Yoghurt

Turkish cacık, made with yoghurt and cucumber (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

makes 8 cups

This may seem like a lot of yoghurt but it will keep for a month or so in the fridge. Even though there are only 2 of us, we haven’t had any problems eating it up!

I’ve found that adding a little full cream milk powder gives a much nicer, creamier yoghurt and is totally worth the hassle. If using fresh milk, you’ll need to ‘sterilize’ it before adding the culture. This involves heating to 83°C (180°F) and holding for 5 minutes. It sounds like more hassle than it is. But if you’d prefer to skip that step, add the milk powder and take it from there.

• 2 Liters (8 cups) full fat milk

• 100 grams (3.5oz) milk powder,

• 2 teaspoons yoghurt culture

1. Whisk together milk and milk powder in a medium saucepan. Don’t stress if there are lumps.

2. Place over a medium heat and warm, stirring frequently until the temperature reaches 83°C (180°F). Hold at that temp for about 5 minutes.

3. Cool to 43°C (110°F). I pop the saucepan in a baking dish filled with cold water and a chiller brick or ice.

3. Place 1 tablespoon of the tepid milk in a cup. Add the culture powder and stir until it forms a (lumpy) paste. Add a little more milk then stir the culture into the main saucepan.

4. Pour into glass jars and top with a lid.

5. Place in a chiller bag or cooler and leave in a warm place for about 12 hours. I use a nesco roaster half full of hot water set to 95°F.

6. Refrigerate.

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