YOGURT (Bulgaria)

INGREDIENTS:

8 cups of milk
1 yoghurt without sugar (in some countries called 'natural' or kumis)

From the yoghurt we only need the bacterium that converts the milk into yogurt. You must buy a simple one, without aroma and sugar, from the expository of refrigerated. If you buy a yoghurt for those exposed on shelves without refrigeration you won't be able to make yoghurt
because the bacteries have been removed artificially. By the way, if you want to make Greek yoghurt you do not need to buy one greek yoghurt. From a greek yoghurt you can only obtain a normal yoghout. At the end of this chapter I will explain how to get such kind of yoghurt.
First preheat the empty oven at 350 ºF for about 20 minutes. Then switch off. We will use the oven like 'nest' for the fermentation. Then boil the milk and let cool till 120 ºF. If you do not have termometer, simply watch the milk is few smokey and introduce your little finger. You will note the milk still very hot but you can keep the finger 'without too much pain'. That's very important cause the bacteries need this temperature to start fermentation.
We recommend you have small recipients around 1 cup or less. Introduce in each one a tablespoon of the youghurt you bought. Fill the recipients with the milk. Place the recipients in a box or a tray and wrap with a towel. Put quickly inside the oven and after 6 hours you should have a pre-yoghurt.
When you'll uncover the recipients you will find water and other products of the fermentation. Probably it is also a bit liquid in general. It's normal. You can remove serum – the liquid – if you want. Place now in the refrigerator and let it cool for two hours. The yoghurt will thick much more and get the aspect we are used to.
Now imagine that you want to make greek yoghurt type. Greek yoghurt is more creamy, similar in consistency to mayonnaise. In the Middle East and East Europe is the usual kind you can find elsewhere. To obtain that creamy consistency you must remove the serum. Place all the yoghurt you got with the procedure just explained into a fine cloth bag and hang it to allow to drain freely overnight – or minimun 6 hours -. Then take the yoghurt and beat hard to get the creamy look. A small trick : add some cream to make it even more soft.