Where/how do you incubate your yogurt?

[big brown horse]

That's funny FD! I feel the same way! I used to hate yogurt and only fed it to the chickens (full fat) or used it as a condiment (fat free)..in place of sour cream. Now that I switched to eating the full fat plain yogurt, (thanks to this forum) I LOVE it! (This is the only time free isn't that good. ) I have been devouring whole cups of it with just a small spoonful of sour cherry preserves added...yummmm! I can't get enough. I can tell a difference in my tummy too, all of those good bacteria buggies.

 

[jambunny]

I love both goat and cow homemade yogurt. I can never eat store yogurt plain but good homemade cow yogurt, that is another story. But its also great put in a blender with fruit. ymm

 

[kyrochka]

Brown horse - have you tried the yogurt recipe?
If you like it so much, it probably is for you. To get the milk to the room temperature, hit it a little bit on the stove. There is so much yogurt comes out!

After its ready, I move yogurt into the plastic containers and refrigerate. Day or two later whey, a white liquid, forms on top. It's very nutritious and has a lot of minerals and vitamins. Those who have skin problems can really benefit from it. (Just rub in the skin and let it dry. Rinse with clear water). My Mom uses whey to keep her face look younger

Also it can fertilize the outside plants - dissolve 2 cups to 1 gal of water. They grow almost in front of your eyes.

 

[TanksHill]

Kyrochka, what an interesting thing to do!! Whey on your face, huh? I'll have to give it a try. What nationality is your mom? So when I drain my yogurt to make cheese I should give it to plants, kids, face maybe even my dog??

KathysChix, can you elaborate on the dehydrator method???

Oh and welcome by the way.

 

[kyrochka]

Precisely, I wouldn't through it away ThanksHill. It's a good stuff- you can probably use it in cooking also. I haven't tried it though.

Mom is a Russian/ German mix, so she like all these experiments. You will not believe how young her face looks after she began using whey a year ago. Here is an interesting article about whey.

http://www.fas.usda.gov/dlp2/circular/1999/99-12Dairy/uswhey.html

 

[freemotion]

Hmmm, I'll have to try it in my garden. I get about 3.5 gallons of whey every time I make a batch of cheese, almost every week. I've been putting it in the compost pile, for a lack of ideas. We can only use so much whey in the kitchen! I keep a quart in the fridge and replace it with each fresh batch.

But at two cups to a gallon....I'll be mixing and watering all day!!!

 

[Bebop]

I just found out how that you can make yogurt in a dehydrator last night! And I just got a free dehydrator off Freecycle!
Here's how you do it:
Just make your yogurt blend. Make sure the dehydrator is between 100 and 120 degrees (no more than 120 or else you'll kill the yogurt bacteria) and leave it in for 6 hours! Make sure you check on it though!
Super Easy!

 

[TanksHill]

I don't mean to sound ignorant but my dehydrator has little flat trays that have holes in them. where might the yogurt go??? This must be a different type of dehydrator.

 

[keljonma]

You could put little jars of yogurt on a tray and then cover - assuming your tray has some headroom space.

I have an old dehydrator - no temp gauge, no fan. So I'll stick with what works for me.

 

[kyrochka]

Hmmm, I'll have to try it in my garden. I get about 3.5 gallons of whey every time I make a batch of cheese, almost every week. I've been putting it in the compost pile, for a lack of ideas. We can only use so much whey in the kitchen! I keep a quart in the fridge and replace it with each fresh batch.

But at two cups to a gallon....I'll be mixing and watering all day!!!

Freemotion, one of my friends uses another recipe that might work for you better. She dilutes 1 part of whey with 5 parts of water for the house/garden plants and trees. When one of my peach trees wasn't doing well, I used to dilute whey with water half and half. I watered it twice a week for about a month or two. It took it least a year to recover, but I think without whey it would be dead by now.

With so much whey you might also want to try the following recipes:

Whey Lemonade
1 quart whey
Juice of two lemons
6Tbsp honey

Shaving Lotion
Blend 1 part whey with 1 part fresh Aloe Vera leaf gel
Strain through a cloth or fine strainer
Rub on and shave
- very smooth and friendly lotion

Bath Water
Add to bath water for a nice soaking.
It doesn't say how much, but it will not kill no matter how much you add.

Face Wash
It says that if added to warm water, it's amazing how clean the skin will actually be

Natural Hair Wash and Anti-Dandruff
Use pure warm whey - rub it into hair and scalp for about a minute. Do this 2X, then rinse. Leave for 10 min before rinsing for anti-dandruff.