Making Yogurt

Since a Stephanie and Nettie asked, here's the method for making yogurt with your powdered milk storage.

2 C Warm water
1 C Non-instant powdered milk
2 T yogurt starter (unflavored commercial yogurt)

Whip this all up together, in the blender or by hand, just get all the lumps out, then pour into glasses or jars. Place jars neck deep in a pan in warm (100 degree) water. COver pan with lid. Then, put the whole thing somewhere where a temperature between 100-200 degrees can be maintained. I used my attic, then my oven as it was cooling down from making cookies when the attic cooled down. It doesn't have to be precise, just don't get it too hot or you'll kill the cultures. They say it should be set in 4 hours. Ethel's recipe says to leave in warm oven overnight. I say, check it after 4 hours and go from there. It's safe for it to be out for up to 12 hours.

To make cream cheese, you pour the yogurt into cloth, I used one of Hubsters hankies, (yes, it was clean and new!) tied it shut with a rubber band and hung it over the sink. I can't say I'm thrilled with the result yet. I haven't had time to make spinach dip. I can say that my pint of yogurt didn't yield a whole lot of cream cheese.

Nettie, to make ricotta, you're supposed to squeeze the yogurt, I assume while it's in the cloth, to expell the whey. How this differs from the cream cheese, I'm not sure, but that's what the book says!

The book I use is called Making the Best of Basics by James Talmage Stevens. It is a wonderful resource for planning and using your food storage.

Next I want to try cottage cheese and cheddar, but I have to find some rennet or junket tablets. I'm not sure where I'm going to find them other than Ethel's offer to give me some...

***Editing to add this link to the Mother Earth News which describes how to make your own yogurt maker. They also suggest adding a can of evaporated milk to the mixture, which sounds like it might be worth trying!