DIY: Greek Yogurt

After yesterday's success, I moved onto my next milk project: Yogurt making, in particular Greek Yogurt making. Turns out, the only difference between regular yogurt and the Greek variety is the yogurt has been strained, removing excess whey. In actual fact you can turn any yogurt into the Greek Yogurt.

Again, milk, thermometer and some active bacteria (aka, yogurt).

Heat milk to 85 Degrees, then cool to 40 before mixing in yogurt.

Incubate at 40 degrees.

8 hours later, yogurt.

Make it "Greek" - Strain in the fridge for 3 hours.

Greek yogurt! 

The biggest concern is making sure everything is sterilised as to make sure you're cultivating only the good bacteria. The batch turned out exceptional! A lot better than store bought Greek yogurt. Economy wise, it manufactured approximately 700-800 grams out of the 1.5 litre milk (this varies on how thick you want the final product) taking almost 11 hours.

DIY: Cottage Cheese

Way back when I was working in London, my boss at the time came in with some home made cheese. "It's not difficult, just takes a little patience a bit of time. Cottage cheese is the easiest, you don't need anything!". Investigation proved that cottage cheese and in fact most soft cheese are quite simple to make. Here goes.

Some local pasteurised, homogeneous milk, white vinegar and a thermometer.

Heat milk to 85 degrees Celsius, splash in the vinegar.

After a few moments the milk starts to separate into curds and whey.

Separate using cheese cloth, or in my case a soup bag.

Voila, whey and Cottage Cheese

Breakdown as follows. 1 litre (20 HKD) worth of milk made approximately 300 grams of curds. Time wise, it probably took around 30 minutes. Definitely more economical, but not by a lot.