Fermentation is one of those wonders in the world; who came upon the first "thick milk" and thought about consuming it? The Romans thought fermentation to be something from the gods, their word linked to fermentation, fervere, means to boil. Incidentally, there is a bakery with the name Fervere Bakery that pays homage to this ancient link between fermentation and boiling (however, they changed their name recently).

In any case, fermenting milk is a little different from grapes or grains. You do not see the active bubbling that resembled the boiling of a pot (hence, the term fervere). Fermenting milk is a rather stagnant or uneventful process. But when you take that first spoonful and the milk has become thick and creamy, you know you did it right.

In this post, I want to share with you my method (based on the YouTube channel ChefSteps' method, of making the best homemade yogurt! I combined coconut cream with normal milk to make an absolutely fantastic fermented product that will taste so good but which is also good for your body (if you consume milk products). Western diets severely lack fermented foods, and yogurt is one way of adding this much-needed product to your diet and gut microbiome.

Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need:

• 2 liters of milk,
• 500 ml of coconut cream,
• 500 ml of heavy cream, and
• a couple of grams of "live" yogurt (ideally from your previous batch)

The "pitch rate" or amount of live yogurt to add to the milk mixture is about 5% of your total mixture weight. In my case, it was 150 grams (i.e., 3000 ml of milk times 0.05 equals 150 grams).

Optionally, you can also sterilize the material you are going to use. As this is a fermented product, you ideally want the material to be clean and not contain natural yeasts and bacteria to take over your fermentation product. But yogurt is very forgiving, so you can skip this step if you feel like it. I am a beer brewer so I have my sterilizing products, so why not use them?

A Useful Hack: Coolbox "Sous Vide"

Yogurt making is very easy, but you need to maintain a temperature of 42 degrees celsius for about 8-12 hours. This is the ideal temperature for fermentation to occur. Sous vide is the best option for this, plus the recipe at the beginning of this blog post is with a sous vide machine. But not everyone has this machine, and neither do you need to buy one!

Because a regular cooler/coolbox works just as well!

I bought a small cooler/coolbox just for this purpose. I can easily make three liters of yogurt a go. It is enough for a week, so you can do this weekly! The temperature stays constant for the most part. You might want to top up the water now and then just to keep the water temperature at the right level of 42 C.

Method

The method of making yogurt has four key steps:

• Step one: Heat your milk to 82 degrees Celsius or 180 F,
• Step two: Cool down the milk mixture to 42 C/108 F and add the live yogurt,
• Step three: Ferment the milk at 42 C/108 F for 8-12 hours,
• Step four: Cool down overnight in the fridge.

Below I just showcase the over steps via photographs. Follow along with this easy method to make your own yogurt. Below I share with you some ideas on how to use it.

Step one: Warm up the milk mixture and Preheat the coolbox

Heat your milk to about 82-86 C. Make sure to keep an eye on it because it can boil very quickly or burn.

Whilst this is happening, you can preheat the coolbox. This is a technique I learned from brewing beer. Add water that is about 50-60 C to your cooler. This will preheat the cooler to the desired temperature of about 42 C.

Step two: Cool down and add the live yogurt

Let the milk mixture cool down to about 48 C. Do not add the yogurt to this mixture!!! First "temper" your live yogurt by slowly warming it. In a separate holder, slowly add of the warm mixture to the live yogurt.

Gradually add to the live yogurt some of the warm mixture.

You can mix all of the milk in. Your temperature will be around 44C to 45C by now.

Add your milk mixture with the live yogurt in appropriate vessels. Glass is the best in my opinion, but get some glass that can withstand heat fluctuation:

Step three: Fermentation

Now you are ready to ferment the milk mixture. The ideal temperature range is between 42 and 44 C (108 - 111 F). The coolbox is ideal for insulation and keeping the mixture at this temp. The way it works is by placing enough water in it so that it levels up with the milk mixture in your glass bottles.

Every two to three hours, check that your temperature is still around 42 C. If it drops a bit, take out some of the water and add more water. A cup of boiling water will raise your overall temperature in the cooler by about 2 C.

You can also use a blanket to keep the cooler insulated:

Step four: Rest in the Fridge

Now your yogurt is ready but still too warm to consume. Keep it in the fridge overnight.

Enjoy the Fruit of your Labour

Now you can enjoy this handmade home-fermented product you just made. Add different things to it, or eat it as is. You can also strain the yogurt to make it thicker and creamier.

I love to add either nuts and seeds, or dukkah and olive oil.

But the most important part is to be creative and experiment. Keep some yogurt separate and make the following batch until you have something akin to a sourdough starter. You will create your own unique yogurt culture.

Have you tried to make your own yogurt?

The recipe is my own creation, but based on others as well, as linked in the post. The photographs are my own. I hope you try this recipe! Happy cooking and stay well.