Making yogurt is a lot simpler than it sounds. In fact, much like sourdough which like us you surely tried making during the lockdown, the key ingredient to yogurt is, well, yogurt. In fact, it’s the bacteria in the yogurt that we really want. That bacteria, depending on how long your family has been making yogurt, might be traceable back to some ancient proto-yogurt made in Armenia.
Long ago, but more recently than when that proto-yogurt was made, Vartouhie Zaroukian learned how to make yogurt from her grandmother in a time before kitchen thermometers. Today she shared her method with us. Watch the video below.
Vartouhie’s Yogurt Tips
Vartouhie’s starts by heating milk on the stovetop on high heat. She stirs it frequently to stop it from burning, and to stop a film from forming on the top. Unwatched milk will form a film within 1-2 minutes while heating.
“It comes all of a sudden.” she says, waiting for the milk to boil. The pot bubbles up to the rim as she’s speaking. “See!”
She takes it off the heat and pours it into a glass mixing bowl to cool to the right temperature, between 110° F (43° C ) and 120° F (48° C).
“In the olden days, my grandmother would put her little finger in the bowl and count to ten and see if it is comfortable.” Vartouhie tells us. If her grandmother could keep her finger there for a full ten seconds, it was cool enough. “But now we have dairy thermometers--we can use that.”
It doesn’t matter the exact temperature, she tells us, so long as it’s in the right range.
“We now have to temper the yogurt.” Vartouhie takes her two tablespoons of yogurt and adds to it two spoons of the warm milk. She combines the mixture and then transfers it back into the larger bowl with the rest of the milk and gently mixes everything together.
She covers the bowl with a lid and wraps it in a towel. “We’ll keep it in a warm place away from drafts.” she says. “For about 4-6 hours, but preferably overnight.”
Vartouhie takes out another batch of yogurt she had prepared the day before. After it had sat for six hours, she put it in the fridge. “Put it in the fridge to cool for two hours,” she says, “opening the lid.”
“Sometimes there will be water on top when you open it. You can pick that up with cheese cloth or paper towel.”
Vartouhie looks around the room. “Who is going to be our taster?”
Her daughter Christine volunteers (saving our lactose-intolerant producer an uncomfortable afternoon).
Vartouhie hopes you enjoy the taste of homemade yogurt, “you will see it’s different from commercial yogurt, because it’s pure milk!”
Dietary Notes
Gluten free, nut free, peanut free, vegetarian
Ingredients
1 quart (1 litre) homogenized milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) plain yogurt
Steps
Pour the yogurt into a cooking pot and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring frequently so the milk doesn’t burn or boil over.
Once boiled, remove the milk from the heat and transfer into a heat-resistant mixing bowl. Let the milk cool to between 110° F (43° C ) and 120° F (48° C). This should take about 20 to 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, scoop 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of yogurt into the bowl and then add two scoops of the warm milk. Mix gently until fully incorporated.
Transfer the yogurt and milk mixture into the mixing bowl with the rest of the warm milk. Gently stir to combine.
Seal the mixture with a lid or tightly sealed saran wrap, wrap the bowl in a towel, and store it in a warm draft-free place for 6-12 hours, or overnight.
Transfer the bowl to the fridge to cool for two hours, until it’s completely cooled.
Enjoy as you would commercial yogurt!
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