Crockpot Yogurt Yumminess

My favorite thermometer- perfectly designed and always available!

I once read a post that delineated the changes our habits and taste buds go through before we are ready for the very best, healthy yogurt. It is a bit of a process, so be patient. Moving slowly from sugary, chemical-laden, low-fat, neuro-toxic individual cups of yogurt (even Greek) to the real, organic, pure pro-biotic action of homemade full-fat yogurt takes some adjusting, but your brain, your gut, your wallet and the environment will thank you!

Hold up!  "Full fat"?? Isn't that a scary concept that will make you fat or cause high cholesterol?? I'll do a separate post about that another day, but the short answer to full-fat concerns includes a reminder of the metabolic truth that the fat on your waist is not made from the fats you eat, it is literally the storage of excess sugars that your body couldn't or didn't use in a timely manner (excuse the severe over simplification). Eating full fats with your carbs, simple or not, modulates the impending sugar spike that is the real villain in the fat and, more importantly, the brain equation. Sugar spikes 'tickle' the brain and make us feel better for a minute, but they also damage the brain and set the stage for all sorts of long-term neurological problems. The slow release and processing of sugars gives your body longer term fueling as well as emotional, physical and neurological peace. More another day.

Did I hear you groan about the cost of "organic" milk! Yes, it is worth the extra money to buy the organic milk, for you and your kid's sake, but no worries, you will still be able to meet your budget needs by making this simple yogurt instead of buying expensive pre-made yogurts.

So, you want to give yogurt making a go... you will need:

• A half gallon-ish of whole, organic milk with no additives (read the label!). It does not need to be raw or low-temperature pasteurized as the whole point of the process is to bring this dead milk back to life.
• A 1/4 cup yogurt start. Choose a yogurt that has four or five types of bacteria. The more varieties, the more diverse you will be making your internal biome (gut) and diversity leads to a more effective 'army' keeping the balance and fighting any 'bad' bacteria that meander through your gut. Keep a small, clean jar in the fridge for next week's batch, separate from the jars your family is eating.
• Glass jars - I use old salsa jars that have been recently through the dishwaher, but any clean jars you have and like work well.
• Two beach towels- yep, simple. I keep two cute beach towels from my kids childhood so that I get a little rush of nostalgia when I'm cooking. Yogurt and the "aww" factor make any day better.
• Your finger- clean of course. This is the high tech yogurt making tool that I'm most grateful for! 

Here's the process. It takes about ten hours over all processing, so plan your time correctly. The good news is that it takes about three minutes of actual work on your part. Five if you include washing the crock pot after.

Step 1- Put the milk in your clean crock pot and turn it on low. Use a timer for two hours of warming time. 

Step 2- At the two hour mark, unplug your crock pot. Set a timer for three hours.

Step 3- After the timer goes off, wash your hands and stick your finger in the milk to check temperature. It needs to have cooled just enough that it feels warm, but not burning on your finger. Our skin is comfortable at temperatures that don't kill bacteria (pro or not)--so don't kill your new little yogurt bacteria babies. 

Step 4- Gently whisk in your yogurt start. These are living creatures, so keep the whisking minimal. More starter isn't necessarily better because the little bugs do need room to grow. 

Step 5-Make a big plus sign + with your beach towels and set your entire crock pot system in the center. Wrap the towels around the crock for insulation and leave on the counter. Set the timer for five hours.

Step 6- Return to scoop your yogurt into clean glass jars and place in the fridge. 

Don't ask me how long it keeps because I've never had it stick around long enough to know. It takes a little forethought to find the perfect window of time in life, but that little bit of work each week provides us with three large jars of wholesome probiotic food for the cost of one half gallon of milk. What a budget booster! Recycling one milk carton versus three or four large plastic tubs, what an environmental no-brainer.  And no little plastics for the landfill, nice.

For a larger family you could easily double the recipe. It is essentially a process of growing perfect, beneficial bacteria, but it isn't a a process that demands perfection. Of course be smart so you don't grow bad bacteria inadvertently--keep things clean, don't let it sit out significantly longer than required and such--but remember that it is a very forgiving and growing life experience! (Pun intended!)

I will sometimes get a varied texture, but I've come to appreciate that anything coming from nature is supposed to be varied and not perfectly smooth. Smooth perfection and perfect consistency comes from a factory and usually via 'stabilizing' practices that destroy the greatest benefit of any real food.  

Did you know that in some Asian countries the fresh produce with holes in it sells at a higher price because the buyer knows that it is good to eat, i.e. if bugs eat it, it is safe for human consumption! I love this confidence in the natural order of things. If bugs (visible or microscopic) find our foods inhospitable, the foods will create an inhospitable biome within us--and we literally need bacteria to survive.. 

A speaker I heard yesterday pointed out that "if Dial soap did what it says it does, we would all be dead". Lol! Funny quote, yet the point is real. But I digress...

Enjoy! Add your own fruit and less-refined sweetener like maple syrup--but don't add raw honey as it is a natural anti-biotic. 

Unless, of course, you make a face mask with raw honey and real yogurt--skin smoothing synergistic perfection according to the stunning Kris Bertsch,one of my favorite naturally based beauty advisers and wellness practitioners,  

Happy Bacteria Growing! :)