Farm Fresh Blog

 "Whaaat?"

    Okay, she's right. I'm not organized enough to be president, and they would frown on goats and dogs running around the White House. So scratch that.  (But I still think it's a good idea.)

     Dairy goats and chickens will fit into most suburban back yards. Sadly, Homeowner's Associations would strike them down.  Daughter lives in one of those wretched fancy places.  She tried to keep three little hens in the Pretty-People Neighborhood. These were quiet hens in a very clean pen. A neighbor peeked over the fence, saw the little hens, raised a stink, and she was forced to give them to us.  So sad . . .  

     Our nation has become so dependent upon grocery stores that even having a couple of chickens is against the law in many places. Our Founding Fathers are probably rolling in their graves.

(Gratuitous puppy pictures)

Now back to our regularly scheduled program!  Where were we?  OH!  Yogurt!

If you are blessed with access to a dairy goat or cow, yogurt is ridiculously easy to make.  Even "I" can make yogurt. It's THAT easy!

I highly recommend one of these bad-boys:

 Yogotherm!

I just followed the directions. (roughly)  It said heat a quart of milk to 180 degrees, then let it cool down to 108 degrees.  That sounds simple doesn't it.  (not really) 

Using a glass pot, I heated the milk to 180 degrees and removed it from the heat. The temperature promptly continued to climb toward 200 degrees.  (oh crap!)

So I plopped it in some cool water in the sink and put ice in the water. This brought it down to 108 degrees. (whew!)

Then I dissolved the 5 gram packet of starter mix (provided in the kit) with some lukewarm milk.  From now on I can just keep some yogurt and use that as a starter.  Mix the starter milk with the rest of the milk.  Pour it all in the yogotherm (glorified styrofoam ice bucket) and put it on top of the refriegerator.

It says it only takes 4 1/2 hours.  Wrong.  I put it in at 4:30 pm.  I checked it at 10:30 pm. It was still thick milk.  Figuring I got it too hot and killed the starter, it was destined for dog food, so I set it out on the kitchen counter for the night. 

By 8:00 am I was ready to pour it out for the dogs, but wait! Much to my surprise, I had nice thick yogurt! (from goat's milk!)

So there ya go!  Even "I" can make yogurt, so I know YOU can!