- Thermometer
- Pot with a lid
- Something that can hold a warm temperature
- oven with the light on (it's hard to measure temperature regulation so the product might not turn out as expected)
- dehydrator with temperature regulation
- Yogurt maker
- A friend bought this one and it seems to work out just fine
- InstantPots have this setting
- Jar for storing the resulting yogurt (anything less than .5L would work)
- 1L 3.5% Whole Milk (I use milk that's been pasteurised but not homogenised). 1.5% can also work.
- 1 tablespoon of Skyr from a previous batch OR 1/2 tsp of Skyr starter
- In a large saucepan at medium heat while occasionally stirring, bring the milk up to 90C and hold at this temperature for 10 minutes. This kills existing bacteria that would be fighting for dominance with the Skyr bacteria. My lazy method = bring up to 90C, remove from heat, and put the lid on for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool to 40-46C (takes about an hour per liter). I recommend taking the lid off and stirring occasionally to help dissipate heat. There might be a film that forms on the surface; just mix it back in.
- Add Skyr starter. Mix thoroughly. Put lid on pot.
- Move pot to incubation chamber (e.g. fermentation chamber, oven with light on, dehydrator) and hold somewhere between 40-46C (42C works well for me) for 8-10 hours.
- After 8-10 hours, there should be some whey separation (this is normal). If not, leave in incubation chamber for 1 hour increments. Strain using a tea towel or cheese cloth until the desired consistency has been reached. Save the whey for other experiments.
- Cleanliness: During this whole process, make sure your utensils are clean. For example, while stirring the heating/cooling milk, make sure that the spoon that has contact with the milk doesn't have contact with other surfaces. There's a difference between clean and sterile. Running under or soaking in uncomfortably hot water from the tap works for me. I do not recommend cleaning by licking.
- Draining for a couple of hours results in a light/fluffy consistency like quark. Storing in a jar at this point might result in more whey to separate but I've never had a problem wth this.
- Draining overnight and applying a weight results in something that is a bit stiffer and spreadable. I've gotten it to a point where I mixed it with salt to get something that tasted like Feta, albeit less firm.
- Make whey sodas
- Soak and cook rice
- Replace water with whey for sourdough bread
- Making Norwegian Brown Cheese
- I've used Skyr culture to attempt to make cheese by following steps 1 & 2, adding an appropriate amount of rennet (roughly 1/8 tsp or .60 ml) mixed with 1/4 cup of water, mixing for 25 seconds, and letting sit out and culture at room temperature (with a lid) overnight. What results is a massive curd which can be cut, gently heated to 30C and stirred to remove more whey, strained/pressed/shaped overnight, cut into blocks, salted, and added to an 8% brine to cure (can be up to months, but it can be eaten immediately). What has resulted is a Feta-looking block with a which softer consistency. I've taken a block of this not-really-Feta, mixed with minced onions, and served on potatoes or pasta.
- Make butter by culturing cream instead of milk. Blitz in a blender until the solids separate from the liquid (buttermnilk). Save the buttermilk for baking. Wash the solids using ice cold water (blitz in blender with the cold water, massage buttermilk out, repeat 2-3 times). Shape into a log.