I just wanted to post a quick follow up to my blog on making easy homemade yogurt. Subsequent quarter-gallon batches made it easy to make and consume fresh yogurt over the course of a week. However, what I really wanted to test out was freezing a starter culture to see if it would be successful in activating my next batch of yogurt.
Testing this method was simple to do. I just had to take a quarter cup of homemade yogurt and pop it in the freezer. If this worked, not only would this allow me to take a break from continuously making yogurt but it would allow me to save money. I wouldn’t have to spend money on another starter or having to settle for using one of the flavored yogurts found at the local grocery.
After pulling my preserved starter from the freezer I proceeded to make the easy homemade yogurt recipe as normal. I used a quarter-gallon of whole milk for the experiment to prevent waste in case the process failed. Once everything was heated, mixed and allowed to sit…all I could do was wait. For six long hours. More accurately put, I planned to wait six hours but it ended up being eight or nine hours! Call me Ms. Forgetful.
So, after eight to nine hours wrapped in insulated jackets I was eager to take a peek and see what the results were. Slowly unwrapping, half expecting warm milk, I was pleasantly surprised. The spoon test was proof enough, it stood straight and tall. The frozen starter had worked!
In the words of Hannibal from the A-Team, “I love it when a plan comes together!” Now, I could make yogurt whenever it was convenient for me. No having to time the end of a yogurt batch to coincide with the purchase of a fresh jug of whole milk.
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