Yogurt Dripping

[Guest guest]

The following directions are for dripping cow's

milk yogurt. I have used it with goat's milk

yogurt, but because the proteins are different, I

usually drip it in the refrigerator, instead of

on the counter the way I do with cow's milk yogurt. I drip ALL my

yogurt, and since I use a LOT of yogurt, only the

best mass production methods work!

I find that I get the best results from dripping

yogurt which has been chilled at least eight

hours (for a two liter / half gallon batch) in the refrigerator.

I bought a dozen inexpensive all cotton

handkerchiefs at an outlet store for dripping

yogurt. I wet one, and line a colander with it

(wetting it makes it stick to the sides of the

colander so it doesn't go FLOP just as the yogurt

goes PLOP) and then scrape the yogurt into it. I

cover it and set it over a bowl. And then fold

the handkerchief corners up over the top of the

bowl. (If you don't, they will wick the liquid up

and over the side of the bowl, says the woman who

came back to find a counter covered with yogurt drippings....)

When dripping a half-gallon of half and half

yogurt, I only get about 2 cups of liquid out of

the half gallon, whereas with regular whole milk,

I get 4 cups liquid to throw away.

It takes anywhere from 4-6 hours to get the

yogurt dripped the way I like it. With goat milk

yogurt, it usually takes 12-18 hours.

Dripped or drained yogurt is also called yogurt cheese.

The advantage to the handkerchief is that after a

couple hours, I can remove the cover, gather up

the corners of the handkerchief, and hang the

package from a string on my cupboard door to

finish draining. When it is drained, I can open

the handkerchief, and turn the dripped yogurt

into a storage container, and use a spatula to

scrape the remaining yogurt off the handkerchief.

Then I can easily wash the handkerchief, and, if

desired, rinse it in bleach water to sterilize

it. (Personally, I think American / Canadian

reliance on antibacterials is absurd: hot water

and soap get rid of as many bad buggies as most

of the commercial antibiotic products.)

I keep meaning the sew some bias tape along the

edges of the handkerchiefs to create self-strung

yogurt drippers, but somehow, I'm always trying a

new recipe, instead of doing that!

— Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund