If you come up with any great additions post them! :)

Again this is only for raw milk. Pasteurized milk is a different entity, and the incubating temperatures are different.

Please check out The Nourishing Gourmet for more frugal nourishing ideas at the Pennywise Platter Carnival every Thursday!

And also see Real Food Wednesday on Cheeseslave

Avocado Mayo! (leftover Chicken ideas)

In the past the yeast diet has been really hard...mostly b/c we ate roasted chicken and veggies every night...and much more of the same for lunch with occasional veggie sticks with nut butters. Needless to say after six weeks we were all ready for a change. This time around, have found some new additions that have made food exciting, interesting, and us not really missing all the stuff we can't have. The latest addition is avocado mayo! With the flat bread, and this, you can eat chicken salad to your hearts content...with all the toppings! Ahh, sandwiches, does life get any better than this?

This recipe also provides another creative way to use all those leftover stock chicken bits. I know I start to run out of creative ideas for the chicken. We eat this salad either on lettuce leaves like a "roll-up" or on the flat bread like a wrap. If you can have grains, than have at it!

We really enjoy chopped tomatoes and onions, and occasionally cucumbers mixed in the with avocado mayo and chicken, but feel free to add whatever you think sounds good...and let us know of you new concoctions!

So, this glorious mixture, can be changed up depending on your mood, but I am going to post our favorite concoction to-date!

Recipe:
1 ripe Avocado (if it is still a little firm, that is fine, it will just need to process longer
15-20 basil leaves (washed and dried)
2 Tbsp Onion
1 clove (or more) garlic
1/2 tsp real salt
splash of lime (squeeze about the size of a lime wedge that you would add to water)

Combine all of the above ingredients in a food processor. Turn it on and process until a smooth "mayo" is formed. Use a spatula to remove mayo from processor and toss with your meat of choice (we life to use leftover stock chicken) or 2-4 whole chicken breasts. Add chopped tomatoes, more onions, cucumbers...or whatever else your heart desires. :)

This makes quite a bit of mayo...Chicken salad for 3 to 4 people eating

Homemade Season Salt

I have given up on finding a "healthy" season salt to purchase at the store. Most contain refined sugars, and filler that either contain corn or gluten. I have been mixing up this recipe for a little while now, and we don't miss the store bought variety at all! This seasoned salt is very easy to make...

½ cup salt
¼ cup succanant
¼ Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp Onion powder
2 Tbsp Turmeric

Place all ingredients in a 1 quart ball jar, screw on the lid and shake well. Stores well in the jar, or you can transfer to a "spice" jar with a shake top. This is my primary spice blend in my Chicken pot pie or chicken and biscuits recipe.

Chicken Gravy

So, we were having roasted chicken, again, this evening with some spaghetti squash, and broccoli, and I really felt like gravy. Gravy in general has been a problem for us given N's sensitivities to thickening agents...until now! This got rave reviews, even from our guest, who eats regular food!
I am going to list what I used, but I have a feeling you can change it up a bit!
The neck and gizzards of one chicken

1/4 onion chopped
2 stalks celery
1/2 carrot, peeled, chopped
1/2 bulb elephant garlic (probably 1 normal clove)
1/4 cup chopped fennel. (we are using this later in the week for a soup...)
1 Tbsp Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Drippings from one 5-7lb chicken stuffed with celery stalks/leaves

In a 2 1/2 quart pan place the neck of the chicken, cut up, in the pot. Cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil and skim any scum that rises to the top. Allow to simmer covered until water is an inch above the neck. (about 30-45 mins.) In the meantime pre-heat a cast iron skillet. Place 1 tbsp of Butter in the skillet and add the chopped up giblets, celery, garlic, onions, fennel and carrots. Saute until browned slightly and soft.
Remove the neck from the water and add to the skillet to remove juices from the bottom of the skillet. Transfer the sauteed mix back into the pot. Take out your immersion blender and blend the mixture with the water. It should produce a thicker looking stock. Make sure all is blended well. Once blended allow to simmer uncovered for about a 1/2 hour. It will reduce quite a bit and that is okay!

When the chicken is done, add the drippings from the pan into the gravy mix. Add Salt and pepper to taste. I blended the fat in for a more even consistency. Enjoy!

Homemade Cream Cheese and Whey for Soaking

This really does taste good and it will give you a decent supply of whey for other soaking or preserving needs. If you can't handle the gamey flavor of the yogurt, use a high quality non-growth hormone plain yogurt. Yogurt from Jersey Cows is best.
1 quart grass fed plain yogurt.
items you need.
thin cloth
strainer
Large bowl
Rubber band
a Wooden spoon

Place cloth in strainer in a larger bowl. Put yogurt on the cloth in the strainer. Let stand at room temp for several hours. When yogurt has started to thicken some, pick up cloth being careful not to squeeze the curds of cheese and tie with a rubber band. Attach yogurt cloth to a wooden spoon and let drip free from touching the bowl until all whey is out.

When finished transfer cream cheese to a bowl or glass storage container, cover and fridge for up to 2 months.

The whey will be the yellow liquid. place this in a jar in the fridge, and this keeps for 6 months.

Why would you want whey? Whey acts as a pre-digestor for phytic acid which is found in a majority of grains and legumes. Phytic Acid cannot be absorbed or broken down by the body and hinders the body from obtaining total nutrient counts from the food being consumed. We use whey for soaking cracked oats for our breakfast, quinoa, and for preservation of lactic acid fermented foods! All of which taste really good, even if they sound a little scary. Don't be intimidated, doing a kitchen overhaul takes time!