January/February 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
You can start on a smaller scale with covered Pyrex containers or plastic freezer cartons and a heating pad, hot air furnace outlet, steam radiator or other steady low-heat source.
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Just like people who bake their own bread, real yogurt heads have a lot of recipes for the final product. Here's a few. . . just remember that needlessly disturbing the yogurt during incubation may cause the tender, custardlike curd to break up and "weep" or "whey-off".
GAYELORD HAUSER'S YOGURT
Add 1/2 cup of powered skim milk to one quart of fresh milk and mix with an electric mixer or by shaking in a Mason jar. Heat milk very hot but not boiling. Test by putting a drop on your wrist: It should feel hot but not burn. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the best tasting, unflavored ready-made yogurt you can find. Pour the mixture into a double boiler or into a pan set into a larger pan of water and place near a radiator or on the pilot light of a gas stove. Cover with a folded towel just like you cover raising dough when making bread. You'll have more than a quart of fortified yogurt in about 5 hours. Keep in refrigerator. Hauser recommends eating a pint of yogurt a day.
BEATRICE TRUM HUNTER'S YOGURT
Any raw, pasteurized or homogenized cow, goat, soybean or other milk may be used. Reconstituted skim milk is also good. Keep all materials and utensils scrupulously clean. Pour a quart of fresh milk into a pot and bring to a near boil. Cool to lukewarm (105 to 115 degrees F. on a cooking thermometer or warm, but not hot, on the wrist). Mix the contents of a packet or bottle of Bulgarian yogurt culture into the milk with a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture into prewarmed cups of a yogurt maker and leave undisturbed for about 2 hours. At the end of this time , remove the cover from a container and gently tilt the glass. The yogurt should be about the consistency of heavy cream. If it's still liquid, let it incubate longer and check again. When the yogurt thickens, remove and refrigerate. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
For subsequent batches, set aside a small portion of yogurt from the first batch. Within 3 to 5 days, "grow" another batch of yogurt following the above directions and using one quart of milk and t tablespoons of the "starter". Renew culture after one month.
NOTE: The original culture may take as long as five hours to "set". . . so don't get discouraged.
GOOD TIMES YOGURT
You will need:
A water thermometer (can be obtained from pet store that handles aquarium supplies)
A clean 1/2 gallon container with tight-fitting lid. (Glass is best but plastic is OK)
1/2 gallon reconstituted powered milk with 1 1/2 to 2 times as much powder as is normally used.
3 tablespoons of commercial plain yogurt for starter. Yami works well. Old Country Bulgarian (from health food stores) is expensive and doesn't always work . . . but, when it does work, is fantastic.
