Greek Yogurt

[mminmalta]

Hi All,
I am new to the site and wondered if anyone can help me with this. I already make my own sausage and cure our own bacon, and I hope to get into making cheese over the next few months, but decided to try yogurt first. When in Greece had greek yogurt which is so different from what I can get in Malta. So much thicker and creamier than what is available here. Does anyone have a recipe/technique for making greek style yogurt. I hope I have listed this request in the right part of the forum. Hope someone has an idea.
Thanks.
Mike

[Fricandeau]

If you make your yogurt with a good starter, just dump the lot into a cheesecloth (or a Jaycloth) and hang it over a bowl with the corners of the cloth notted up. The liquid that drains off is a good addition to stock or soup, and the yogurt left in the cloth will be a lot richer. You can then stir through some double cream if you like, it adds to the richness and stabilises it for cooking.

You can leave it to drain for 24 hours or more, at which time it will be a very sharp "cream" cheese which goes great on some warm bread with a nice, ripe tomato, salt and pepper.

[Patricia Thornton]

Hi Mike,

Don't tell anyone else but when I make my own yoghurt I cheat - I have a brilliant little yoghurt maker that I bought from Lakeland Plastics many years ago. I simply plug it in, add milk, some plain yoghurt and leave for eight hours. When I want Greek style yoghurt I strain it through the nylon strainer I got at the same time.

Here in Bulgaria villagers often make yoghurt from sheep's milk which is really delicious and much nicer than any I've ever made myself. It's naturally very, very thick and has a kind of crust on the top. I keep promising myself I'll give it a try one of these days but haven't actually got around to it yet. Might this be what you tasted in Greece?

[mminmalta]

Thanks for the information. I looked at yogart machines many years ago, but never gave them a try. I will try both suggestions. Also, I will have to look into goats milk. I know they have both goats and sheep on the island and you can get a hard local cheese that they make from the sheeps milk. If I can get hold of either I will also give them a try. Thanks again.
Mike

[jpj]

you can replicate what the machine does in a water bath in the oven on low overnight