How to Buy Yogurt Cultures
In order to make yogurt at home, you will need to purchase live cultures to transform milk into yogurt. When buying yogurt cultures, whether dry or wet, you must insure that the culture is "live" or you will end up with nothing more than soured milk when the yogurt heating process is complete. If you choose dry culture, you should use the packet before the expiration date to insure this. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Purchase plain yogurt at any grocery store. Read the label to insure that the yogurt contains live cultures; otherwise, it will not work. This is the simplest way to buy yogurt cultures.
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Visit your local health food store. If your local grocery store does not offer packaged yogurt with live cultures, your health food store is sure to have it. You can also purchase dry yogurt culture in sealed packets that can be kept in the refrigerator until needed.
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Look online at cheese-making supply houses, such as New England Cheesemaking Supply Company or Cheese Supply Company, as many cheeses are made with yogurt as the base and these companies carry the culture. These places carry a variety of different dry yogurt culture types, from sweet to extra sour.
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Tips & Warnings
When using fresh cultures, always keep 1/4 to 1/2 cup of homemade yogurt back to start the next batch. This will greatly cut your costs, as you will not have to purchase fresh yogurt from the store each time.
Making yogurt doesn't require any special equipment and can be done using a cooler or low oven. Even a thermos heated with boiling water can be used to make yogurt.
Homemade yogurt will keep for two to three weeks in the refrigerator.
Use yogurt as a substitute in most recipes for sour cream.
You can use skim, 2-percent or whole milk to make yogurt. You can also use nonfat or regular dry milk that has been reconstituted.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit yaourt image by Claudio Calcagno from Fotolia.com
