Homemade Yogurt

Using my new fancy crockpot  http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-6-Quart-Digital-Slow-Cooker/12442589 I made a batch of homemade yogurt.   If I can figure out how to attach a word document I'll post the recipe. 

So far so good - it's straining right now.  First attempt didn't turn out so good.  Baby A I think was playing with the buttons and turned up the heat to high.  So by the time I added the "starter" (aka yogurt w/live active cultures) it was too hot and it killed 'em.  This time I learned my lesson and put the crockpot further back on the counter and she left it alone.

Since I doubled the recipe I had two batches to strain.  The first batch didn't take long, and turned out nice and creamy.  The 2nd batch got left a little longer (about 1/3 of the results) and was nice, thick, and creamy like Greek Yogurt.  I got a little over 2 cups from the first batch that I strained, and 1 cup from the 2nd batch.  T & Baby A got small bowls from the first batch sweetened w/ a little splenda, vanilla flavoring and sugar-free chocolate syrup.  Both inhaled it....so it must be good!!  ;)

Now I didn't have a wire mesh strainer - just a plastic one - two actually.  I set-up my largest collander with the cheese cloth, and the smaller one with a coffee filter.  Both worked equally well - did have to "stir" both to get ensure all the whey was removed.

All in all - fun project and will do again with skim or 2%.  However, did spend more time removing the finished product from the coffee filter/cheese cloth than I had making it.  On to try Cottage Cheese per T.