Hating on Yogurt

On my list of thing I miss about America, buying yogurt at a store is close to the top. It never occurred to me that I might have to make my own yogurt when I got to the mission field. The job of making yogurt is tedious and I literally hate it, so I thought I would share it with you. Tedious things make wonderful blog topics, right! This, of course, is just one way to make it. My friends make it in other ways but all of them are just as time consuming.

First you have to find a few clean jars about the same size. These are plentiful since we (missionaries) have a hard time getting rid of anything...even used wrapping paper. The jars and jar lids are then sterilized by pouring boiling water over them.

Now it's time to make the yogurt. Hopefully I remembered to keep the yogurt starter from my last batch. Some people open the first jar, take some yogurt out, and freeze it as the starter. This is what we would try to do. I have heard many clever ways to preserve yogurt starter (yes, we do talk about things like this on a regular basis). If you don't remember to keep the starter you have to beg some off a friend. If their starter is old your yogurt may be more sour than you are use to or not set properly. Taking the yogurt starter, I mix milk and water (checking the water temp because that makes a huge difference). The mixture is then poured into the jars (that have been emptied of the boiling water) and each jar is tightly sealed. If they are not tightly sealed then water will seep in creating a soupy mess. Trust me, it's really annoying to spend this much time and then realize you messed it all up because the jar tops weren't on tight enough.

The jars are then placed in a giant metal pot and water is poured to the top of the jar. This is actually trickier than it looks. The water has to be a certain temperature and, for some reason, I can NEVER get it just right. People have told me that the water has to be "dishwater hot" or "hot enough that you can still stand your hand being in it". What does that mean? When I was living in the village I was teased for having sensitive fingers and hands. They said this while pulling hot sweat potatoes out of the fire with their bear hands. I laughed and said, "Just because my hands/fingers still have feeling does not make them sensitive". All that to say, I rarely got the water to an adequate temperature.

Finally the pot is wrapped in thick heavy towels. I have heard of people putting the pot in the oven but this has never been practical for me. The heavy towels create an insulation for the pot. This then sits for many hours, often over night, so the yogurt can set. After all this work, hopefully you have four jars of yogurt. I was lucky if I could get yogurt that came out smooth and not clumpy. When I used this method it was often clumpy. Granted, it still tasted like yogurt, but what a pain. This is why I am hating on yogurt. This is also why I daydream about walking into a grocery store and buying 10 containers or yogurt!

A few weeks ago I was invited on a trip to Lae for vacation. Lae is a good size town in Papua New Guinea with stores, a swimming pool, and restaurants (and other things of course but these are the most appealing to me)! While there, I saw this EasiYo for sale and I had to get it. A YOGURT MAKER, HELLO! I brought it home with me and made a batch. This is what you do. First you sterilize the jar and red lid. Then you pour the mix packed (ahhh the convenience) in the jar with water to the top and shake. Finally you pour boiling water into the thermos, put the jar inside the thermos  and hours later...smooth and glorious yogurt! Forget the towels, temperatures and stress...I got an Easiyo!

Friends...enjoy your store bought yogurt. Eat it and think about me!