fr-brrr-ozen yogurt

Yogurt. It is a fermented dairy product from milk. 

Technically, fermentation is the process of chemical conversion with the use of microorganisms. Microorganisms are not necessarily bad. Bacteria is not necessarily bad - they're just like us, some are good, some are evil. 

In yogurt, the microorganisms are from the genus lactobacillus. Lacto, from lactose and bacillus, which means rod-shaped. Putting them together, they are rod-shaped bacteria which convert milk (majority lactose) to lactic acid. Lactic acid makes the yogurt tart. Expired milk has high lactic acid, so it's tart. WAIT. Can expired milk be called yogurt? NO. You can't tell if it's the "good bacteria" that's making it tart.

Is it good for you? YES and YES. No.1: Lactobacillus is a naturally-occuring microorganism in the human stomach. They are in the line of defense when infection attacks. So when the enemy is plenty, there's also plenty of casualties in our army. So why not recruit more troops? No.2: It is friendlier than milk. If you're lactose-intolerant, this one's for you. Since the microorganisms started the chewing for you, you'll have a little left to digest. No.3: Since it's from milk, it's got the calcium! And there is still a lot more. 

YO-GO BOY frozen yogurt

So what's froyo? Frozen yogurt means literally as it is spelled - it's super cooled yogurt. It's sweeter because
sugar is added to cater to most people, especially kids who prefer sweet rather than sour. Can I just buy ready-to-eat yogurt and freeze it? YES. I do it a lot when I crave for froyo and the shop is out of reach. Just pop it to the freezer, knead or massage the flexible plastic container every 5 minutes and wait until the consistency is just right. Kneading makes it smooth. If you don't knead, there'll be water crystals that can pierce through the the dreamy creamy feeling. When done, top with fruit or cereal and - tada! - DIY froyo.

A little warning though. When you opt for the regular store-brought type of yogurt or the froyo, there's a lot of sugar added so you might get more sugar than the goodness of yogurt. If you want it healthier, choose the unflavored one (Nestle's Creamy Yogurt in white packaging), then add a little honey to sweeten if you can't tolerate the tartness. 

Can I make my own yogurt? YES. Grab a cup of unflavored yogurt (as starting culture, to make sure you get only the good bacteria), milk, and some glass bottles. Next, sterilize. No, you can't EVER skip this step. Sterilize everything that will touch your ingredients and product. Sterilize especially the glass bottles. Boil a pot of water and pop in your materials (no, not the starting culture!) like mixing bowls, measuring cups, ladle and the bottles to hold your final product. Keep it there for about 30 minutes. This step kills other microorganisms that you don't want to interfere with your business. Then, sterilize your milk in a separate pan. Keep the fire low and stir continuously so the milk won't curdle. Do this until you see smoke coming from the milk. Turn off the fire and put it in the bowl. Add the yogurt (more milk than yogurt, about 1L to a single cup), mix, and place in prepared bottles. Cover. Then incubate to let them grow and multiply: place in a clean warm area and wait for the right moment to unfold. Too excited for it? Fill an ice bucket with warm (not boiling, goodness!) water and soak the bottles in so they feel warmer and grow faster. 

Ehr.. when will the right moment unfold? When you only got the table top as a warm area, take a look at it after about 24 hours. If it is the back of the fridge, about 8-12 hours. Jiggle the bottle a bit, and if it is set, it IS the right moment. If not, wait a little more. Then grab a clean spoon and taste it. If it's tart, it's good. If not, then it's not done. Adjust the time until you get what you prefer. Just remember to use a clean spoon every time you take a lick. You wouldn't want your saliva to destroy your hard work. 

Have I tried this? Yes, in college. We did a guyabano (sour sop) yogurt, which I realized was not a good pair since yogurt and guyabano are both sour. We should have done a mango-banana. Is it worth the effort? Yes when you love yogurt. If not, what's the point? Oh wait, there's fun in doing it.

A little trick: use tiny glass bottles (Gerber) to contain your product so it is instantly individualized. In the bottle, add your favorite fruit and sweet syrup before the milk-yogurt mixture and DO NOT stir so it looks layered. So when you have done incubating, you can just pop it in the fridge and take it out when you want to eat and just stir (now is the right time to stir) to distribute the fruit. Want the froyo? Move it up the freezer! 

Does it expire? Of course. It's perishable. The longer it stays, though slow and gradual, the more sour it gets. It gets sour that 1: you can't tolerate it and 2: you are not anymore sure that other microorganisms might have party-crashed. How long? About 3 days. 

Ready to try it out? Tell me how you do (while I grab my own from the fridge)...