How to make Yoghurt

Do you really want to know how to produce lush and creamy yogurt? Let me share my very easy recipe and steps with you.. Relax and enjoy learning!

Try to get your equipments ready, you production bucket with tight cover, your whisk for dissolving and mixing, your water boiling equipments, a warmer for best incubation.

Here i will be using 15 liters of production bucket/bowl for ease understanding.

First get your water boiling, when its boiling, sterilize every equipments you want to use to kill any possible germs that might be in the equipment, with your whisk for turning included.

Direction;

Pour 2 liters of normal water in the bucket/bowl , this will be used to dissolve your sugar of 800grams or more, note that it's not a must you start off with a sugar, you can skip sugar if you want to make a non or unsweetened yoghurt.

Note that you can dissolve your sugar with hot water as well, but don't dissolve your milk with hot water so as not to arrive at a lumpy or particles kind of solution or result.

Then pour in your milk of 1.2kg (powdered) and dissolve or mix vigorously to attain homogenised milk solution. Note that when you pour your milk, dissolve instantly to avoid it having lumps, and after pouring in the milk, the liquid level would have increased. And if you are using a liquid milk, you don't need dissolving but mixing.

After dissolving all that, the next is to pour in your hot water to complete the 15liters and mix thouroughly and vigorously, to best homogenised it and pasteurize the milk solution. This process allows the protein to form a more stable gel, which helps in preventing the yoghurt separating into whey and curd during storage.

When that is done, the next is to check the temperature or hotness of the milk solution, and this is done with the aid of a thermometer. And when you check it the temperature would have risen to 85°c - 90°c, this will enable it to cook and form more stable gel. Then leave it to cool down to inoculation temperature of 42°c -43°c, this is to bring the temperature down to ideal temperature for the starter culture. Not that inoculation means the process of adding culture.

When it's cooled down to inoculation temperature, then your milk solution is fully ready and ready to be cultured, meaning it's ready for starter culture to be added to it. Then add 2-3 grams of starter culture to it, add by dissolving the starter with little of scooped milk solution in a cup with a cup, when it's dissolved, then pour it back into the whole yoghurt. But if you are using a life yoghurt which contains live bacterial, just use a 500mils of it, pour it straight in the whole milk solution in the bucket and mix everything together.

Once it's mixed together, cover it tightly, then put it in the warmer and place it in a no air corner, because youghurt needs heat environment to ferment better. When it's placed in a no air corner, leave it undisturbed for minimum of 8hrs and maximum of 12hours, fermenting it longer makes it bring out that tart yoghurt taste and flavor.

After those hours, meaning after the incubation period, open it and behold would be your YOGHURT, don't break it yet, as seen below

First add your preferred flavors (strawberry, milk, vanilla etc) or toppings if you have any , or preservatives if you want to commercial or sell it. Once you've added the toppings or flavors, or fruits (strawberry, banana, apple etc), mix gently and mildly to avoid the yoghurt turning watery or losing viscosity.

Now your yoghurt is ready. If you want to best enjoy it, chill it and serve. If you want to make it a parfait, add the toppings after serving.

Enjoy!!