Yummy Greek Yogurt

I started eating greek yogurt last December as an alternative to ice cream. I kept seeing greek yogurt at TJ's and wondered why it was so popular and what made it different from regular yogurt. So I tried a box of Fage nonfat and loved it, it's really delicious. I needed something healther to eat instead of ice cream and quickly became hooked. I thought it would need fruit like regular yogurt but discovered it's delicious with just a little sweetener, I like to use agave nectar. Then, I tried the full fat version, incredibly rich (!) and TJ's store brand. For eating straight out of the box, I like to stick with Fage.

Well, this was starting to cost quite a bit and I've made yogurt at home before so I thought I'd try making greek yogurt. If you've never made yogurt, these are good instructions to start with. I use a pint of Fage Greek yogurt (non-fat or full fat) and 1 1/2 gallons of organic low-fat milk. I get the 3 half-gallon boxes in a case from Costco and make it all at once.

I also don't like to deal with a lot of small containers so I pour all the scalded milk in a big stainless steal bowl that I've sterilized. After it's cooled to around 120 F, I stir in the yogurt, cover the bowl and put the whole thing in a hot water bath in the sink. I keep the hot water bath at around 120F, changing the water every 1.5 - 2 hrs. After around 6 hours, it looks set.

If the weather is warm, I'll leave it in a cold oven overnight instead. Once it's set, it goes into the fridge for 24 hours. It's yummy like this but to make it really like greek yogurt, it needs to be strained. I line a strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters and strain for 2-3 hours. If you strain it overnight you'll have yogurt cheese.

Store in covered containers. Enjoy!
tags: greek yogurt