Has anyone ever tried to strain yogurt to make yogurt cheese (or thicker yogurt?)...

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dawnnys

Well-known member
this running to the specialty store downtown is getting expensive, and I see on the label that my favorite yogurt is just 2% fat, but is "strained" (removal of the whey from the milk) to make it thicker, and it tastes very much like full-fat.

Cheesecloth? How long? Etc. Thanks!

 
For the best flavor try:

The higher the fat the yogurt, the creamier the flavor, and less sharp the flavor.

You can buy a commercial yogurt strainer or use double (maybe triple) layers of moistened cheesecloth. If possible, strain in refrigerator t keep the flavor less sharp (unless that is what you want).

If you have tried straining a yogurt and the resulting "cheese" is too sharp, try mixing a very small amount of baking soda with a very small amount of water and then mix that solution in with your yogurt cheese to cut the acidity.

 
Liner..

I often use a coffee filter in the strainer if I don`t have cheesecloth around -it works well.

 
Thanks all, but I tried it with fat-free yogurt...

and it just poured right through the cloth. Store didn't sell cheescecloth so I bought some tuille (!) if you can imaging that. Very tightly woven, but it pour right out of there when I gave it a squeeze.

So i tried an "impecably clean" dish towel, as Julia Childs would say, and it did the same thing. I guess I could try a yougurt with more fat in it, but the whole idea was to concentrate the flavor so the fat-free wouldn't taste so thin (I don't mind tart, but I don't like soupy.)

Hmm, any other suggestions? I may just have to go to another store to get the cheesecloth. Thanks for any help.

 
I don't think it will work well with FF - try lowfat, and use a couple of layers of

unprinted paper towels to line the strainer, if you can't find cheesecloth.

 
It worked! I found cheesecloth at Walmart, and it was only 10 cents a yard! So I...

bought a few yards of it, made 1-foot squares, laid 4 of them out on top of each other, and strained a pint of yogurt. The 2% did work, not sure if it was the 4x cloth, or the higher fat content, but it worked well.

In fact, a little too well... I guess I have yougurt "cheese" now - let in sit in the refrigerator overnight. But that's ok, I took Durward's suggestion and put some fresh herbs in there and now I have a nice, tangy, lowfat cream cheese-like spread for crackers. Thanks guys.

 
Dawn, you may want to try making your own flavored yogurt. I let it sit>>>

overnight like you did and then I add liquid back into with what ever flavor I want. I saw Ina Gartin do this and now I never buy flavored yogurt. My favorite is:
fresh squeezed orange juice
orange zest
vanilla
honey.
I just add the juice to the consistency I want and the same for the honey and vanilla. Until I like it. We like to put it over granola.
I buy fruit when it is in season, like strawberries, and puree them, keeping some to chunk up for bites of fruit, and then I freeze in ready to use sizes. I did peaches but we really weren't crazy about it. Not sure why.

 
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