Armenian and Mediterranean Home Cooking

First thing you need is a good starter. Don’t have one? Don’t worry. I’ve tested a few store bought options. Of course it’s always best if you can get a little bit of starter from someone you know that makes yogurt. I like Nancy’s organic whole milk yogurt and use about a 1/4 cup set out to get to room temp. This will be your starter. If you’re using a half gallon you’ll need some small pint sized or 2 quart sized glass jars with wide mouths and good lids.

Easy to follow steps. Read thoroughly then get to it. Make sure everything is ready and set up. Large stainless steel pot, thermostat, yogurt for starter, strainer, funnel, clean wide mouth jars with lids, clean towels.

Start with 1/2 gallon of A2/A2 whole milk and bring to a low low slow boil. It must foam up and reach a temperature of over 190°Fahrenheit let it cool naturally, that means no ice bath, no rushing! Cool down to 115°

Next, use the 1/4 cup of starter you set on the counter and temper in the cooled down milk while whisking to blend. Temper simply means to bring you starter to a warmer temperature by adding your milk that’s now at 115° immediately add your starter blend to the larger pot of warm milk and mix like the dickens… mix, mix, mix real good and thoroughly. Quickly pour into your jars or containers where you want the yogurt to set.

ONCE YOU POUR INTO YOUR CONTAINERS DO NOT CHANGE CONTAINER!

Once in your jars, take it to the warmest spot of your kitchen where you should have put a towel on the counter, make it nice and thick but level so you can plcae you filled jars on top of it. Now place your filled containers on the towel and cover with another towel or blanket. Make sure it’s a cozy spot. Now leave it alone for at least 8 hours, longer if you like it tart Sometimes I leave mine out for 12 hours and it’s just right. Then place in fridge for at least 2-3 hours for a good chill before you dig into it.

*note* I pour into glass jars through a fine strainer and funnel. You’re going to have a lot of airy milk foam on top, I always scoop out the milk foam so I have a smooth texture on top when its set.

IF YOUR YOGURT SEPERATES AND DOES NOT SET…It’s probably either becuase your milk was too hot or too cold, follow my instructions for best result BUT if your yogurt separates don’t worry, just take back to stove top in a pot on very low heat, add a pinch of salt and wait for soft boil, add a couple table spoons of vinegar or lemon juice. now remove from heat and let it curdle, you just made cheese. Once its cooled, pour into a cheesecloth bag or if you dont have that then use a large strainer with unbleached coffee filters or a very thin clean flour sack towel.

Hopefully your first attempt was a success and you made delicious yogurt with better probiotics than anything you’ll find in a store. Don’t eat all of your homemade yogurt, save a quarter cup for your next batch and that’s how you keep it going on and on and on…..