This is not my Saturday night blog, but I am nearly tingling with excitement about two things:
First, this:
Yes, for breakfast I ate my own homemade creamy non-fat Greek yogurt that is just like my sister said it should be, which I made yesterday in my crockpot as many of you recommended, and I am elated! Those of you who read my “What-Not-To-Do Wednesday” column will know why this is so refreshing. Thank you all for your tips and advice!
Second, last weekend I reached a Facebook Page milestone of 1000 likes. Normally, I try not to obsess about numbers, but this feels like a birthday requiring a celebration. I decided to celebrate with a special blog post tonight, which I have been preparing all week. It features interviews with the 996th, 997th, 999th, and 1000th people who liked my page, 500 Words by Katrina. I had so much fun asking them questions and hearing their answers. I think you will enjoy it as well, so don’t miss my 5 pm post!
Happy Saturday!
And another yogurt picture just because I’m so excited it worked…
8 thoughts on “Two Things That Cannot Wait Until 5pm”
That’s great! I enjoy making yogurt. Does your oven have a light in it? If it does, you can just turn the oven light on and put your yogurt in there to incubate……the light keeps it warm enough, at least that’s how I always did it until my oven light stopped working…..just make sure you don’t forget about it and turn your oven on!!
Thanks for the advice! I’ve tried a few different things but haven’t settled on my favorite yet.
*Congratulations on making good yogurt! * I made a lot of bad yogurt before I made good yogurt. Even now, I sometimes have troubles. In one case, I abandoned efforts and just stored the sour milk (that’s how badly things went) to use when baking or in pancakes. The next time, all went very well until I spilled some everywhere – – my feet, the counter, the floor, the rug. The only one who was pleased was the dog, who thought I made the mess just for her. On the bright side, she helped me clean the floor. After cleaning up my mess, I proceeded from the point where I stopped, and had good yogurt.
You and I make yogurt in similar ways. I use a Crockpot, too, but I whisk in dry milk powder to the cold milk. Then I warm the milk in the Crockpot, and proceed much as you do. I cool it in the now-unplugged Crockpot to about 110`. I dip out a cup or two of milk and whisk yogurt into it. Then I add the mixture to the milk in the Crockpot without whisking. I think that part may be personal preference because I’ve done it your way, too, whisking it all together. After that, I replace the lid on the Crockpot and cover it with old towels and/or small blankets. Because I like a more pronounced flavor, I let mine sit eight-twelve hours.
It sounds time consuming, but it isn’t, really. The longest parts are waiting for the milk to reach 180`, and
letting it sit the eight-twelve hours. The addition of the dry milk results in Greek-style yogurt without straining it.
I wish I’d known this method back when I had a (Freecycle) yogurt maker, but I can make larger batches this way.
Happy yogurt-making!
Thanks for the description! I should try the towel thing. That sounds a lot easier than keeping the water warm!
Could you give me your recipe now?
Well, it’s hardly a recipe yet! I heated about two quarts of milk to 180 degrees I the crockpot. I think I had it on warm. Then I let it cool to 110-ish and dipped out a cup of the hot milk to mix with the 1/2 cup of starter (yogurt from Aldi). I whisked this mixture into the crock and set the crock in a hot water bath in my sink. I had to keep adding hot water to keep it around 110, so I’m hoping to try an easier method next time. Anyway, after six hours it was done! I let it strain over night so it got quite thick. In the morning, I added vanilla and stevia. I added frozen blueberries to some of it.
Hope this helps! I was so excited to see that it actually set up.
Yah!!!!!!!
That’s what I thought!