One of the implements in our new kitchen I have been most surprised by is the warming drawer. I thought it just kept things warm, but it is able to hold stable temps from 80 to 200F which proves very useful. This allows for proofing dough ferments, and as I’m learning, incubating dairy cultures. I’ve made delicious yogurt, creme fraiche, and then experimented with various combinations out of curiosity. This one is something I have not seen, but turned out incredibly good.
Put one pint of heavy cream in a glass bowl. Add one tbsp of plain Fage greek yogurt and one tbsp of buttermilk. Whisk to incorporate. Incubate the mixture at 110F for 8 hours. Then place in fridge. This turns out to approximate cream cheese, but it is so much better. It has a light texture, but is rich in flavor. I had it on a bagel this morning with red onions and capers and it absolutely killed. If you read labels, processed dairy tends to have so many extenders such as guar gum and xantham gum, what you get with this is the real deal. Give it a go!
Thanks, Kenny.
I like finding out simple ‘hacks’ to making kitchen staples.
I started making my own butter with good local cream a couple years ago and it’s hard to go back to industrial.
I will give this a try.
Cheers.
I remember when Saveur magazine used to include simple recipes for things like homemade butter and for simple cottage-type cheese. I was always fascinated by that. The inclusion of step-by-step photos was cool too (hint, hint)!
That’s fascinating Kenny, thanks for posting it. I think my WFO, once insulated, will be sitting at temps like this 3 days after firing. We’ve been thinking about doing our own yogurt. I’ll definitely give this a go.
I didn’t even consider the larger possibilities of having an outdoor oven like yours, Larry! Wow, without fear of heating up the whole house, you can do all kinds of low-and-slow recipes!
That’s cool, I hadn’t read that. The fundamentals are similar but I take several shortcuts that allow me to skip whey separation.
Also, my method may not be exactly foolproof because of the timing and inclusion of buttermilk (mesophilic culture) and yogurt (thermophilic). The mesophilic works in the 72 to 80 range. Thermophilic works in the 110 range. So just to be exact…
Start with cold heavy cream, cold buttermilk, cold yogurt, and a cold warming drawer. Do not pasteurize the cream.
Mix the cream with buttermilk and yogurt. Place in drawer, set heat to 110 and time to 8 hrs.
Remove, place in fridge immediately. There should be no whey separation and no need to strain.
