Making Skyr Yogurt

Skyr, from Iceland, is really a kind of yogurt. Now, instead of having to fake it with buttermilk or other types of dairy ingredients, you can actually make it yourself easily. Why? Because it is available here in the US of A as Siggis... cost you over a buck for a small container but you can use that as the start of a great relationship with Skyr (pronounced "Skeer") Since you will need only part of the container, just freeze the rest - I use a melon ball scoop to take out portions and place each in a small plastic sandwich bag and label it and freeze it for future use. And oh yes, a yogurt maker makes it easier to make the yogurt - we have a Waring Pro Yogurt Maker we bought several weeks ago. A thermometer is really needed here - one that gets you from room temperature or below to at least the boiling point. And you should be able to tell when the temperature is below 100F, at or above 190F, and at 110F. Those temperatures are critical to most yogurt making. Also, we sometimes mix the result with a teaspoon or so of jam per serving - strawberry is good. And the resulting yogurt can be used for many, many different things. This is not your parents yogurt!

• Ready In: 8 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon yogurt, vanilla skyr Siggis
• 1  quart milk, any kind but whole milk is tastier
• 1⁄2 cup powdered milk

Directions

1. Safety check: yogurt cultures are a mix of bacteria developed for yogurt making. Since you will be growing bacteria, make sure it stays the good kind by remembering food safety cleanliness rules - boil all equipment or run it through your dishwasher if you can and always make sure to keep contaminated or unwashed items from touching any of the equipment, milk or cultures you are working with at all times.
2. Mix the dry and liquid milk together and heat at least to 190°F Hold at that temperature for 10 minutes to give the proteins a chance to do their thing. Be careful not to ruin the batch by burning it on the bottom of the pot - you can use a double boiler if you have one.
3. Cool the milk mix to at least 120°F but not below 100°F You can reheat the milk mix if it goes below 100°F.
4. Put part or all of the cooked milk mix in a blender - depending on the size of your blender - with the tablespoon of Siggis (make sure you taste a bit of the Siggis if you haven't tasted it yet so you know what your results should taste like - and keep any extra in your freezer for your next batch) and blend well - 10 seconds should do it. Mix with any of the extra milk if your blender is not big enough to hold all the mixed cooked milk and Siggis.
5. Pour the cooled, mixed and blended milk into 8 oz cups and place in your yogurt-maker (if you have one) and start it or put the cups in a cooler with a large bottle (quart or more) of hot water - at least 140°F Be sure the cups do not touch the water bottle. If the water is too hot, it will cook the yogurt rather than allow the yogurt culture to do it's thing.
6. After 5 - 8 hours, check for firmness and if it is firm (will not jiggle if jostled), put in your fridge. Taste your new yogurt after it has had time to cool down in your fridge. (I have had yogurts firm up in as little as 3 hours and remember that the longer it continues in the yogurt maker or cooler, the more tangy your yogurt becomes.
7. Please note that the "cooking time" shown here is really the culture time and it can vary from a couple-3 hours to 8 or more hours, with the temperature having the greatest effect on the length of time to complete. Too hot and it will cook - no yogurt; too cold and it will take forever/never - no yogurt. That is why we recommend a temperature controlled yogurt-maker of your own choosing.
8. And the best news of all -- once you do this, you can make just about any kind of yogurt you want to - just buy either the active yogurt cultures (you can find them online) or buy a plain yogurt of the type you want with active cultures and make it according to the instructions in this recipe.
9. Enjoy!