Tuesday 10 February 2015

More Jelly and yoghurt

The little jelly tubs went down well last week for snacks. For the most part, it helped not munch on bread etc. Made some more for this week:
A stoneless prune was snipped into the bottom of each one before they were topped with blackcurrant jelly:
I have been working out how much it costs us to produce a litre of yoghurt.  We use 1 litre of Semi-skimmed milk, 2 tablespoons of dried milk,  plus 1/2 a small tub of live yoghurt which comes to 70p to begin the first one. After that, we use 2-3 tablespoons of the old yoghurt to start off the next batch, plus dried milk (3p) therefore, each subsequent litre then costs just 45p. The electricity used is pennies, depends on your provider.

It is not super thick nor runny, more the consistency of say Angel Delight:
If we want it a little thicker, we scoop some out into a fine sieve and leave it to drain for about 10 minutes. Excess liquid (whey) comes out which helps thickens the yoghurt. The whey is then poured into a jar and stored in the fridge for scone or bread making. Whey continually forms in the container which gets poured into the jar everyday:
The whey is just the end product of the enzymes which have formed the yoghurt in the first place. It is very good for you. You can just stir it back in but we find it makes the yoghurt a little too thin by the end of use, which is why we store it for future use. It will last ages in the fridge in the jar.

If you drain the whole tub through fine muslin sitting in a large sieve, you get loads of whey. The extra thick yoghurt can then be flavoured to make cream cheese!


13 comments:

  1. What milk do you use for your yogurt Dc ?

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    1. Sorry, just amended it to say semi-skimmed and also amended the price. If you use full fat it is even thicker.

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  2. I tried one batch with soy milk to try to make vegan yoghurt - not successful! Have you ever tried it with coconut milk?

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  3. No, have you seen this link http://tasty-yummies.com/2014/06/03/how-to-make-coconut-milk-yogurt/
    There are also others plus many for soy yoghurts on the internet.

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  4. You can make it a bit thicker by adding a couple more tablespoons of dried milk. I dont ever stir mine as there is no stabilizer as there is in store- bought. Very worthwhile making as it tastes so much better than store- bought. I have added the jellies to my bag of tricks, thanks !

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    1. Thanks for that tip lizzie. Watched how they make yoghurt as part of the Eat Well for Less programme. They dehydrate their milk first, add a little powdered cream then water but not quite as much as came out of the milk in the first place. Stabilizers are then, added, as you say, which help make it thick.

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  5. I just find homemade yogurt too tart for my taste.

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    1. We don't eat it on its own, usually with fruit and either maple syrup or honey, only a smidgen though.

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  6. Last time I made yoghurt from scratch with powder as well as milk it was a bit lumpy but I'm guessing that's because I didn't mix it well enough. I've still got some milk powder so really I should make some more again.

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    1. I try to treat it at the beginning like making a sauce thickener, a little bit of milk, mix, carry on until the milk is all in.

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  7. I think I might give this a try during the summer as we eat more in the summer than winter.

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    1. My last batch went weird, didn't thicken so it got put through a clean sieve for a few minutes, fine after that!

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  8. The cost of milk plus dried for me. Saved yoghurt to start unless it's lost its use in which case I use a fresh starter from a small yoghurt and freezer the rest for another day.

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