Texas-Style Yogurt
- 12 gallon milk
- 34-1 cup yogurt (with active cultures)
- Heat the milk to 185-190 degrees F in a non-aluminum cooking pot.
- (I use a slow cooker on the high setting and just track the temp on a candy thermometer It takes about an hour and a half to do it this way, but it doesn't scald.
- If you do this, you will need to pour the milk off into another vessel for the next step.
- ).
- When the milk hits 185-190 degrees F, put the whole pot into a cold water bath where the water comes up on the outside of the pot to the same level the milk is at on the inside.
- Watch it closely because the temp will drop like a stone.
- When your milk hits 120 -125 degrees F on the thermometer, remove it from the waterbath.
- Whisk in the yogurt with active cultures.
- Put the cover on the pot (sometimes I pour it off into jars) and set it somewhere guaranteed to be over 100 degrees for 8 hours.
- (Some folks use a slow cooker with a warming setting, some use an evaporator, others wrap the pot or jars in a heating pad -- there's a lot of ways you can do this.
- In Texas, I just put it outside.
- ).
- After 8-9 hours, your yo should have gurted (It'll look thick, you'll be able to see a separation of the whey from the milk -- etc.)
- If your yo hasn't gurted, this means your culture either didn't take or died in the process.
- To be sure you can leave it a bit longer but after 10 hours that yo is as gurted as it's going to get (if it doesn't work, the milk that isn't yogurt can be used in cooking.
- ).
- If the yo has gurted, pour it into cheesecloth, potato sack cloth or muslin and strain the whey off with a collander.
- Then tie the ends of the cloth together and hang it over the sink to allow the whey to drip off even more.
- For store bought style yogurt, draining the whey takes about 15-30 minutes.
- For Greek style yogurt, let it sit for about an hour to an hour and a half.
- For, my favorite, which is roughly the consistency of smooth ricotta, let it go for two hours.
- Stored in an airtight container, this stuff will hold up in the fridge for several days.
gallon milk, yogurt
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/texas-style-yogurt-311577 (may not work)