Ingredients for 1 litre: 1 liter of milk and/or cream (from cow, sheep, goat, soy or coconut) 1 portion of starter culture - or ½ dl fresh buttermilk - or ½ dl fresh soured milk/crème fraiche Required tools:Pot Thermometer Food safe container or bowl Steps:
- Heat the milk to 22°C.
- Add starter culture or fresh buttermilk, soured milk or creme fraiche and stir thoroughly.
If you use starter culture, dissolve the powder in a small portion of the luke warm milk/cream and add that to the milk/cream. Use either 1 sachet of starter culture or 1-2 pinches of starter culture from the resealable vial.
- Pour the cultured milk/cream into a container, cover and let it ferment at room temperature (20°C) for 18 hours.
- The following day, move the container to the refrigerator and let it cool for minimum 4-6 hours - and the soured milk/crème fraiche is now ready.
- Keep it covered and it will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least a week.
Tips: If you want a thicker yogurt, heat the milk to 85-90°C, keep this temperature for up to 20 minutes and then quickly cool it to 42°C by using a water bath - always perform this before you add any starter and culture the milk.
If you are mindful of hygiene, the freshly made soured milk or creme fraiche can be used to culture a new batch, again and again. However, if taste or texture begin to diviate too much from the original - begin again by making a new batch using fresh starter.
Add fresh fruit or marmelade to the soured milk if you wish, but remember first to take out a small portion to culture your next batch!
Notes: Only fresh soured milk or creme fraiche made from heirloom starter cultures (in sachets) are suitable to culture new batches repeatedly. Soured milk or creme fraiche made from non-heirloom starter cultures (in the resealable vials) are not suitable and fresh starter must be used to culture each new batch.
A gritty texture sometimes appear if the milk was shaken during fermentation or if you have fermented it for too long. Try reducing the amount of starter or reduce fermentation time next time. |