Yoghurt Making

I have been going to make yoghurt for the past couple of years but it always seemed to be an inprecise science so I put the idea to the back of my mind.  However, yesterday I motivated myself to google some yoghurt recipes and I found one that sounded basic enough.   Forward 24 hours and I have made YOGHURT which is edible and it only cost me $0.40/half kilogram.

I was talking to a Dairy Farmer today at an Australia Day BBQ and he said that when milk was deregulated in Western Australia, his milk prices went from $0.40/$0.30 per litre to $0.10/litre and of course many dairy farmers went broke.  He now sells his milk to a boutique cheese maker and is given a good price for his efforts.

I get frustrated when the big supermarkets sell 3 litres of milk for $4/$5 depending on brands and the dairy farmer gets next to nothing for his milk.  So, the motto of the dairy story is to buy dairy products that are owned and produced by local co-ops so that the profits go to the farmer and not to the supermarket giants.

I can now (hopefully) say goodbye to spending $5.50/kg on natural yoghurt by making my own for $0.40.

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk (I used skim milk powder to cut costs but you can use fresh milk, full or skim milk)
2 tablespoons of yoghurt - must have live cultures

Tools:

1 cooking thermometer
I used my Easi-yo yoghurt container to keep the container warm overnight but the website I consulted just used a thermos
1 jar (sterilise with boiling water to kill any bacteria)

Method:

1.  Heat milk to 180 deg F
2.  Let milk cool to 105 - 110 deg F
3.  Mix in 2 tablespoons of yoghurt
4.  Put mix in jar and put the lid on
5.  Fill thermos container with hot water 110-120 deg F and add jar
6.  Leave for 24 hours then put in fridge

I made my yoghurt at 1pm, left it over night and had a peep at 11am the following morning.  It had set so I put it in the fridge and had a nibble along the way!

Enjoy