Sous Vide Citrus Yogurt
Speed - 97%
Simplicity - 95%
Tastiness - 98%
97%
Excellent!
Perfectly thick, fresh, and citrusy. I'm never going back to store-bought yogurt again!
Ingredients
- 1 Liter Full-Cream Milk
- 1/2 Cup Yogurt
- 1/2 Tablespoon Orange Zest
- 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Tablespoon Lime Zest
Instructions
- On the stovetop, heat the milk to 180F.
- Cool down to 110F over a bowl of ice or at room temperature.
- Stir in the yogurt.
- Fold in the citrus zest.
- Pour into canning jars and put the lid on.
- Cook for 3 hours at 113F.
For those who make their own yogurt at home, I know you'll have to agree with me that there just ain't no reason to go for the store-bought option again. Not only does making yogurt from scratch equate to lots of saved grocery money, it also allows for a very large degree of customization, from flavor all the way to texture.
Let this recipe for a basic citrus yogurt lay down all the basics you need to know for making your own yogurt spins.
First, we need some milk. I'm going for full-fat to end up with a yogurt that's more thick and dense though using skim milk for dietary reasons would always be a welcome idea.
We need to heat up our milk somewhere in between 180 and 200F. This step is essential for our yogurt to set during the sous vide phase. Whisking the milk until slightly foamy would keep those milk solids from scorching at the bottom of the pot as the milk “cooks”. Doing so will also keep your milk from rising and spilling out of your heating vessel.
Once the milk reaches the desired temperature, take it out of the heat and bring the temperature down to 110F. You could do this by simply leaving the pot out at room temperature or you could speed things up by pouring the milk into a bowl set over an ice bath.
Once the milk's cool enough, it's time to mix in the “starter”. You can find packets of these granulated starters from most specialty baking shops.
Another option, which you may find easier would be to use ready-made yogurt which specifies the presence of live bacterial cultures in its label. This option does work equally well. My only suggestion here would be to go for plain yogurts over flavored ones for the simple reason that we'll be flavoring it ourselves anyway.
Here's where you get creative. Fold in any flavoring ingredient you wish. I simply went for the zest from an orange, a lemon, and a lime just to keep my flavors fresh. I did not add any sweetener either to make my yogurt much for flexible for other recipes.
Go add your favorite fruit in, juice and bits. . . add some honey. . . fold in some chopped herbs. I'll leave that all up to you.
Distribute the mixture into canning jars. . . whatever size of jar you wish. I used small ones to keep them single-serve.
Get the jars fully submerged in water bath preheated to 113F and leave them to “cook” for about 3 hours.
When the time's up, carefully take the jars out of the hot water and leave them out to cool to room temperature before storing them in the refrigerator.
Optionally, you may strain your yogurt to make it much dense like the well-known Greek variety.
Ingredients
- 1 Liter Full-Cream Milk
- 1/2 Cup Yogurt
- 1/2 Tablespoon Orange Zest
- 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Tablespoon Lime Zest
Instructions
- On the stovetop, heat the milk to 180F.
- Cool down to 110F over a bowl of ice or at room temperature.
- Stir in the yogurt.
- Fold in the citrus zest.
- Pour into canning jars and put the lid on.
- Cook for 3 hours at 113F.
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