GREEK YOGHURT
Greek yoghurt funnily hails from the Eastern Mediterranean, with roots tangled through Greece, the Balkans and parts of the Middle East, though the creamy tradition of straining yoghurt is ancient and shared across many cultures. Traditionally, milk is cultured with live bacteria until it thickens, then the whey is drained away through cloth or strainers to concentrate the proteins and fats. The result is a denser, tangier cousin of regular yoghurt. Richer in texture, higher in protein and lower in lactose by volume. Modern commercial ‘Greek Style’ products mimic this by straining or adding thickeners, but authentic strained yoghurt keeps that simple, clean lineage from curd to spoon.
On the palate, Greek yoghurt is luxuriously creamy and smooth, with a bright, pleasant tang that lingers without being aggressively sour. It can range from mild and custardy in full fat versions to a firm, slightly tart bite in low fat varieties. The texture gives a satisfying mouthfeel that makes it equally at home alongside honey and fruit or starring in my savoury tzatziki recipe. Making it at home is brilliant, and all it takes it two ingredients. Now I don’t think anyone should be running out to hit yoghurt with cultures so we use a very small amount of existing greek yoghurt to get the milk going.
Very important to buy the right greek yoghurt, hit the correct temperatures when bringing up the heat and cooling as to not kill the cultures, and importantly that final strain to really get a thick yoghurt as it should be.
GREEK YOGHURT
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GREEK YOGHURT 〰️
Time: 1 hour + 4 hours setting + overnight strain
Serves: About 1 kilo of greek yoghurt.
2 litres whole milk
3 table spoons greek yoghurt*
*very important you use a greek yoghurt that has live cultures in it in the ingredient list. Get one as fresh as possible. In Australia Jalna is a great option that’s readily available.
This recipe will need a thermometer, I use a candy/oil thermometer.
Pour milk into large pot and place on medium heat and heat it until it reaches 85 degrees Celsius. Once temperature is hit, take it off the heat and allow it to cool back down to 45 degrees Celsius. These temperatures are really important, as if the milk is too hot it will kill cultures in the yoghurt and won’t come together. You can either leave the milk at room temp to cool down or sit in a base of cold water in the sink to move it faster.
In a small bowl add in the greek yoghurt and once warmed milk hits 45 degrees Celsius, add in one ladle and whisk together. Pour the mix back into the pot and and whisk gently into the warmed milk. Place lid on top of pot and then you have two options.
Option One (my preferred). Turn oven to 35-40 degrees Celsius on fan forced and place pot in for 3-4 hours or until it sets. Have a check and if it isn’t set yet, just leave it in for a bit longer, but 4 hours it should have set a bit and come off the sides.
Option 2. If your house is warm and there is a sunny spot, place a lid on the pot and wrap it tightly with a large towel. Place in hot spot and leave it overnight or up to 24 hours, or until set. This way is a bit more tricky in terms of temperature control so I always recommend oven.
Once greek yoghurt has come together in the pot, set up a sieve over a large bowl and line the sieve with a cheese cloth or a large coffee filter (I use this as they’re cheaper to purchase a bunch of). Spoon the greek yoghurt on the cloth filter and then fold the filter over it before placing in the fridge to drip overnight.
The next day the whey liquid will have dripped out, then transfer the greek yoghurt into air tight container and will be best to be eaten in the first week, but will last about 10 days in the fridge.