Question on Homemade Greek Yogurt

bmeadows380
bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
edited March 2020 in Recipes
I've heard this is easy to make, and found a recipe to try, but when I build it into MFP, I see the protein count which is around 5g and it makes me wonder how does commercial yogurt get 12g?

Also: how much would I actually get from this recipe:

2 cups low fat milk (1%)
1/4 cup plain yogurt

Replies

  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,142 Member
    When you make yogurt it has whey in it, for Greek you strain it so it's thicker and more concentrated which is where the higher protein comes from. You're not going to get a lot from that small amount of milk. I've made it with a container of milk, 2T Fage, and didn't strain it and had probably 7-8 servings (I put it in Fage single containers to measure before calorie-counting).
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I gave it a try last night with 5 cups of milk and then let it sit over night, but it was still runny as of this morning. I figured I'd give it until I came home from work to see if it will start to thicken up; otherwise, I might have to try again :frowning:
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    To make yogurt you need active culture. If the yogurt you're using is low on active culture, the yogurt won't ferment properly, which is why you may be getting a runny yogurt. Too much culture can also produce a runny yogurt, but since you're not using a pure culture this is likely not a concert. Third reason would be improper or inconsistent temperature for fermentation; too high kills the culture and too low makes it less active.

    If the above is done right and it looks runny to you, you may have different expectations. Certain cultures produce runnier yogurt, and if the original product you used contains thickeners, then expect to get a different texture. Homemade yogurt doesn't contain any thickeners and may look runny to those who aren't used to seeing homemade yogurt. You know it fermented properly if you tilt it a bit and it pulls away from the side. It may crack, and whey liquid may fill the crack. That's normal.

    Okay, now to Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is strained yogurt. You end up with roughly half the volume and weight, give or take, of your original milk quantity (in my case, I usually strain to 1/3). That's why protein gets more concentrated. It's lower per volume before straining and gets higher (you will need to calculate it) after straining because very little protein strains out with the whey.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    thank you!

    I used Kroger plain greek yogurt for my culture, but it wasn't organic and while I was well in the use by date on the carton, I couldn't tell you how old it was. I used half of a single serving carton, or about 2.5 oz per the 5 cups of milk. I made sure it was up to 180 degrees before I turned it off, and made sure it was under 110 before I stirred the yogurt into the milk. I wrapped the pan in towels and then went to bed. When I got up this morning and checked, it still the consistency of milk (this would have been about 6 hours later). I even ran a spoon through it to see if there were any solid clumps in it, but didn't find hardly any. I'm afraid something might have gone wrong.

    I make homemade buttermilk routinely with no trouble - I use a 1:3 ratio of buttermilk to regular milk at room temperature in a jar, cover it, and let it sit a day or two, and it usually turns out thick by the end, and I was expecting the yogurt to look something like that this morning.

    I just left it on the stove and came into work; I'll be home by 5 pm and plan to check it then; if it hadn't started thickening by that point, I figured it should be considered a failure and to start over.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    It probably cooled off too much. What was temp of the liquid this morning?
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    edited March 2020
    I didn't check the temp this morning, but it had sat out for several hours, so I'd guess close to room temp.

    When I came home this evening, I was not seeing the liquid separation at all, though there was some solids in the bottom. I went ahead and poured it into my tea-towel sieve to let it drain, but I don't think it did right because the liquid that went into the bowl was still milky white like milk; I was expecting a more yellowish colored cloudy water type thing like I get on top of my buttermilk sometimes.

    I thought it should work with 5 cups milk, but maybe I needed to use more at a time? I'll try again and get a different kind of plain yogurt next time.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    A method I have found to be 100% reliable that does not need to you muck about heating and cooling the milk is to use UHT. I also add a couple of spoons of dried skim milk and a good tablespoon of yogurt to a litre of the milk.

    I have had some electric machines over the years but now use an EasiYo thermos jar. I put the cold milk mix into the plastic container and then fill the thermos with boiling water, screw on the lid and leave for 12 hours - perfect yogurt.

    I have the Easiyo jar from back when their yogurt packs were a decent price but are so expensive now it is just not worth it, but the jar is also perfect for making yogurt from the basic ingredients too. And I am sure the same principle could be improvised without this actual bit of kit, but this is what I am talking about.

    https://www.easiyoghurt.co.uk/acatalog/EasiYo-Red-Yoghurt-Maker.html

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I bought another half gallon of milk today and bought Chobani plain greek yogurt to try this again. As I was reviewing my recipe, I noticed in the fine print that it said to make sure my yogurt had two particular strains of bacteria in it. The Chobani has those two, but I found that the Kroger plain did not, so perhaps that was the reason it failed the 1st time. I've heated my new milk, let it cool down, and have added the plain yogurt and wrapped it in a towel to sit over night. We'll see in the morning if this does any better!
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    If you would be "Greek", you would know... :D
  • kmiller2350
    kmiller2350 Posts: 43 Member
    I have made yogurt twice using an Instant Pot, one that has a yogurt button. Couldn't be any easier. I used the recipe from here: www.friedalovesbread .com/2017/06/easy-cold-start-yogurt-no-boil-method

    The site answers loads of questions, suggests what kind of products work best, and the yogurt was delicious.

    I am curious about other people's thoughts on using this.method.

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    kmiller2350 wrote: »
    I have made yogurt twice using an Instant Pot, one that has a yogurt button. Couldn't be any easier. I used the recipe from here: www.friedalovesbread .com/2017/06/easy-cold-start-yogurt-no-boil-method

    The site answers loads of questions, suggests what kind of products work best, and the yogurt was delicious.

    I am curious about other people's thoughts on using this.method.

    @kmiller2350 thank you! I don't have an instantapot, though. I checked this morning, and while I still have a milky look to it (I was expecting a yellowish cloudy water separated), when stirred it there was much more thick stuff at the bottom, so I think its doing much better this time around.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    @freda78 I want that! Can’t find them online in the U.S. can’t order them.☹️
    I’ll keep looking. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
  • durhammfp
    durhammfp Posts: 494 Member
    Katmary71 wrote: »
    When you make yogurt it has whey in it, for Greek you strain it so it's thicker and more concentrated which is where the higher protein comes from. You're not going to get a lot from that small amount of milk. I've made it with a container of milk, 2T Fage, and didn't strain it and had probably 7-8 servings (I put it in Fage single containers to measure before calorie-counting).

    If the OP is just concerned about macros/protein this may not be relevant, but... when straining the whey off, a lot, maybe most, of some micronutrients like potassium go down the drain. So the straining does more than just concentrate the protein.

  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,272 Member
    When you've gotten your yogurt making and straining process working well the way you want/need, you can use the drained liquid whey as a drink or smoothie component. Dried, it's basically the same stuff you buy in tubs at health food stores as unflavored unaugmented whey. I often use whey in my bread flour to give it a bit of a protein boost (often the dried powdered whey, sometimes the fresh liquid if I have it). Most often, when I make yogurt, I leave it whole and unstrained, so I don't have this liquid available.

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