My Happy Microbiome: The Glory of Yogurt Homemade

The Dash 1 Quart (1 Liter) Yogurt Maker

Let me start out by saying that I am not a cook. I am a technologist. I delegate the cooking of nearly everything to those who "have the gift" so to speak. I can make toast on occasion, and in a blue moon pizza, but that is pretty much it, except for one thing. I make yogurt. It supports my low effort approach and clean-up is a snap.

Here's why making your own yogurt is so important. You can control what is in it. Do you have variations in mood? Many workers think that gut equilibrium plays an important role in moderating mood and yogurt, hands-down is the safest and best way to establish that equilibrium.

First my recipe:

INGREDIENTS FOR FIRST TIME

1 quart UNOPENED Half-and-Half. Do not use skim milk, or regular milk.

2 oz.  PLAIN LIVE CULTURE yogurt (flavored is okay)
2 oz.  GREEK LIVE CULTURE from another vendor.

Using two vendors insures a safe diversity of yogurt cultures.

PREPARATION

You have to work CLEAN. Use hot water and dishwashing liquid. Pay attention to TOUCH.

1. Wash down all counters, sinks and your hands with hot soapy water.
2. Wash all utensils inside and out with hot soapy water.
3. Wash the UNOPENED half-and-half and yogurt containers. (grocery cooties abound)

PROCEDURE

1. With a CLEAN spoon put 1/2 the PLAIN yogurt at the bottom of the yogurt maker dish.
2. With a CLEAN spoon put 1/2 the GREEK yogurt at the bottom of the yogurt maker dish.
3. OPEN and pour the Half-and-Half into the yogurt maker dish. Do not scald it first.
4. Put the cap on the yogurt maker dish
5. Put the yogurt maker dish into the yogurt incubator.
6. Plug the yogurt maker in and set it for 8 hours.

Here's my trick. When you first make yogurt from live cultures it can take up to 36 hours for the cultures to come alive and go to town. The only way to tell where you are is this:

EVERY EIGHT HOURS  open up the top USING CLEAN PROCEDURE, take a clean teaspoon and nick a sample from the corner of the top. (do not stir). Taste the sample without ever returning the spoon to the batch. If it is zingy and tangy you are tasting the lactic acid and the yogurt is done. If it has a flat cream taste, it must incubate longer. If it tastes like sour milk then spit it out, you did not work clean and you will have to start over.

Fortunately making yogurt is easy and you can make small errors without starting over.

IMPORTANT INGREDIENT FOR SUBSEQUENT BATCHES
I like one quart yogurt makers because that is the right amount for about 3 days. When you are done set aside 4 oz. in a clean container for the next batch and use it like you did above. Always clean everything first - don't reuse the container thinking you can culture from that or you will have unwanted "guests". After a couple of batches any flavors or additives are diluted and you are eating the pure good stuff.

Yogurt has something that will save your life. The right amount of the right kind of bacteria.
Have you ever taken antibiotics? Have you ever had a UTI? Yogurt helps restore your natural equilibrium physically and mentally. Yogurt has lots of protein. It has lots of calcium. This is important for people who want a safe and healthy diet. For people who think. I eat gobs of it.