Since it crops up quite a lot (and since most of the yoghurt in the supermarkets is now "low fat") I thought I'd mention my Greek yoghurt recipe again.
Greek yoghurt is just strained yoghurt. Yogurt is just milk fermented at 35-45'C. Technically Greek yoghurt has a certain mix of bacteria, and I've tried making it with various different sorts of starter - including Greek and Turkish - but I honestly can't taste the difference. Any starter will do. It's the straining that has the biggest impact on flavour and texture.
So, you need something that keeps the heat stable, and something to strain with. I use a toaster oven and a piece of fine cheesecloth, but I've also used a thermos-type container, and that works fine too.
- Take a litre of full-fat milk and pour it into a microwaveable container. I use an earthenware pot because I can just put that straight in the oven (see below). Better-quality milk makes better-quality yoghurt.
- Microwave it on high until it's somewhere between 40 and 45'C. If you don't have a thermometer, just taste it - when it's pleasantly warm, but not hot enough to make a hot drink with, it's done. Takes 2-3 minutes in an average 800W microwave. Stir once or twice to maintain even heating.
- Mix in 1-2 tablespoons of fresh, live yoghurt (it will say "live cultures" on the pot). These are quite hard to find among the fakes and low-fat offerings, but most supermarkets carry at least one brand.
- If you're using a thermos, you have less leeway with the microwaving process - make sure it really does reach 45'C, and goes no higher than 48'C. Let it cool to 45-46'C if necessary. Then add the starter and pour into the thermos.
- If you're using a toaster oven, do an experiment beforehand to maintain a pot of water at around 40'C, and mark the appropriate position on the dial. Again, you can just taste-test if necessary. Most toaster ovens can do this, but they don't have a mark for that low temperature, so this is very much a trial-and-error thing. Use a heavy pot to smooth out the temperature variations inside the oven due to the on-off thermostat action. We're aiming slightly lower than 45'C to avoid any potential culture die-off from short excursions up to 50'C.
- Leave it there for 6-10 hours. It's done when it looks like blancmange. The timing isn't really important, although longer times tend to produce a more tart result.
Put your cheesecloth into a colander or a large sieve, and suspend it over something to catch the runoff (or just put it in the sink). Pour the yoghurt in. It's done when it reaches the desired texture, but you should find roughly 40% of it runs off as liquid, which takes an hour or so. Spoon out the yoghurt and put in a clean container.
Make sure all your equipment is clean! You don't need to sterilize stuff, but a good rinse with boiling water is sensible.
Tip: you'll get a somewhat milder flavour, and a creamier texture, if you use UHT milk. You can achieve a similar effect by heating the milk to about 90'C and then letting it cool.
It sounds complicated, but it's literally a few minutes in the kitchen once you get used to the procedure. I make a batch every 3-4 days, so I've always got some in the fridge.
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I’m lucky enough to own an Instant Pot (it’s a digital pressure cooker) and I make yogurt in it once a week. For anyone in the UK a pot of Yeo Valley is a great starter. Once you’ve made a batch you can use some of it to make your next lot. You will need to get a fresh starter once every 8-10 batches.
The one drawback is that I've been told the water that comes off shouldn't be poured down the drain. Can you use it for anything else at all? It's not likely a problem for one person doing it once in a while to be fair, but if there is anything you can suggest, I'd love to try it!
considering all the other things people pour down the drain, I can't really see a problem!
But yeah, it's a bit of a waste. I imagine it could go on the compost heap if you have one. But it doesn't taste very nice, and it has a weird slimy texture (like thin eggwhite).
EDIT: here ya go. As I suspected it's not very useful:
Oh I know, people put awful things down the drain! But I like to try
Thanks for the link - I was talking to a lady who uses whey on her hair, so that's maybe a good one to try! I'll definitely try the yoghurt recipe some time!
That's a great post about a subject close to my heart - I'm the family yoghurt maker
Luckily I'm using a yoghurt maker so usually don't have to worry about the temp during the "cooking" time. But I do have a thermometer to check the temp before I add the culture. I like your suggestion of using a Thermos flask. A wide-necked one would do the job.
Lately I've been using already made yoghurt as a starter, and that's cut down the time from 8 to around 3 hours. That's much more practical. I don't have to be so organised!
As for the whey, I'm quite happy to mix it in when the yogurt's ready. But I can see Greek yogurt as a possibility when the cooler months come around...
I too enjoy making my own Greek Yoghurt at home and it is worth taking little Pain- nothing like home made Yoghurt! Though I had tried earlier one trick which was also ok- I took commercially available Greek yoghurt and added to this whipping cream which is again available commercially and which has only milk fat (without carbs or protein) to add fat to my Greek Yoghurt.
But then I found out from my own studies that the commercial cultures or even yoghurt to be used as a starter have few species and the CFU count is also very less and most of them die inside our stomach due to HCL acidity. They are not able to make it to the colon where it is required.
It motivated me to make my own yoghurt and with my own culture at home. 😀Then I bought a yoghurt maker with a thermostat where I can set in my temp from 38 degree C to 48 degree C.
I bought a multi strain Probiotics marketed by leading pharma companies which are in a capsule form . Tear open the capsule with 10 billion CFU consisting of Lactobacillus , Bifidobacterium, Clostridium Butyrcum, Sacchromyces Boulardi , Streptococcus, L. REUTERI , Bacillus Subtilis/ Clausii.
Here the advantage is that you can select your own bacteria flora what you want- different brands have different multi strains.
I also added a Pre-biotic called Inulin - food for the probiotic so that they can multiply very fast. My 10 billion CFU becomes 100 CFU after 7-8 hours. So my Yoghurt is now Syn-Biotic! And I can use the culture as a starter for at least 4-5 batches.
Time is not very far away when people with different diseases may be treated with different bacterial flora as one of the main supplement. Long back Novogermina and Enterogermina were patented by Sanofi , though now it seems to be off- patent.
Nowadays a lot of research work is going on to isolate different species that play a lot of role in our Microbiota. They not only produce SCFA required for the cells , but they play a major role in production of different vitamins /enzymes which are required for metabolism. Deficiency of different specis could lead to different kind of disorders.
Different MNC pharma companies are filing patents for their own bacterial flora. For example , the latest is a company called Biogaia Protectis in Sweden who patented one bacterial flora called L. REUTERI which is meant for infants diarrhoea and also a very good bacteria for CV risks ... It is a big hit and the cost is sky rocketing. In many European medical centres, the doctors are giving L. REUTERI to infants as a standard practice.
I occasionally add cream to my yoghurt too, although purely for taste reasons.
I was under the impression that virtually no bacteria ever made it through to your gut, and those few that do will typically fail to find a niche they can occupy. My hunch is that people with faulty gut flora are also eating a faulty diet: the habitat drives the mix of bacteria that establish and thrive.
You may be right in your saying that hardly any strain reaches the gut and that unless one has a faulty diet, the microbiome thrives by itself.
But how many of us have the perfect diet ? We, Human beings, are still doing our research - what is the right food for us? We never know may be our next generation would have a different kind of diet!
Nevertheless, as of today science has discovered and named many food items which are beneficial and for survival of most of the flora specis- these are called soluble and fermentable fibre. In fact these have been named as Inulin/ FOS/ GOS/ XOS/ Resistance starch / Pectin....and these are found in Onion, Garlic,Leek, Radish, Asparagus, Jeruselam artichokes, some legumes and some vegetables fruits !
Science keeps doing its bits. There are 100 trillions of specis in Human Gut. Day by day, Newer strains are getting discovered, isolated & studied for its charactetistic and benefits to mankind. Some groups/ specis seem to be common to all human guts!
Millions of people have a class of bad bacteria called H. Pylori (Helicobacter Pylori) which leads to Acid reflux. Next to statin, PPI is another drug which has a huge market which treats h.pylori. But PPI does not kill h.pylori which remains subdued for sometime only to return back after sometime. It survives 4-5 PH of our stomach acid and lives for decades.
Now science has discovered some of our friendly bacteria from the gut which can survive the stomach acid, it can withstand any temp and it can even withstand any antibiotic which normally kills most of the strains. So these strains namely Bacillus Subtillis, Saccharomyces Boulardi, Lactobacillus Paracasei along with few more are taken orally - say one capsule could contain as high as 100 billion CFU so that they fight with h.pylori. what PPI could not do, probiotics succeeded in doing this.
These probiotic Strains supplements are also becoming a standard protocol for supplementing a person who takes antibiotic due to some infection which otherwise kills both good ones along with bad ones.
Coming back to our yoghurt ☺️ , it is tasty and delicious and nutritious- no doubt in it. But if we say I am also eating a probiotic strain through a starter culture , we must find out the nature of strain and it's CFU. There are dozens of cultures with varied strains available in the market. If you take a acid resistant strain , yes it can reach the gut or even if it is not acid resistant , if you take 100 billions CFU, perhaps 30-40 billions could reach the Gut since other 60-70 could die.
Attaching an article on type of Yoghurt culture which would be interesting. Now yoghurts are available with multiple strains and some one found out L.REUTERI has cured his heart / CV disorder. So he makes single strain yoghurt called L.Reutrti yoghurt.😊
By the way , apart from yoghurt we must take other fermented food which contain probiotic Strains such as kefir, kombucha, aged/raw cheeses, sauerkraut, pickles, miso, tempeh, natto and kimchi. Other healthy foods that are fermented include apple cider vinegar, wine, sourdough bread- all are LCHF friendly...☺️
Personally, I don't think there's such a thing as the "perfect diet", but I imagine your gut flora evolve to suit an impoverished diet the same way any other biome adapts to an impoverished environment.
If, for example, you maintain a plot of land with a limited and inappropriate selection of plant species and allow the soil fertility to degrade, you find that the other species that arrive there (plants and animals) are antagonistic - it's almost as if nature recognises that there's something wrong and sets out to eliminate it. This is one reason "conventional" farmers spend most of their time killing things instead of growing things.
Can't help wondering if something similar happens to people who subsist on junk food: "healthy" gut bacteria just can't survive on the sustenance they're being given. The ones that do survive and thrive are the equivalent of agricultural pests.
Anyway ... yeah, fermentation. It's such an easy process and produces a lot of tasty food. I think people are put off by the possibility of things going wrong and ending up with a slimy, stinking mess, but it seems to be remarkably robust. I've made kimchi before. A bit messy, but 100% worth it.
I think we are on the same page with regards to the existence of microbiome and how it thrives on its own. On the importance of microbiome, sending few links / studies which could be of interest !
Nutrition is a complex science and we as human are trying to explore more and more and we keep changing our dietary pattern based upon acquired knowledge ! ☺️
Vitamin B12 plays a major role in forming Hb, in neurology and also metabolism of all macronutrients such as Fat, Protein & Carbs. Why is it that some people are deficient in B12? Yes , you can get this nutrient from some animal sources. But even some non-vegetarians do have B12 deficiency! At the same time many vegans don't have a B12 deficiency, though many vegans do also have this deficiency☺️
As science has discovered that a bacteria in our intestine named Klebsiella & Pseudomonas could synthesize this vitamin.
Same thing true with Folic acid, thiamine and Biotin.
It is well known that we get vitamin K1 from green leafy. Vitamin K1 was known for its blood clotting. properties. However only recently it was found out that one class of bacteria namely Bacteroides living in our intestine can convert the k1 (Phylloquinone) to K2(Menaquinone). It is now commercially called k2- MK4. This form K2 MK4 has also been isolated from hard aged fermented cheese like Parmesan cheese and free range eggs to some extent. Japanese isolated another form K2- MK7 from Natto (Fermented Soya). In USA, China and recently in Europe- Norway a company called Kappa Bio-Science has isolated both forms K2 MK7/ Mk4 from Germinol flower by fermentation .
Both forms K2- MK 4/ MK-7 are now proven to prevent and cure CV and Osteoporosis, Dental health.
Ca supplements now come with both vit K2 and vit D, though I would not suggest anyone to take a Ca supplement unless proven to be Ca deficient and even if he is deficient he should get from dietary sources. In case a person is deficient in K2 the calcium would get deposited in Soft tissues and arteries in stead of bones/ teeth. K2 shows the way to Ca and takes it to bones and teeth where it is required. Vit D helps in mineralisation.
Everyone's microbiota is different depending upon what one eats, where one lives and many other environmental factors. It has been seen that one's microbiota gets distorted over a period of time for many people and then he gradually lands up in a health issue like Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, T2. IBS,...
So USA with collaboration from many research organisations has started "American Gut study" and the same is also extended to UK.. I am giving you the links below. Please do partcipate and you will get a microbiome kit and you give your sample and you will get your microbiome report and they will analyse for their study...I don't live in UK/ USA or else I would have definitely participated !☺️
During last 5 years , some 12000 studies have been conducted world over (Not from American / UK Gut study), I am sending you a link from BMJ which summarises. But it is lengthy and very technical at some places. May be you can see the abstract / introduction and the last concluding part.
Fascinating stuff namaha. B12 deficiency is a very odd one because it's primarily an absorption problem, not a lack of B12 in the diet. As you say, these things are enormously complex and it's depressing that doctors usually react by saying "OK, here's a B12 injection" instead of investigating possible reasons for the problem.
I seem to recall a study on Ca supplementation that showed that it had no useful effect at all - at least, not as a single-factor intervention.
Unfortunately I'm not in the UK either, but I occasionally go back there. If I happen to visit I'll definitely participate in those studies. I love these "distributed" experiments - they usually involve people donating computing power, so it's quite amusing to see scientists asking people to donate, um ... other things
Further to my post above , would like to add that the first link, I intended to give you an idea about different probiotic starter/ culture only for comparative study purpose and how the ingredients species could vary. Though I found it an interesting read , I find at several locations it directs you to visit Amazon site.
I never buy anything from Amazon nor would I suggest you to buy. Amazon at best could be a place for reading reviews!
I am supposed to be a naturalist and always find out ways to eat natural food for all known micro-nutrients and In case if I find I have a proven deficiency of some nutrients, I always prefer to buy directly from the manufacturer or its authorised outlet !
And my first preference would be to buy a Pharmaceutical grade supplement meaning made by an established Pharma company and USFDA approved plant , though I don't live in USA.☺️
I avoid buying anything made by any SME companies (Small and medium enterprise) where the processes are not checked or certified.
And finally, I would like to check myself whether it makes a difference in my well being after few days before I buy again.
I wish I could make yogurt like you. I’ve used bulgarian culture which I made in my yogurt maker. It made a thickish yogurt but one hot summer day, it ended up so runny. I tried straining it and ended up with yogurt everywhere.
Maybe I need to get back to making and drinking my fizzy milk, aka kefir 😂
I bought the live grains off eBay. The kit including Kilner jar, sieve and kefir grains cost me £20. Once the grains had stabilised after a few daily changes of milk, the kefir tasted like yogurt drink. It was a bit like Actimel but because of the fermentation process was kind of fizzy 😂 I think the CO2 produced caused the fizz x
Love your recipe. Yes, yoghurt making is very simple! I grew up on home made yoghurt, and still occasionally make it myself.
I have no special equipment whatever, not even a thermometer. This is my method:
- Have ready a starter of two tbsp. good quality wholemilk live yoghurt (I find Yeo Valley is reliable)
- Have ready some boiled water to warm your flask or dish
1. Heat a pint of organic whole milk in a milk pan or saucepan to blood heat - a clean finger dipped in should find it neither hot nor cold but comfortably warm
2. Turn off the heat, add the starter to the hot milk and stir well
3. Pour into a warmed wide-mouthed thermos flask and leave undisturbed for 8 hours or overnight
- Alternatively, pour into a pre-warmed, lidded pyrex dish, wrap in a blanket or similar, and leave undisturbed in a warm place (my mother used to wrap her lidded pyrex casserole in our ironing blanket and leave the bundle overnight in the airing cupboard)
When ready, the yoghurt will be tepid. You can refrigerate it then use as is. If you would like it a little thicker, line a colander with clean cheesecloth or muslin, carefully pour in your yoghurt, cover with the ends of the muslin, leave to drain for a few hours, then refrigerate.
You can reserve a couple of tablespoons of this yoghurt as the starter for your next batch. In my experience, the bacteria strain weakens after a few goes, so I periodically start afresh with the Yeo Valley starter.
I've tried the blanket method too. It's a bit hit-and-miss, but it does seem to work as long as the weather's warm. As you say, it's perfectly possible to do this without any special equipment. I reckon Big Ag would be selling a lot less rubbish if people realised how easy it is to make your own grade-A food.
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