Making Yogurt and Creme Fraiche

The way we make yogurt is very simple indeed.  We use UHT milk as that means there's no need to scald the milk to rid it of any unwanted bugs that may be lurking within.

So, with our one litre of milk and a small carton of fresh, live, natural yogurt ready for action, this is what we do....

We start by adding about a dessertspoonful of the fresh yogurt to the yogurt maker's pot.  Then the milk is added and lightly stirred.

This is then put into the electric yogurt maker and left for 24 hours.  The maker we use is a bulk one from Lakeland and here is a link to their site.


After this time, the yogurt starter has worked its magic on the lactose in the milk and we have a lovely pot of home made yogurt.

To make it thicker, it can be left to strain through a sieve lined with muslin /jelly bag which makes a Greek style yogurt.

 

We also make creme fraiche in a similar, although more labour intensive, way.  We place double cream in a lidded saucepan and bring it to just boiling point (this needs watching carefully as it will boil over very quickly, usually at the moment you look away!)  It is then taken off the heat and allowed to cool to about 40C.  Then the same method as for yogurt is used... that is, we add the scalded cream to the yogurt starter, place in the yogurt maker and leave for 24 hours.  Et voila!