We love Greek yogurt - the extra-thick, creamy yogurt found in Greek or Lebanese groceries. We like it dolloped on soups or as dessert with a little honey and fruit. We can't always find it, however, and sometimes we just don't remember to keep it around.
So when we want to get that extra-thick texture, sometimes we resort to the old technique of draining plain low-fat yogurt overnight. This method slowly drains away the extra water, giving us a richer, thicker yogurt.
To drain yogurt, line a large bowl with several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Dump the canister of yogurt into the cheesecloth, then gather the ends and fasten them tightly with a rubber band. Slip the rubber band over a cupboard knob and hang the bundle over the bowl. There will be a thin stream of water that comes out immediately, which will slow to a drip.
Leave hanging all afternoon, or transfer to the fridge and drain all night.
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I had it served recently with toasted almonds and rosemary honey-DELISH!
view DC Sarah's profile
You can drain yogurt in a paper coffee filter too.
view laura dot's profile
I drain yogurt with paper coffee filters, too. I use them to line a sieve, place the sieve over a mixing bowl, pour in the yogurt, cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.
view arin's profile
Coffee filters are the method I use, too. I never have cheesecloth around, but I always always have coffee filters. Doubled up and they work just fine.
view verily's profile
I usually serve this with some olive oil drizzled over it and some mint leaves - it's really good!
I prefer making this with whole yogurt because it's smoother. Low-fat tends to make it clumpier, in my experience.
view Kelli's profile
One more vote for coffee filters. Obviously, though, this method will work for much larger quantities.
It shocks me that people pay for the Donvier yogurt "cheese maker."
Then again, I paid for the Donvier yogurt maker. On second thought, it was actually a gift. But I would have paid.
Does anyone else make yogurt at home?
view renata's profile
honestly.. i just used 2 or 3 paper towels lining a small colander, over a bowl in the fridge. i stirred it about halfway through, let it sit overnight maybe a total of 24 hours. Lost about 1/2 it's volume but oh so thick!
turned some of it into a sauce for lamb, with garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice (thinned it out) and thyme. divine!
view cheflaura's profile
I have one of those reusable coffee filters - plastic edges and a super fine material covering the sides and bottom? Since I don't even drink coffee, I bought it specifically for draining yogurt. In the summer I do this alot since I use it as a base for vegetable dips. Yummy and super easy. I'm always a little worried about letting the yogurt sit on the counter to drain. How long can the yogurt be at room temperature before you need to start worrying about contamination of some kind?
view zelda139's profile