Homemade Greek Yogurt
I started making my own greek yogurt at home because I couldn't find any low sugar brands in the store and 30 g of Carbs in a "snack" is paramount to a snickers bar. Also I have developed a sensitivity to Lactose and the store brands don't do a good enough job of removing it. It took a couple times to get used to the plain yogurt flavor. But now I crave it and don't think I could back to the flavored stuff. It takes about 5 minutes of actual work and the rest is done by the little bacteria's. The calorie count is about 150 calories, Protein is about 15 g, Fat is about 8 g and the carbs are very low due to removal of the whey and lactose. In other words a perfect snack.
I have a 6 qt crock pot that I use and have adapted a light dimmer switch/knob to control the heat in it. I add 1 gallon of whole milk and bring it up to 110 degrees. Add a few dollops of good quality store bought yogurt (preferably plain, but flavored will work) I also add 2 cups of dry milk to up the protein. Stir this into the warm milk. Cover and maintain 110 degrees for 4-7 hours. I go to the long end of this because I like the consistency. After 4-7 hrs of incubation you have yogurt. If you don't want it thicker and less lactose you can stop here. Otherwise, take a large pot with a strainer ( i have a 8 qt double boiler/strainer) and line the strainer with a clean (new)cotton tshirt. Pour the yogurt into the strainer/t-shirt and cover. Put in a fridge overnight and the whey and most of the lactose will be removed and sitting in the pot under the strainer. You now have 3 qts of beautiful plain greek yogurt. Add some berries and its a low sugar high protein snack. I have also found that powdered peanut butter makes into an even higher protein snack that will blow your mind.
Comments
Oh, this is cool. How did you adapt the dimmer switch? Would love to try this. We eat a ton of greek yogurt. At $4.00 a quart. Money savings big time.
One way to up your protein is to use pasteurized milk instead of ultra pasteurized. The ultra's protein has been pretty much destroyed by the super high heat and it has the shelf life of a tweenky. Most of the good enzymes are toast too.
Jacklyn- I got a 600w dimmer switch ( the one with a round knob), a $2 cheapo extension cord (2 prong), a outlet box and cover from home depot. Total $13. Then follow these instructions.
Once you completed this little project. plug the crock pot into the device and the device into the wall. Set your crock pot to warm. and dial your reostat to about 50%. To calibrate your temps pour in a gallon of water and let it sit for several hours. If after several hours of steady temps it's too warm turn the reostat down if too cool turn it up. When you find where on the reostat it maintains 110 degrees make a mark and thats your setting. NOTE: make sure the dimmer is on. If you push the dial knob in, it will turn off.
We ate a ton of greek yogurt too, but I hated how much sugar was in it. Now with the plain, you can add lemon or lime juice, berries, whatever strikes your fancy. You can also tailor the consistency by leaving it in the crock longer or straning it longer.
When the hubs get home we are so doing this! Thank you. My dad is going to love this too. He doesn't like the sugar either. I'd rather add honey to the mix than sugar if I want a sweetened yogurt. Nice work, man!
I make my own yogurt too but it's a little more complicated because I bring it up to 180 degrees to kill any other stray bacteria. I often go to the coop here and get raw, whole milk so the pasteurization is imperative. Once it reaches 180 I cool it down to 110 and add the yogurt for a starter and then pour it into jars and put them in a cooler with a jar of warm water. In 8 or so hours I have yogurt in quart jars. I usually make 6 quarts at a time. I also add dry milk to up the protein and make it firmer.
I can hardly eat store bought flavored yogurt any more. When I do I get greek yogurt because it usually has less sugar.
@ Steve- Awesome yogurt! I finally got it done. It was fun too. My daughter had a blast checking the temp. Thank you.