Yogurt

I love Yogurt. Hands down, my favorite food of all time and you will mostly likely be seeing it in many of the posts in this blog. Yogurt has been eaten for more than 5,000 years by people all over the world, and is so versatile that it can be used in hundreds of recipes. Now I’m not talking about those fruity, sugary yogurts. I’m talking about thick, creamy, sour, almost Greek-like plain yogurt.

With the economy the way it is, I can’t afford to buy those $5 little tubs of Greek yogurt, so instead I apply a technique that my mother used when she would make yogurt. Though I do not make my own yogurt, the technique can still be used on most tubs of plain yogurt. I buy those big tubs of Mountain High Yoghurt that you can find in your local Safeway, Lucky’s, or Costco (which has the best deal). I go through a lot a week, so I usually get the biggest size.

You may have heard of strained yogurt, in which the yogurt is strained through a cloth or paper to remove the whey, which is the watery substance that separates from the yogurt. This technique is pretty much the same thing, except I take it to a whole new easy level.

Next time you open a new tub of yogurt, instead of mixing it or removing a spoonful from the middle, take your spoonfuls only from one side of the tub, creating a well for the whey to gather. Each day open the tub of yogurt and gently tip out the whey that has gathered in the well. If you continue to use the tub of yogurt throughout the week, just be sure to only spoon out yogurt from one side. Remember to drain the whey everyday, sometimes even a couple of times a day. Eventually what remains is a delicious thick, sour, Greek-like consistency yogurt that can be used in many recipes or even used as a replacement for sour cream. My favorite is to eat the thick yogurt is to use it as a dip with some Fritos Scoops.

This is one container I've been working on. Looks gross with all that whey huh? And this is about 5 days into the draining process! Ya, there is a lot of whey in yogurt.

After the whey is poured out.

I'll keep the part in between my fingers in tact for a few more days, while I continue to drain the whey everyday. The final result will be so thick and creamy you'll be surprised you ever mixed the yogurt and whey.