Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 486 kcal | 138 kcal |
| Protein | 25.5 g | 7.2 g |
| Fat | 26.3 g | 7.4 g |
| saturated | 15.1 g | 4.3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 40.6 g | 11.5 g |
| sugars | 40.6 g | 11.5 g |
| Fibre | 0 g | 0 g |
| Sodium | 343 mg | 97 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg Milk
- 1 tablespoon yogurt + active cultures
Instructions
- Use whole milk and avoid anything labelled long-life if you want a thick set. UHT milk has already had its proteins denatured by heat, and the culture has less left to build a structure from.
- Heat the milk to 85 °C to 91 °C over a medium heat, stirring so it does not catch. This is not about killing anything — it is unfolding the whey proteins so they join the curd, and it is the difference between thick yoghurt and thin.
- Take it off and let it fall to 38 °C to 46 °C. Any hotter and you kill the culture you are about to add; any cooler and it takes hours to get going.
- Whisk the live yoghurt into a cupful of the warm milk first, then stir that back into the pot. A spoonful of cold yoghurt dropped into a whole pan sets into lumps and stays lumps.
- Pour the mixture into clean glass jars and close them. Clean matters more than it sounds — anything else in the jar is being given the same ideal conditions for the rest of the day.
- Pull all the trays out, stand the jars in the empty machine and hold them at 44 °C for 9 hours. Do not open the door and do not stir: the curd sets as a single structure, and breaking it now turns it back to liquid permanently.
- It is ready when you can tilt a jar and the yoghurt moves as one mass away from the glass, with a little clear whey at the edge. A jar that still swirls like milk needs longer, and a sharply sour smell means it went too far.
- Move the jars straight to the fridge and leave them overnight before opening. Most of the thickening happens as it chills, and yoghurt judged warm always looks like a failure.
- It keeps about two weeks in the fridge. Save three spoonfuls to start the next batch, and buy a fresh culture after four or five generations — the mix of bacteria drifts and the set gets weaker each time.
