HOMEMADE YOGURT
Once upon a time, we used to make homemade yogurt… a lot. It was often a day of joy when we will stir a bowl of freshly made yogurt and put in the fridge to chill while we waited (impatiently). The joy on the faces of all the girls and boys at home with us while they ate made us feel utterly rewarded. We thought making your own yogurt was a myth but thanks to our friends, Meggy and Akwi, this myth got busted. Meggy was the first person who explained to us how she made yogurt for commercial purposes. She made the thick drinkable version also called, Kossam in Cameroon. Kossam, made often by Hausa men is the reason a lot of people keep going to their shops for the plastic chilled bottles containing some white goodness. Ahh the irresistibility of Kossam! Or Koss (for love’ssake).Meggy taught us that we needed to get natural yogurt and some whole milk. We would then use the yogurt to convert the milk into yogurt through an incubating process. During this process, the (good) bacteria in the yogurt spreads to the milk and thickens it. You do not need any machine for this. You just need a warm place and the right incubating techniques which will be explained below.Then our friend Akwi taught us how to mix the perfect thick yogurt for home consumption, giving us measurements and all. She learnt this from her industrious mama. After we made our first batch, it wasn’t smooth as expected. We consulted Akwi again and she taught us to properly mix the starter yogurt with milk then sieve to ensure maximum smoothness. When we made a subsequent batch, she was like, “Precious don turn professional”(Precious is now a professional yogurt maker.)Thanks girls, Akwi and Meggy for introducing us into the world of blissful yogurt making! Our life has never been the same since then. *wipes tears*After coming to the United States, we kind of totally forgot about making our own yogurt. We were jolted back to our real love for yogurt-making when our brother sent us a Facebook message asking for the recipe. We thought to myself, we should make this sometime.
The readily available store-bought ones blinded us yet they hardly ever satisfied our yogurt cravings. They looked elastic and fake. Really. Like they didn’t come from real milk. Then one day, like a miracle, we were at the grocery store when girl number 1 pointed to a specific brand of yogurt, called, Old Home and asked that we get it. We were drawn to the packaging because it indicated that the yogurt contained live and active cultures. That was how we got the right yogurt to make the perfect homemade yogurt.FOR YOUR HOMEMADE YOGURT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU MUST USE A STARTER YOGURT THAT CONTAINS LIVE AND ACTIVE CULTURES.Back home in Cameroon, we often used Camlait Naturel or Dolait Naturel. (Men dem, do they still make these yogurts?). Basically, any sweetened or unsweetened natural yogurt would work. It should have no added colours, fruit or flavours. The yogurt you use needs to have one or more of the following bacteria: 
You only need two main ingredients: milk and yogurt.
Once your yogurt is set, you could add sugar, honey, fruit, flavour or whoreva.
Prep: 10 minsInactive time: 8 hoursCook: 0 mins
Ingredients
We cup of whole powder milk2 and a half cups of water1 cup of commercial yogurt containing active cultures (you could use half)Step 1
Heat your water to be warm. It should neither be too hot nor cold. It should be slightly hot to the touch.Step 2
Mix the milk in half cup of the water until smooth. Transfer to the remaining water and mix well.Step 3Add your yogurt to the milk and stir well. Your yogurt should be at room temperature. Preferably you should mix first with part of the milk then transfer to the rest of the milk.
Step 6 Mix yogurt and milk together until well combined.Step 7Cover with a plastic wrap and blanket for extra coverage.
Step 8
Keep in a warm place to set for about 8 hours. We covered with a blanket then we later transferred to our microwave just after heating something in it. Note that if the place is not warm enough, the bacteria will not act and your yogurt will not set. You could use a heated oven or a large flask for this.Step 9Open and see if it it is set. If it is not set, you could leave it in a warmer place again for a few hours. The top may be smooth and caked-up.We turned it a little with the spoon so you could see the texture.Feel free to sweeten with sugar or honey as designed. Keep in a fridge to chill then you go ahead to chill with it, baby!If you have any question, leave it as a comment below and we'll respond to you as soon as we can.Love
The readily available store-bought ones blinded us yet they hardly ever satisfied our yogurt cravings. They looked elastic and fake. Really. Like they didn’t come from real milk. Then one day, like a miracle, we were at the grocery store when girl number 1 pointed to a specific brand of yogurt, called, Old Home and asked that we get it. We were drawn to the packaging because it indicated that the yogurt contained live and active cultures. That was how we got the right yogurt to make the perfect homemade yogurt.FOR YOUR HOMEMADE YOGURT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU MUST USE A STARTER YOGURT THAT CONTAINS LIVE AND ACTIVE CULTURES.Back home in Cameroon, we often used Camlait Naturel or Dolait Naturel. (Men dem, do they still make these yogurts?). Basically, any sweetened or unsweetened natural yogurt would work. It should have no added colours, fruit or flavours. The yogurt you use needs to have one or more of the following bacteria: - Streptococcus thermophilus or S. Thermophilus
- Lactobacillus bulgaricus or L. Bulgaricus
- Lactobacillus acidophilus or L. Acidophilus
- Lactobacillus casei or L. Casei
- Extra Creamy
- Milky
- Slightly Tangy
- Thick
- Healthy
- Magical
You only need two main ingredients: milk and yogurt.Once your yogurt is set, you could add sugar, honey, fruit, flavour or whoreva.Prep: 10 minsInactive time: 8 hoursCook: 0 mins
Ingredients
We cup of whole powder milk2 and a half cups of water1 cup of commercial yogurt containing active cultures (you could use half)Step 1
Heat your water to be warm. It should neither be too hot nor cold. It should be slightly hot to the touch.Step 2
Mix the milk in half cup of the water until smooth. Transfer to the remaining water and mix well.Step 3Add your yogurt to the milk and stir well. Your yogurt should be at room temperature. Preferably you should mix first with part of the milk then transfer to the rest of the milk.
Step 6 Mix yogurt and milk together until well combined.Step 7Cover with a plastic wrap and blanket for extra coverage.
Step 8
Keep in a warm place to set for about 8 hours. We covered with a blanket then we later transferred to our microwave just after heating something in it. Note that if the place is not warm enough, the bacteria will not act and your yogurt will not set. You could use a heated oven or a large flask for this.Step 9Open and see if it it is set. If it is not set, you could leave it in a warmer place again for a few hours. The top may be smooth and caked-up.We turned it a little with the spoon so you could see the texture.Feel free to sweeten with sugar or honey as designed. Keep in a fridge to chill then you go ahead to chill with it, baby!If you have any question, leave it as a comment below and we'll respond to you as soon as we can.Love
