Fro-Yo A Go-Go

This has been the summer of yogurt for yours truly. It all began with an innocent stop at a frozen yogurt (fro-yo) franchise in Arizona, only to find it carried "Tart Frozen Yogurt", and they offered a free sample. Addiction. Plain and simple. While I've been living in the hills and caves of Western PA, Tart Frozen Yogurt has apparently been on fire as a frozen confection in trendsetting LA and NY, with franchises specializing in just this product (Red Mango, Pinkberry, et.al.).

Touted for its "healthfulness", it has captured a large following seemingly due to its addictive, puckery, refreshing flavor (not unlike a good lemon ice on a hot day). Lucky for me, Pittsburgh now has two tart fro-yo shops (Karmic and Sweetberry). Upon stopping at Karmic twice and feeding the addiction, I did some research and found out that Edy's is making a knock-off
product....I tried Tart Honey and it's not bad:

Then, I came up with this brilliant idea to try to make homemade yogurt. After reading Harold McGee's blog (author of "On Food and Cooking"....the original Alton Brown!), it really didn't seem too hard.

I bought the best whole milk I could find (a local dairy-Brunton). I heated 1 quart in a saucepan to between 180-190 degrees, then let it cool down to around 120 degrees.

I stirred in 2 TBSP of store bought active culture yogurt (type/flavor not important, just the live cultures), poured it into a quart jar, then wrapped it in a kitchen towel.

At this point, you need to maintain a steady temp of around 110 degrees for 4 hours, and let the good bacteria do their work. I did this by turning on my oven for a few minutes to get it slightly warm, then turning it off. I set the wrapped jar into the oven, and left the door slightly open, and the light on. Four hours later, it is thick and set, and goes into the frig.

The result is plain, unflavored yogurt, that is super delicious. For breakfast or dessert, I mix in a small amount of real maple syrup, or honey as a sweetener. Its great with granola, and fruit. One night, I also made a savory yogurt, feta, dijon mustard, aleppo pepper dipping sauce for fried potatoes with it. Really incredible.

We are really noticing the silky smooth texture, softness and mouthfeel that you get with homemade, and of course the freshness and quality is unbeatable.