Kitchen science or things that go poof in the night

My apologies, last week's post that went poof in the storm isn't coming back together the way I had hoped. I think when the electricity hit it, my ability to compose its content went poof as well. I've set it aside for now and will come back to it on another day. Speaking of things going poof, I spent yesterday researching and getting started on a couple of kitchen experiments that I hope will be long term successes.

First up...was homemade yogurt. As a kid my Mom turned to yogurt and granola in hopes of getting me to eat breakfast. Not being a big fan of milk in my cereal (still not) this turned out well and frankly a little yogurt is still one of my favs almost any time in the day. Back in the day, good yogurt was hard to find, today it's readily available but frankly with prices higher than giraffe lips and sugar content just as high I decided to try my hand at making my own.  

As a kid Mom had a yogurt maker...having neither the desire nor room for yet another kitchen appliance I decided to pull and Alton Brown and figure a way to get double duty of something I already owned.  Enter the crock pot; a quick search on the internet popped up a set of (easy) instructions on how to make yogurt.  Assembling my mise en place I was off and running:  1/2 gallon of milk (butterfat of your choice), 1 cup of store bought yogurt (actually I used a 6 oz container of organic plain yogurt) & 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk.  My equipment consisted of a 5 qrt Crockpot, a digital thermometer, a large bath towel, a strainer and a couple of coffee filters. 

This morning I woke up to a perfectly creamy yogurt.  I myself prefer a thicker Greek style, no problem this is where the strainer and the coffee filters come in.  Note to self next time you make yogurt do it on a Saturday so you can moderate the draining of the whey to the right consistency and not have to worry about being late for work or ending up with cheese (not a bad thing just not what I want today) from over draining. 

The quick bite I had of the still warm yogurt was very good, I didn't find it to be overly tangy nor was there a need for any type of sweetener.  Right now it's very good plain, but if I want to switch it up there are flavor extracts (vanilla, almond, orange or lemon) and/or you can add fruit.  It will be interesting to see how the flavor sets after getting cold in the fridge; yet another reason to leave work in a timely fashion this afternoon.

My second experiment also harkens back to my youth...homemade sourdough. Once upon a time I was the proud keeper of a lovely starter, used mostly for things like waffles and biscuits. Woefully neglected it eventually died a slow lingering death in the back of my fridge and became toxic waste. I’ve decided to give it a try again because bread making is on my bucket list for 2012 (and I need to start planning now) and Pete, a HS classmate, is constantly mentioning on Facebook he’s making sourdough pancakes and it’s been driving me nuts. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, I began searching the Internet for sourdough starter instructions.

The best way to get started in the sourdough starter business is to receive some as a gift from family or friends. Sadly, no one I know locally is doing the sourdough thing, so it was either purchase a commercial starter (mix) or make my own. I’ve opted to make my own, and if successful I’ll be able to share my starter with others. Not for the faint of heart, making starter takes a minimum of a week and up to a month…with feedings every 12 hours. Heck, even the Gracie unit doesn’t usual demand such a precise feeding schedule.


When I woke up this morning it was alive and proofing; having doubled in size overnight. After giving it a good feed this morning I'm hoping to find the same when I get home tonight. If all else fails I can resort to a commercial starter, but I'm really hoping I can make a go of it myself. Anyway I’m looking forward to honing my mad kitchen science skills and making some tasty treats along the way. I also have a few more science experiments type things I’d like to try. I’ll keep you informed as to my progress, both success and failures.