Homemade Greek Yogurt

taziarj

I made this in my Crock Pot for the first time over the weekend and it turned out much better than I expected. Almost exactly the same consistency of the Fage Total that I used as the starter. The taste doesn't have as much tang as the Fage, but I am actually okay with that.

I read back through some old posts here but many about homemade yogurt are very old. Many were asking about calculating the calorie content and no one really could get a good number. I am thinking I will just log Fage Total since I used whole milk to make this batch. You can't really just measure the amount of Whey removed since the bacteria also uses up much of the lactose in the milk as it reproduces to create the yogurt. I read that if you let it sit long enough, you can even create lactose free yogurt.

Does anyone know what to do with the whey that I strained off? I read I could use it in place of water in recipes like bread, but I don't bake bread often enough. I don't really drink smoothies and my wife won't let me put it nor the homemade yogurt in her smoothies, so I don't know what else do to with it. I suspect it would be hard to drink straight up. It seems such a waste to dump so much protein down the drain.

naomi8888

I'm curious. I have always just logged all the ingredients, I didn't consider the process and removing the whey.

JeromeBarry1

I have an easier way to make the thick, creamy yogurt without having to strain the whey.

Yes, the slow cooker will be fine. You'll need a probe thermometer that sticks through the vent hole in the lid.
You'll need to make 1/2 gallon of yogurt. That is so that you probe thermometer sticking down through the vent hole can reach the yogurt and sense the temperature.
Here's how.

The heating and temperature and inoculating are all just as you did.

The difference is that I use powdered milk.

My most recent yogurt was made with enough powder to make 6 quarts of milk. I used 4 packets of Great Value Fat Free powdered milk, and 8/3 cup of Nido Fortificado whole milk powder. The nutrition facts also express these quart portions in grams, so use the gram values. I mIxed all that powder into 64 oz water to get a super-thick milk, then proceed to make yogurt. You'll get a super-thick and creamy yogurt with no need of straining whey. If you want to go thicker, use more powder.

I fermented mine for 8 hours. It has a mild, delicious flavor.

I used regular plain yogurt as my inoculant for this batch.

taziarj

naomi8888 wrote: »

I'm curious. I have always just logged all the ingredients, I didn't consider the process and removing the whey.

They whey had a lot of protein in it, that protein is at 4 calories a gram, so you have to consider the removal of the whey. The hard part to calculate is how much lactose (sugar), also at 4 calories a gram, is consumed by the bacteria. Kind of the same when putting sugar in to bread with yeast. The yeast consumes the sugar. The only difference with fresh bread is that the amount of sugar is usually pretty small, where in milk it makes up more of the initial product.

taziarj

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

I have an easier way to make the thick, creamy yogurt without having to strain the whey.

Yes, the slow cooker will be fine. You'll need a probe thermometer that sticks through the vent hole in the lid.
You'll need to make 1/2 gallon of yogurt. That is so that you probe thermometer sticking down through the vent hole can reach the yogurt and sense the temperature.
Here's how.

The heating and temperature and inoculating are all just as you did.

The difference is that I use powdered milk.

My most recent yogurt was made with enough powder to make 6 quarts of milk. I used 4 packets of Great Value Fat Free powdered milk, and 8/3 cup of Nido Fortificado whole milk powder. The nutrition facts also express these quart portions in grams, so use the gram values. I mIxed all that powder into 64 oz water to get a super-thick milk, then proceed to make yogurt. You'll get a super-thick and creamy yogurt with no need of straining whey. If you want to go thicker, use more powder.

I fermented mine for 8 hours. It has a mild, delicious flavor.

I used regular plain yogurt as my inoculant for this batch.

I didn't consider using powdered milk, I just used about 3/4 of a gallon of whole milk. I will probably just use the whole gallon the next time as I was worried about filling my Crock Pot too full this first time. I didn't have any issues with needing to insert the probe thermometer. I just used an instant read and checked the temperature at about two hours and every half hour thereafter, it ended up needing four to get up to 180 degrees. Then after turning off the Crock Pot, it only took about an hour and a half to get down to 110 degrees when I added the starter (premixed with some of the warm milk). I then let it sit for 11 hours wrapped in a beach towel. I didn't test the temperature again after adding the starter. After the 11 hours I scooped it in to a colander lined with cheese cloth. I didn't plan to let it strain as long as it did, but we went out shopping and it strained for about six hours. It turned out great. It does take a lot of time, but not a lot of effort.

wenrob

I made "cold start" yogurt in my Instant Pot last week. This method doesn't yield as much whey but I did get an ice cube trays worth. Each cube is about 18 grams. I added four cubes to the water to soak 4lbs of pinto beans overnight to make homemade refried beans. I swear this was the best batch I've ever made and I've been making them for years. They were super tender and seemed to be done easily a couple of hours sooner.

Lots of suggestions on the web to use whey in place of buttermilk for pancakes. I'm going to try that next.

As far as counting I've just been using the nutrition label from the milk I used. If anything I'm underestimating calories doing it that way. I'm not much a stickler for macros. It's close enough for me.

taziarj

My 3/4 of a gallon of milk turned out about 5 cups of whey and perhaps 6 or so cups of yogurt. I will perhaps freeze some of the whey to save it for another use down the road. Any idea how long whey will keep in the refrigerator?
I like the idea of making refried beans. I usually buy the cans of that, but they have a much thicker consistency than I can get at most Mexican/Tex Mex restaurants. Thanks for the tips.

wenrob

My understanding is as long as it's sealed up tight quite awhile. I've read up to six months. For me freezing it just seemed easier.
You will not regret making your own beans. My family will not even consider canned anymore. I make a huge batch and freeze them in meal size portions. They do get thick but I just stir in a little water when I reheat them.