Making yogurt and buttermilk, trying to work out the kinks and hiccups.

Ok, I'll admit it, I am pretty skilled in the kitchen. I have well developed knife skills, I know how to chiffenade. I spent 9 months of my life studying pastry in all shapes and forms at Le Cordon Bleu. But, I have hit the culinary wall. I struggle with making my own buttermilk and yogurt. I have tried and tried and there are times I feel that I am beating my head against the wall. So now that I am seeing results, I thought I would be sharing some of the tips and tricks.

When you first don't succeed....try, try again.
This has been my mantra through this whole process. Learning to make yogurt can be difficult, and yes it has been testing my patience. Thanks to the community at www.eatnourishing.com and www.culturesforhealth.com I have learned some tips and tricks for success.
#1. Read milk labels. Most organic milk is "Ultra-pasteurized" which means all bacteria good and the bad have been killed off.  There is no feeding ground for the cultures that is being added. The result? NOTHING, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH. Use whole milk, low-fat or reduced fat milk is no bueno.
#2. Temperature. Use a reliable thermometer. You have to provide the best climate for  the culturing process. I use a candy thermometer that I purchased from Pampered Chef, www.pamperedchef.com. I admit it, I bought it for the box. I have a very nasty habit of breaking every candy thermometer I have ever owned. The sturdy box keeps it nice and safe.
#3 Incubation needs to be consistent. I have used my slow cooker, but have found that my dehydrator works better. It has a setting for yogurt making. It keeps it at a constant temperature. I set it and then I forget it. Well, OK not quite. I do turn it off after about 8 hours.

Making buttermilk, a simple process.
What is buttermilk? Buttermilk is the by product of making butter. I learned to make butter many years ago, as part of the history lesson I was teaching to my students. As a teacher I would teach my children to make butter using a jar and cream. The students would take turns shaking the jar until the fats would separate from the milk. Then I would strain it and viola we had fresh butter.
Then I discovered the wonderful world of Creme Fraiche, thank you Julia. Adding buttermilk to cream causes the cream to culture making this wonderful creamy goodness that puts store bought sour cream to shame. Finally, I through research I learned that churning creme fraiche would make the most wonderful butter in the world. After straining the butterfat, I had a great by-product buttermilk. It would make about 1/2 a cup. I then would repeat the cycle using the newly created buttermilk. Very frugal and very tasty.
As you can see by the photo below. Oh look at the bread in the background!

I hope these few words of encouragement will help you explore the yogurt making and culturing process. Check out recipes at www.eatnourishing.com There are several great recipes that will get you started.