λk.(k blog): Posts tagged 'recipe'

Simple yogurt

2015-01-25T06:43:12Z

Yogurt is stupid expensive compared to the milk from which it is made, particularly if you want Greek-style yogurt.

So I decided to do it myself.

Making Yogurt

The most difficult step here is obtaining some starter yogurt. Yogurt is formed by letting some specific bacteria munch on milk, so you need those specific bacteria. Generally, you can find yogurt with live active cultures at the grocery store. Look on the ingredients list for a bunch of Latin names. There should be about six.

You will need about half a cup of starter.

There are many ways to make yogurt. I find the slow cooker method easiest [1], but there are a number of other ways to achieve the same effect. For a more complete list, and much more information on the yogurt making process, see [3].

In a slow cooker (very easy)

I have used this method many many times, quite successfully.

You will need:

1/2 gallon of milk
1/2 cup yogurt
A small bowl
A slow cooker
Some containers for finished yogurt
A thermometer (optional)

Now then:

Pour half a gallon of milk into the slow cooker.
Heat on the lowest setting until the milk reaches 200F. This takes 2.5 hours in my 6 quart slow cooker. Careful not to heat the milk too much or it will start to separate, and you will be on your whey to cheese.
Turn off the slow cooker and let the milk cool to about 115F. This takes 3 hours in my 6 quart slow cooker.
Remove about a cup of the warm milk.
In a small bowl, mix the warm milk and 1/2 cup of yogurt.
Return the warm milk/yogurt mixture to the slow cooker.
Wrap the slow cooker in a couple of large towels. Alternatively, place the slow cookers in the over with the oven light on.
Wait 8—12 hours.
Remove yogurt from slow cooker and place into containers
Place containers full of yogurt into the refrigerator, and let cool for at least 8 hours.

Not in a slow cookers (easy)

You will need:

1/2 gallon of milk
1/2 cup yogurt
A small bowl
A large pot
A candy thermometer
Some containers for finish yogurt
Patience

Now then:

Pour half a gallon of milk into the pot.
Heat the milk on low until the milk reaches 200F (just below boiling). Stir frequently. Careful not to heat the milk too much or it will start to separate, and you will be on your whey to cheese.
Remove the milk from heat.
Let cool until the milk reaches 115F.
Remove about a cup of the warm milk.
In a small bowl, mix the warm milk and 1/2 cup of yogurt.
Return the warm milk/yogurt mixture to the pot.
Wrap the pot in a couple of large towels. Alternatively, place the pot in the over with the oven light on.
Wait 8—12 hours.
Remove yogurt from the pot and place into containers
Place containers full of yogurt into the refrigerator, and let cool for at least 8 hours.

Making Greek-style Yogurt

The internet has lots of shortcut methods for making Greek-style yogurt, such as adding powered milk to the milk while making yogurt, adding pectin or other thickeners to the finished product, etc.

But only a terrible person would use these methods.

To make true Greek-style yogurt, you will need:

Cheesecloth
A large bowl
Some method of suspending the yogurt filled cheesecloth above the bowl (example later)

To suspend the cheesecloth above the bowl, I use:

A thick rubber band
A wooden spoon

As an alternative, see [2].

Now then:

Line the large bowl with cheesecloth.
Dump yogurt into the lined bowl.
Bring the corners of the cheesecloth together, and tightly rubber band them together.
Lay the spoon across a shelf in your refrigerator.
Place the large bowl under the shelf with the spoon across it.
Loop the rubber band through bottom of the shelf, and slide the spoon through loop.
Allow the whey to drain from the yogurt to reach the desired consistency. The longer it drains, the thicker the yogurt will be. I usually let it drain about 8 hours.

The left over whey has many uses. Generally, I replace water/milk in my baking recipes with the whey.

Sources

Simple sourdough baguettes

2014-10-02T05:10:21Z

This summer I was in Paris for two months. Every day I got a fresh baguette for under €1. When I got back, I couldn’t eat store bought bread. It was terrible. And it cost $3. There’s no bakeries nearby, and the grocery store baguettes are crap and even more expensive.

So I decided to do it myself.

Bootstrapping — Starting a starter

Because I didn’t want to buy yeast all the time, I looked into sourdough. I knew making sourdough required maintaining a starter, which meant no buying yeast. Besides, I like sourdough. I found two ways to get a starter.

DIY

After a little Googleing, I found a couple of ways [1, 2] to start my own starter. Typical instructions are mix equal parts flour and water and let it sit loosely covered in a warm spot. However, I couldn’t seem to get it started with just the wild yeasts floating around my apartment. Maybe I’m too sterile.

So I opted for a shortcut. You’ll need:

1 packet of active yeast
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup (more or less) of water
A little warm (115F – 120F) water.

Now then, instructions:

Mix the yeast and warm water.
Mix the flour and water until you have something the consistency of pancake batter.
Mix in the yeast-water.
Let sit, loosely covered, somewhere warm for a day. I set it atop my fridge, near the back.
Remove a cup of starter, use it, and mix in 1/2 cup of flour and water. You don’t have to remove any if you have a large container.
Repeat step 5 for 2 more days.
Refrigerate your starter and repeat steps 4 and 5 weekly. Or however often you make bread.

According to the internet, the starter should keep in the refrigerator for a couple of months without feeding. If not refrigerated, you must feed the starter daily.

You can keep a starter with less water and more dough like consistency, i.e., a ‘stiff starter’ A stiff starter will apparently keep longer, but will likely take more time to warm up and eat.

Mail order

A friend of mine told me about this bakery [3] that send out free pieces of their stater that has been perfected over the last 150 years or so. All you need to do is send them a self-address envelope, apparently.

With starter in hand, skip to step 7 of the above instructions.

Your first baguette

This recipe is based “Berkeley sourdough baguette” [4]. The whole process will take 5 hours, plus time spent mixing. It will yield 2 medium size baguettes.

Supposing you have starter and ready to make bread, you will need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup liquid starter
1/2 cup (more or less) of room temperature water
1 teaspoon salt
A little olive oil
1 baking sheet
2 large bowls

If you’re using a stiff starter, you’ll need more water and less flour.

Mix flour and salt
Mix starter and flour-salt mixture.
Gradually mix in water. You may need more or less water to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.
Knead the dough for a few minutes.
Spread a little oil around the second bowl.
Place dough in oiled bowl and let rise for about 3 hours.
Give the dough a good punch.
Spread a little oil on the baking sheet.
Separate dough into 2 halves.
Shape each half into a baguette. I’ve found this can be accomplished by quickly rolling the ball of dough into a cylinder, although [5]. has a more sophisticated method.
Cover, and let rise for about 90 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450F.
Lightly oil the tops of the baguettes.
Bake for 25–30 minutes.

Advanced features

This recipe results in simple, tasty baguettes. But there are many ways to tweak this recipe.

Rise in refrigerator

Apparently, the bacteria responsible for making the sourdough sour are better at growing in the cold than yeast. By letting the dough rise in the refrigerator, you can achieve a sourer sourdough.

However, my attempts at this yielded flat, hard, pasty looking baguettes. So attempt at your own peril.

In the above instructions, replace:

Place dough in oiled bowl and let rise for 3 hours.

with:

Place dough in oiled bowl, and place bowl in the refrigerator for 12–15 hours.

Whey instead of water

I make yogurt, and strain it to get Greek yogurt [6]. This leaves me with a bunch of whey. Apparently, I can use this as a replacement for water when baking.

My attempts at this has yielded slightly sweeter, tastier baguettes. The whey also contains additional protein.

In the above recipe, replace:

1/2 cup (more or less) of room temperature water

with:

1/2 cup (more or less) whey

And in the above instructions, replace:

Gradually mix in water. You may need more or less water to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.

with:

Gradually mix in whey. You may need more or less whey to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.

Whole wheat flour

We all need more fiber and vitamins in our diet! However, whole wheat flour is less forgiving than all-purpose flour, and requires care. It also absorbs more liquid, so you need more water (or whey) in your recipe.

In the above recipe, replace:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (more or less) room temperature water

with:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup (more or less) room temperature water

And in the above instructions, replace:

Mix flour and salt

with

Mix all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt.