Homemade yogurt is cheaper and allows control over ingredients. All that’s needed is milk, yogurt cultures, and basic equipment. Yogurt makers can streamline the process, and different cultures can create various tastes and textures. Some cultures require heating, while others don’t.
There are many reasons a home cook might prefer homemade yogurt over store-bought brands. Any household that goes through several cartons a day knows that the cost is going up, and cooks who are concerned about what’s in the food they cook may feel more comfortable making yogurt from scratch. Yogurt and milk cultures are all you need to make a weekly or even daily batch. Cultures are simply live beneficial bacteria that help milk turn into healthy and delicious yogurt.
Making yogurt doesn’t require any fancy equipment, although cooks who use yogurt for baking, in soups, as sauces, or even for desserts may want a dedicated yogurt maker to streamline the process. All you need is milk, a glass bowl, a wooden spoon, and a dollop of minimally processed yogurt from the grocery store to use as an appetizer. With this method, cooks should use unflavored yogurt that contains a range of probiotic bacteria types, such as Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, or Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Another option is to purchase yogurt cultures from a health food store or online. There are a couple of benefits to this. First, the cook has more choices regarding the taste and thickness of the yogurt being prepared. Specific cultures can create particularly tart or very mild-tasting yogurts. Some people prefer thicker yogurt, such as the Greek style, while others like the texture of buttermilk more.
Matsoni yogurt starter cultures come from the Caspian Sea area and create a rich flavored yogurt that is especially good for frozen yogurt desserts. Pima, on the other hand, creates a mild buttermilk-like yogurt that’s perfect for smoothies and soups. Starter cultures with kosher yogurt are also available, and vegans or others who don’t consume dairy can purchase cultures that work with almond, rice, and soy milks.
Most starter cultures of yogurt require the milk to be gently heated. This is where a dedicated machine comes in handy; the cook simply pours in the milk or non-dairy replacer and adds the culture. The machine brings it to the perfect temperature and, a few hours later, the yoghurt is ready. There are cultures available for purchase that don’t require heating the milk. With these, the cook brings the milk to room temperature, pours it into a bowl, adds the cultures, and waits for the yogurt to reach the right consistency.
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