How to make thick homemade yogurt?
Yogurt and kefir are diary drinks/food made through milk fermentation triggered by the lacto bacterial cultures in the case of yogurt and lacto bacterial cultures and yeast in case of kefir.
The lacto bacteria and yeast for kefir utilize lactose in the milk as food. The obtained side product is called lactic acid and is responsible for thickening the fat globules milk and giving yogurt its flavour.
The first batch, called a “mother culture”, will almost always be creamier and milder in taste than the following batches of yogurt.
So, how to control the texture?
Choose the right kind of milk. The milk needs to be whole (full-fat) milk. If you add a bit of cream to it, you can increase the fat content and, thus, the texture will be thicker.
Another way is to boil the milk before using it. This will sanitise the milk and evaporate the water in its content, producing less whey and, therefore, a thicker yogurt. The process will also break down some enzymes, which will speed up the fermentation.
You also can combine these two methods, and just boil the milk first and, once it’s cool, add some cream (please do not add too much of it, just 1/3 of the content or half/half at most).
The easiest way is to boil it in the microwave, in a flat container, to keep the milk from getting burned.
However, the microwave is not a must – so please choose your preferred method and give it a go.
