Let's Make Greek Yogurt

I don't recall who told me about Greek yogurt, but I am grateful they did. While I like regular yogurt, sometimes I don't like the texture. Enter the bliss of Greek Yogurt. It is thicker and creamer and has lots of uses. Unfortunately it is also more expensive. While 32 ounces of Dannon Plain fat free yogurt is about $2.30 at my local Kroger, Greek yogurt, when you can find it, ranges from $3.50 to over $5 for a 16 ounce carton.

I did some checking around and found out Greek yogurt is basically yogurt with much more of the moisture removed. Which lead to learning how to make Greek yogurt at home.

You will need:

• one permanent coffee filter - plastic not metal, (about $3)
  
• a 3 cup measuring cup or similar sized container
  
• plastic wrap

Put the coffee filter into the measuring cup, it should fit high enough to allow the liquid to drain off and be captured below.


Fill the filter with the plain yogurt.
If you look closely you will see process doesn't take long to begin and there are droplets already forming on the bottom of the filter.

Next cover the top with plastic wrap.
Put everything in the refrigerator over night. The longer you let it drain, the thicker it will get. After three days it will have the consistency of soft cream cheese. (yogurt cheese)

This is how it will look after a couple of days in the fridge. As you can see there is a lot of liquid that drains off.

The yogurt now is thicker and has more of a pudding or sour cream texture.

I've heard this called yogurt cheese.

Transfer it to a bowl and stir to increase creamy texture.


I had a container of Greek Yogurt from the store. This is a 5.3 ounce container and cost $2.

The packaged yogurt is on the left and my home-made Greek yogurt is on the right. I think mine looks richer and creamer.

I added a couple packets of Splenda, a teaspoon of CVS artificial vanilla flavoring and added a couple of healthy shakes of cinnamon.

Gave it a good stir and had a very tasty treat.

The 32 ounce container of plain yogurt converts to about three cups of Greek yogurt. But it's still a great bargain.

Enjoy

Later
D