It's All Greek to Me!

We have developed a liking for Greek yogurt up here on the hill in recent months. It is thick, creamy and just a bit tangy...delicious! Just a couple of months ago, our favorite magazine, Cook's Illustrated, featured an article rating Greek yogurts. That is when we discovered that the big difference is that Greek yogurt is strained to remove more whey than typical yogurt, which is what gives it the super creamy consistency. This also gives it almost twice the protein content of regular yogurt.

Now, our local grocery store carries Greek yogurt, but at $6.00 a quart, it gets a bit pricey to feed our yogurt habit. JP decided to take matters into his own hands and started making his own Greek style yogurt!



He makes it with whole milk, so 1 gallon (costing just under $4.00) will make 2 quarts of luscious, thick yogurt. He begins by heating the milk to 180 degrees, then cooling it to 120 degrees and stirring in a couple of tablespoons of starter (old yogurt). Then he incubates it in a cooler with a heating pad set on medium for 6-10 hours, usually overnight. Finally he strains it through an old, white T-shirt for a couple of hours to the desired consistency. Easy Peasy.