The Sweet Curds Of Success!

At last! The torture is over! I have achieved...Yogurt!

Yesterday morning we got off to a slow start. Pa and I aren't getting any younger and the previous days celebration left us a bit worn out. I spent the morning forcing myself to get things done around the house so I wouldn't be overwhelmed today.

Somewhere around 1:30 I decided to give my yogurt another go. I tried a slightly different technique this time, which included removing the "handy plastic sleeve" from the thermometer. By 2 PM my yogurt was all mixed up and safely hidden away in it's 2 thermoses to keep warm.

Right about 11 PM I couldn't stay awake much longer, so decided it was time to check on the yogurt. I nervously unscrewed the top on the first thermos. I slowly tilted the container, expecting to see the now familiar warm liquid attempting to spill out the top. It didn't happen. I couldn't believe it! I held my breath and tilted it more sharply. Still the contents remained fixed. Success! Overjoyed, and attempting to control my squeals of delight as I didn't want to wake the children, I scurried about, collecting containers to transfer the gelatinous substance into before placing in the refrigerator for safe keeping.

This morning I called the kids into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, instructing them to look inside and see if they saw anything different in there. It took maybe 30 seconds before, almost simultaniously they began exclaiming, "The Yogurt!" You did it!" It worked!"

Yup! It worked! I did it! And it's even recognizable! The yogurt did not beat me! For those who may want to perform their own yogurt experiment this is how I finally achieved satisfactory results.

Homemade Yogurt

Equipment:
1 blender
1 Instant read thermometer
1 pan (deep and narrow enough so thermometer can get correct reading)
Thermos (slightly more than 1 qt. total capacity)
Measuring cups

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/4 cup plain yogurt with live cultures
1 2/3 cup powdered nonfat milk

Measure 4 cups water into pan.(Important:Remove thermometer from plastic sleeve!) Heat until thermometer reaches about 110 (between 101º and 110º). (While water is heating prepare thermos by filling with HOT water and covering.) Pour water from pan into blender. Take it's temperature again, making sure it's above 101º. Add 1/4 cup yogurt and give it a good whirl to combine well. Add the powdered milk and give it another good whirl. Dump water out of thermos, and immediately refill with your warm milk/yogurt mixture. Cap it, and set it somewhere it won't be disturbed for at least 8 hours. I let it sit for 9 hours. Next time I'll try to start a bit earlier so I can go 10 hours. Once set, pour contents into desired containers and immediately refrigerate.

Next, I plan to rearrange the fridge to make room for straining the yogurt (holding back 1/4 cup for starter) to make yogurt cheese!

Is everyone doing the happy dance for me?