I have reached at least of my goals in sustainability, albeit a small and rather silly one: effectively, I am now self sustaining in yogurt.
I eat yogurt - a lot of yogurt. I can easily put away one of those larger containers a week (good source of protein, low fat, all the things). The cost on those is about $4.00 here locally for the generic brand.
One of the activities The Plague has allowed me to do with greater frequency is make my own yogurt. It is not terribly hard: one gallon of milk in a Crock Pot heated to 176 F, cooled to 115 F, culture added, and then wrapped up to keep the heat (I wrap the outer container in a blanket and put a towel over the lid where the heat loss is greatest) and allow to sit for 12 hours. After that, I drain through cheese cloth for 12 hours (I like thick Greek style yogurt, so I let it drain quite a while). Ladle into a container and done. The cost is that of the gallon of milk (about $3.00 hereabouts), the culture (maybe $0.25 over the life of the product), and the electricity (around 6 hours) to run the Crock Pot.
Yogurt is a versatile food. I eat it for breakfast (I just put it in with my dry oatmeal and eat it, but occasionally exchange the oats for cereal or even more rarely fruit). You can make any number of sauces out of it (dill dipping sauce, the Greek sauce tzatziki). It also makes a great dessert with honey poured over it as well.
But here is the thing I have reached: I am now self sustaining in yogurt.
Not self sufficient: I do not have anything that produces the raw ingredients (milk), nor do I think it likely that I ever will. But give me a gallon milk and I can make yogurt.
I just received (from the good folks over at The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company) a Bulgarian Yogurt Culture which (in theory) allows you to take from a previous yogurt, add to prepared milk, and then make a new batch of yogurt. I will try to ease into this (my confidence level for such things is low), but in theory it is possible. If true (and successful!) this would extend my self sustainability further.
There is no great victory here; man cannot live on yogurt alone. But, at least to me, it matters. It is a chip - a very small chip, but a chip - in my requirements to be dependent on the system to provide me with finished products. And anything - any single thing - that reduces one's reliance on a rather creaky distribution system or on the ability and willingness of others is a victory worth having.
Onward to the path of dairy freedom!
Bulgarian yogurt sounds like sourdough bread. Neat!
ReplyDeleteAnd congratulations on that! 🐰
Thanks Linda! It does sound familiar, does it not? Excited to try.
DeleteEvery little bit counts! I applaud you, TB!
ReplyDeleteI think so too Leigh. Thank you.
DeleteKnow many ladies,now passed on,fromlebanon who made yogurt every week from starter saved from last batch
ReplyDeleteVery easy have done it myself
Wow, thanks Deb! That gives me hope.
DeleteCongrats TB! You'll save a lot of money and eat something much healthier. I also am self-sustaining with yogurt. I never used culture to start it. I used Activia I think. I always keep 1/4 cup of the yogurt to use as my starter for the next batch. This works for up to a year believe it or not, and I make yogurt pretty much weekly. Since moving I stopped making it, but I will start with some culture for the next batch.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rain. This is actually the sort of thing I can handle.
DeleteI am interested to try the Bulgarian culture with the next round and see what the differences are.
" ...(good source of protein, low fat, all the things)."
ReplyDeleteYou might consider looking into the low fat idiocy thing. IIRC, fats are supposed to comprise ~30-40% of a human's caloric intake. Turns out that when you cut the fat content, people are driven to eat more food. Notice how most of Western Civ has gotten much fatter since that low fat diet was pushed on us by various governments and food manufacturers? (The producers make more money making low fat stuff.)
Will, in the past I have purchased non-fat yogurt. When I make it myself, I use whole milk (or "all the fat", I suppose). I try to keep mine around 20-30% of my intake. I do not go out of my way to avoid it, just try to keep on top of it. For that matter, much of the "low fat" is similar to "low calorie" is that it is really things that we should not be eating at all (e.g., largely chemical).
DeleteThanks for stopping by!