Yogurt maker: the return
After several years of forgetfulness, yogurt makers make their comeback . Pleasure of the home-made but also period of crisis since, over one year, one would realize about 45% of savings * on the yoghurt of the trade. The basic recipe of yoghurt is ultra-simple: cow's, goat's or sheep's milk, plus yoghurt containing the essential lactic ferments (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus). It is locked in the yogurt maker which keeps the mixture at 45 ° C for several hours (usually 8 hours) to ferment.
A yogurt maker costs on average 45 € , the first prices start at 25 €.
Cow, goat, sheep, soy ... What milk for a good yoghurt?
Salty, sweet, sheep's milk or soy, herbs, spices, with fruit, compote, vegetables ... ideas are not lacking! Just add the desired ingredients. Just know that depending on the milk used yoghurt is more or less fat : 3.5 g of fat in a plain yoghurt with whole cow's milk. But goat version, it is 5 g, and, sheep's milk, 6 g.
Finally , to make "light", you can use skim milk and a yogurt at 0%, but as the mixture may be too liquid, the trick is to thicken it with a little skim milk powder or Agar-agar (a vegetable gelling agent sold in organic shops).
Yogurt, good for the health and for the line
Homemade or commercially purchased, yoghurt is a nutritionally sound food item. It is rich in calcium (150 mg of calcium per 125 g jar). It is also much more digestible than milk because lactose, sometimes poorly digested, is transformed by the enzymes. Finally, yogurt promotes good intestinal transit . Its ferments contribute in part to the good balance of the intestinal flora, even in case of diarrhea.
* "The 100 best foods for your health", from Dr. Chevallier, ed. Fayard.
To read: our 3 associated recipes
Yogurt with candied tomatoes
Yoghurt with turmeric-potimarron
Gingerbread yogurt