Reap the benefits of the probiotic live cultures
Delicious and healthy yoghurt, with its gut-healthy probiotics, is perfect for any time of the day. Whether you like it for breakfast with some muesli and fruit mixed in, or you prefer to eat it as a dessert with some honey drizzled over. No matter how you eat your yoghurt, it is delicious, and when made yourself, it is incredibly healthy too.
Making yoghurt yourself is one of the easiest things to do. Especially when you use something like a slow cooker, yoghurt maker, or an instant pot with yoghurt setting. Since the most challenging thing about making it would be to keep it up to temperature. But when you have any of these tools, it becomes as easy as pouring a glass of milk. Although a slow cooker or yoghurt maker is definitely is not essential.
For years I made yoghurt in nothing fancier than a thermos flask. Now that had its challenges, sometimes the yogurt wouldn’t set properly because I had over or underheated the thermos flask. But ever since I started making it myself in my slow cooker, it has always yielded the same dependable result of nicely set yoghurt. And it takes almost no effort what so effort, the most effort being that I have to remember to set a timer. Now, if that isn’t effortless, then I don’t know what is.
One of the big reasons why I like making yoghurt in a slow cooker is that a slow cooker is versatile. Even though my kitchen stuff together with my books, make up most of all the things I own. I do try to own a minimal amount of stuff, not that I’m a minimalist. I feel I’m much too fond of books, blankies, and unusual earthenware to be a proper minimalist. But I try, and that is all anyone can do. Ain’t it? But this means that I like my kitchen items to have multiple uses. That means that something like a yoghurt maker is out of the question since it can only make that one thing. But my slow cooker I use for a whole plethora of dishes, including my favourite rustic red wine stew.
What is yoghurt
Yoghurt in its pure form is really quite simple all it is is milk with some good bacteria. It are these good bacteria that thicken the milk and turn it sour. And this thickened soured milk, we call yoghurt. You can have a thinner one for drinking or a thicker yoghurt for eating with a spoon. You can even have strained yoghurts that resemble fresh cheeses that you can spread on your bread or roll into balls for snacking. All these yoghurts are widely different in flavour and texture. But yoghurt can also vary greatly in bacterial strains. Some being mesophilic, and others being thermophilic. But even within these two categories, there are so many different bacteria that give different flavours and textures to different yoghurts.
Mesophilic yoghurts can thicken at room temperature and tend to have traditionally been used in the colder countries up north. They are not as widely known and not easily available in most supermarkets. Although one of the best known mesophilic yoghurts is viili. Which is known for its unusual consistency and high variety of bacteria strains. Other popular mesophilic yoghurts are langfil, amasi, filmjolk, and piima. They all have their own unique flavour and texture, ranging from very thin, perfect for drinking, to an elastic yoghurt that would jump off your spoon.
Thermophilic yoghurts are more common and are readily available in supermarkets. But unlike their mesophilic counterparts, they need a temperature of around 40 C to turn into yoghurt. Which explains why these yoghurts traditionally were more popular in the warmer southern countries. Some common thermophilic yoghurts that you might know are skyr, plain and Greek yoghurt. Although you can make a Greek-style yoghurt quite easily with most yoghurt types by simply straining it with some cheesecloth.
Health benefits of homemade
Now I would probably eat yoghurt even if it wouldn’t be super healthy. So it’s a good thing it is super good for you. Since I love eating it for breakfast as well as a dessert. As a child, my mother would get fresh strawberries from the market. And then make a great big bowl of strawberry yoghurt for us. It was the perfect summery treat, with the tangy sourness from the yoghurt combined with the sweetness of the strawberries.
It is quite a healthy food, filled with protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, as well as some B vitamins. But the main reason why so many people consider it a healthy food. Is not because of any of these vitamins and nutrients, but because of the probiotics. It are these good bacteria that turn the milk into yoghurt. Those are so good for our gut health. Ensuring that your bowels stay in tip-top shape and thereby keeping you healthy.
There have even been some studies that show that yoghurt can help against allergies. Where the study groups were given 200 grams every day of either live culture yoghurt, pasteurised yoghurt, or no yoghurt. And they found that the people who ate the live culture variety like the one you would be able to make at home had reduced allergy symptoms as well as other health benefits.
Scientists continue to do studies revolving around the health benefits of yoghurt and other fermented foods. To find out just how many and exactly which health benefits these probiotic foods might bring. Because with every study done. We find that yoghurt, as well as other fermented foods, might be the solution to a whole plethora of health problems.
Where to get a starter
There are several ways of getting a starter. The most budget-friendly but maybe also the least likely to be available. Would be to get a cup of live yoghurt from a friend. If you do happen to know anyone who makes their own yoghurt, I’m sure they would be more than happy to gift some to you. But since making it yourself is not yet a mainstream undertaking, you might not know anyone who does this. Personally, I don’t know anyone who makes it, and the ones that have made it at one time or another, don’t do so regularly.
Another relatively easy way to get a yoghurt starter is by going to your local supermarket. Just make sure to get one that is unsweetened and unflavoured that says it contains live cultures. This is how I got my initial yoghurt starter. And how I got my second starter when I forgot to not have my yoghurt and my mead (honey wine) fermenting in the same closet. I know, kinda stupid. But I just didn’t think about it at the time.
It was only after I noticed my yoghurt getting fizzier and fruitier with every fermentation that I connected the dots. I still don’t quite understand how I could forget to not put them together. Since in my kitchen, I take great care to keep all my ferments well apart from each other. My kefir gets the best spot in a warm cupboard next to the fridge. Whereas my kraut stays in a permanently semi-shaded corner of my kitchen. And my sourdough gets to hang out on my desk opposite of my kitchen counter. This all to prevent the microorganisms from transferring themselves to another type of ferment and contaminating it. Which in my case, resulted in fizzy weirdly fruity yoghurt, which non of my family were a fan of.
So always keep your ferments at least a meter apart!
If you want a particular strain of yoghurt bacteria, especially if you want a harder to find mesophilic yoghurt. I would advise ordering one online. Unless you are lucky enough to have a store near you where they also sell yoghurt starters, then, by all means, get it from a brick and mortar shop. But ordering your starter online is a great way to get exactly the kind of starter you want. And they tend to be run by really friendly and helpful people who will help you if you come across any difficulties. I really like the UK based shop Freshly Fermented, which is where I ordered my ginger kefir grains. They stock almost every kind of ferment from sourdough to vinegar to kombucha and everything in between. For the US, I know that a lot of people on that side of the pond really like Cultures for Health.
How to make homemade yoghurt in the slow cooker
Making your own yoghurt doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. As humans, we’ve been making yoghurt or yoghurt-like foods for thousands of years. So you can definitely do so too. That is if you want to. I know that I love being able to turn milk into yoghurt and reaping the health benefits while staying frugal, and not to mention the flavour when it is fresh and homemade.
Makes 2 litres of yogurt
Prep: 5 minutes
Initial wait time: 5.30 hours
Fermentation time: 8-12 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 litres milk
- 175 gr starter (live culture yoghurt)
- You will also need a slow cooker or crockpot.
Preparation:
Until it is time to add the yoghurt starter, you cannot open the lid or you will let the heat out!
Pour two litres of milk into your slow cooker, then set it to low.
Set a timer for two and a half hours.
Turn the slow cooker off and unplug it just to be safe after it has done warming up for two and a half hours.
Set a timer for 3 hours.
After the three hours are up, the slow cooker is at the right temperature to add the yoghurt starter.
Add some milk to your starter and mix to thin the yoghurt, then pour it into the warm milk while stirring with a clean spoon.
Put the lid back onto the slow cooker and set it in a warm spot in your home while wrapped into a warm blanket.
Leave for 8 to 12 hours or overnight.
Unwrap the slow cooker from its blanket, and pour the yoghurt into a glass container, then put it into the fridge.
Enjoy your yogurt any way you like.
Tips:
I like to add 175 grams of yoghurt into a separate small glass container to be used for the next time as my starter. Since that way, I don’t have to worry about running out of starter for next time.
Always keep any ferments well away from each other at least a meter or more if possible.
Enjoy your homemade yoghurt
Yoghurt for breakfast topped with some homemade muesli or with some fruit on top is a perfect way to start the day. It is filling and gets your gut off to a great start. Although I always grew up having it as a dessert, sometimes with some fruit mixed in or just drizzled with some honey. Drizzled with honey and sprinkled with walnuts is actually one of my favourite ways to enjoy my yoghurt any time of the day.
If you like drinking yoghurts, then why not try to add a little bit of squash and possibly some milk to thin it out. This will make a deliciously sweet and healthy drinking yoghurt that just reminds me of childhood like nothing else. Although if you prefer something a bit less sweet and perhaps a bit saltier. Then some Turkish ayran might be more up your alley. Super simple to make by simply combining 2 parts yoghurt with 1 part water and a pinch of salt. This makes a super refreshing drink that I always enjoy the most during hot summer days.
What are your favourite ways to enjoy yoghurt? Please let me know in the comments or shoot me a DM on Instagram
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