Summer Milk Project

Yogurt Yogurt Yogurt!

I like yogurt, though i really don't purchase it very often. It's great in smoothies, with cucumbers, with berries, with cereal, turned into cheese. Whatever you want to do with it, yogurt is both tangy and healthy. We all need to boost those good bacterias in our bodies - especially if you eat meat or refined/ processed things - the natural balance in your bod needs some help. Eat some yogurt! Sadly, there are plenty of 'yogurt' products in the stores that are chock full of sugar and that don't really have good living stuff in them due to pasteurization. Sure, Pasteur did us some favors by eliminating the chances of disease in our mass produced food industries.... but he also started us on a path of sterilility that just ain't natural, ya hear?

I only drink raw milk when i drink milk. Someone recently told me that 'raw milk is illegal.' Well, in a way you could say it is - the FDA doesn't look too kindly on all that bacteria. But good bacteria is good for you, and if the cows are healthy and milked cleanly  raw milk is the bestest. One day soon i'll be milking my own goats and will be absolutely sure of their cleanliness, but until then i make yogurt with milk from happy grass fed jersey cows.

I've never made yogurt before, and i don't have a yogurt maker - so today i'll be experimenting with the aid of some helpful websites. I will try two quarts with the heating pad method, and two quarts outside in the sun with maybe some time spent in my hot car. For a starter i am using locally made White Mountain Bulgarian style yogurt (a bit runnier than some, and VERY tangy). I removed the cream from the milk to make butter and am left with milk that is something like 2-8%.

Heat the milk. Cool the milk. Add the culture. Shake. Jar. Nestle. Here are bettter details. And more instructions  here.  I certainly wouldn't mind using a yogurt maker (anyone wanna give me theirs? kidding.....or not) but using what i have on hand is that much more sustainable. With my handy meat thermometer in hand, the experiment is on! 

Stay tuned for my results....