Greek yogurt

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Full recipe

We love fermented dairy products and often use them to cook a variety of dishes. And it is best when the fermented product is prepared by you personally, following all the instructions. In this case, it is desirable to use starters. In this case we get not only tasty, but also very healthy dairy product, which will help to improve the gastrointestinal tract and have a positive effect on the immune system. So you may have already read the material about homemade kefir or natural yogurt.

And it’s with the latter that you can do some light manipulation to get real Greek yogurt. The same one that is used as a sauce, served with meat or fish, in the Balkan countries: Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, etc. In addition, Greek yogurt is a great ingredient for more complex salty or sweet dishes.

As I mentioned earlier, to make Greek yogurt, you must first make plain white yogurt. This process is covered in detail in the recipe for natural yogurt, but I’ll go over the key points briefly. First, we heat the milk and add the yogurt starter to it.

You can use regular Yogurt starter, but there is a separate option for Greek yogurt from the VIVO brand. I feel that the taste of Greek yogurt made with this starter is a little softer in terms of acidity.

Fact

Now you need to keep the milk heated for 6-8 hours. To do this, you can wrap the pot in a warm blanket, use a multicooker with the “Yogurt” mode or a yogurt maker.

We put the finished yogurt in the fridge to ripen. This procedure takes up to 24 hours, but I usually leave it overnight.

When we have natural yogurt on hand, we move on to cooking Greek yogurt. The process is quite simple and does not require much effort. It is necessary to get rid of excess whey, so that the final product is thick and creamy. Ideally, drain up to half of the yogurt mass, but it is better to be guided by the final result. If in the future you will prepare a sauce, for example, Tzatziki, you can stop at 30%.

To strain the yogurt you can use gauze, rolled in several layers; sieve; filter paper or a special drainage bag, the so-called whey separator. Take a container in which the whey will drain, put a colander on top and cover with gauze. It is not necessary to use a colander, but in this case you should think of a way to hang yogurt over a pan or a bowl. To keep the gauze from crumpling when we put the yogurt on, I tie it around the dish with a rubber band or string.

Now put the yogurt directly into a gauze-covered colander. We move the construction to the fridge and wait for the desired amount of time.

About 30% of the mass is decanted in 1-1.5 hours, if you want a thicker version – wait up to 3 hours. I waited about 90 minutes and came out with a consistency similar to homemade mayonnaise or cottage cheese spread.

All in all, during this time, about 300 ml of whey came out of the yogurt.

Do not pour out the whey left over after making Greek yogurt. It is a healthy product, rich in vitamins, amino acids, and trace elements. It can be consumed with juice or used to bake homemade bread or pancakes.

Tip

We have a gorgeous Greek yogurt that can be eaten on its own, used as a salad dressing or as an ingredient in sauces. By the way, it contains a lot of protein, so it is popular with people involved in sports or sticking to a healthy diet. The taste of Greek yogurt is very delicate and creamy, so both adults and children like it.

Bon appetit! Don’t starve 😋