What is the best way to make yoghurt easily? Our guide outlines several simple approaches and step-by-step instructions to make your own yoghurt.
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Yoghurt is very popular with young and old. However, yogurt from the trade is usually anything but healthy. It is better to make it yourself.
Do you have an appetite for yogurt? Hardly anyone can say “no”. After all, the small cups on the supermarket shelf taste fresh and fruity. The reason why children are also enthusiastic about it is often the high proportion of sugar and artificial flavorings. If you want to bring healthy yoghurt to the table on a regular basis and want to be certain about the ingredients, you can easily make the delicious dairy product yourself.
Why should you create it yourself?
There is a lot of good in yogurt. The sour milk product provides proteins, minerals and vitamins. While some people can only tolerate drinking milk poorly, this rarely occurs with yogurt. The lactic acid contained can even stimulate the intestinal activity and ensure a healthy microbiome in the intestine. And by the way it also provides the dog with good digestion .
When looking at the label on the supermarket product, doubts arise. A high proportion of sugar, artificial flavor additives and unfathomable chemical additives do not speak in favor of the desired natural product.
Example: cherry yogurt
A cherry yogurt is full of cherries? Not really. Here the devil is in the details. If the label says “cherry”, it only has to contain nine grams of fruit from a legal point of view. Measured against a 150 gram cup, you don’t necessarily get a fruity pleasure. Actually there is only about one cherry in the cup. In the case of a “cherry-flavored yogurt”, the fruit is usually completely missing. The taste comes from the laboratory and the aromas are supported by colorings and preservatives.
Those who make it themselves know which ingredients they use and can create their own flavors. The result is not sugar-coated calorie bombs, but healthy and low-calorie alternatives.
Another advantage of making it yourself is that it can be fun to try something new. You can also save money in the process. Since there is less packaging waste, the environment can also be helped if yoghurt is homemade and filled in reusable screw-top jars.
Can yogurt also be made from plant milk?
The basis is milk. Which milk is used is up to you. Yogurt can be made from the following types of milk:
- normal cow milk
- reduced-fat cow’s milk
- goat milk
- soy milk
- Almond milk
- Coconut milk
- Cashew milk
- Rice milk
Tip: The creaminess of the finished yogurt increases with the fat content of the milk used.
Make yogurt from yogurt?
This may sound like a paradox, because after all, yogurt should first be made. But milk can only become yoghurt if lactic acid bacteria are added. Therefore, natural yoghurt is needed. This contains the necessary cultures. Special yoghurt powder offers an alternative.
Tip: Lactobacillus bulgaricus is usually used.
What do you need to make it?
- a liter of milk
- two tablespoons of plain yogurt or yogurt powder
- cooking pot
- Screw jars
Make yogurt easily – step by step
- Heat milk to around 90 degrees
- Cool milk to 50 degrees
- Add natural yoghurt or yoghurt powder
- Mix the milk and yoghurt together
- Pour the mixture into glasses
- Expose glasses to constant temperature for twelve hours
- Turn off the stove
- Leave the yoghurt in the stove overnight and let it mature
The milk is heated to 90 degrees. If you use fresh milk, let it simmer for about five minutes so that any bacteria that may be present are killed. When the milk has cooled to 50 degrees, the yoghurt is stirred into the milk. A constant temperature of 50 degrees is also important for further treatment. You can do this with a kitchen thermometer:
Caution: If the temperature rises to more than 50 degrees during the ripening process, the lactic acid bacteria die and the yoghurt production fails.
Using a machine
Various manufacturers offer special yoghurt makers that work according to the principle just described. A distinction is made between models with and without electricity.
Yoghurt maker without electricity
The milk is heated and cooled as described. The containers have a water tank that is filled accordingly. The milk and yoghurt mixture is poured into the yoghurt maker and left to rest for the specified time.
Electric yoghurt maker
The milk is heated, cooled and mixed with yoghurt as described. The yoghurt makers are equipped with individual portion-sized containers. The mixture is poured in, the cups are closed and the machine is set to the specified preparation time.
The time span can vary between eight and twelve hours. The finished yoghurt is then either transferred to glasses or left in the portion glasses and placed in a cool place.
How long does the finished yogurt keep?
The homemade yogurt can be kept in the refrigerator for about three to four days. Since it does not contain any preservatives, the shelf life is well below the colorful yoghurt cups from the supermarket.
Tip: You can use the finished yoghurt to make yoghurt yourself again. Simply keep 150 grams for this.
Refine homemade yoghurt
Natural yoghurt is boring and the children are not really enthusiastic about it either? No problem, because the yoghurt can be refined as the mood takes you. Vanilla pulp, honey or cinnamon provide a natural aroma.
Fresh fruit can be added depending on the season. Dried or frozen fruits also provide a freshness kick. The fruits can be whisked in as you like or you can make a puree. Nuts and muesli can also be used to refine homemade yogurt. This brings a healthy variety to the table and nobody will regret having not having the store-bought product.
