Having perused Abbie Hoffman`s "Steal This Book" (LCCN 72-157115), I thought I`d have a go at yogurt making.


From "Steal This Book":


"Yippie Yogurt

Yogurt is one of the most nutritional foods in the world. The stuff you buy in stores has preservatives added to it reducing its health properties and increasing the cost. Yogurt is a bacteria that spreads throughout a suitable culture at the correct temperature. Begin by going to a Turkish or Syrian restaurant and buying some yogurt to go. Some restaurants boast of yogurt that goes back over a hundred years. Put it in the refrigerator.

Now prepare the culture in which the yogurt will multiply. The consistency you want will determine what you use. A milk culture will produce thin yogurt, while sweet cream will make a thicker batch. It's the butter fat content that determines the consistency and also the number of calories. Half milk and half cream combines the best of both worlds. Heat a quart of half and half on a low flame until just before the boiling point and remove from the stove. This knocks out other bacteria that will compete with the yogurt. Now take a tablespoon of the yogurt you got from the restaurant and place it in the bottom of a bowl (not metal). Now add the warm liquid. Cover the bowl with a lid and wrap tightly with a heavy towel. Place the bowl in a warm spot such as on top of a radiator or in a sunny window. A turned-off oven with a tray of boiling water placed in it will do well. Just let the bowl sit for about 8 hours (overnight). The yogurt simply grows until the whole bowl is yogurt. Yippie! It will keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks before turning sour, but even then, the bacteria will produce a fresh batch of top quality. Remember when eating it to leave a little to start the next batch. For a neat treat add some honey and cinnamon and mix into the yogurt before serving. Chopped fruit and nuts are also good."


This information in head, I bought a 500ml tub of organic yogurt (Raspberry, as it happens) and ate all but the last couple of spoonfuls.  I then heated half and half semi skimmed milk and double cream until it looked like it was about to boil.  I then pored the mixture into the near empty yogurt tub.

In retrospect, it would probably have been better to let the milk and cream cool somewhat first.  Indeed, I was worried enough about having potentially killed the yogurt that I bought another tub (strawberry, this time) and plopped a dollop of it into the cooled mix, before guzzling the remainder.  Thus, I hoped to ensure I wasn`t growing anything unpleasant in the tub.

I dropped the lid on (loosely), wrapped the tub in a towel and left it in my bedroom for about 20 hours (my bedroom is fairly cold, so the growth would have been slower).  Upon getting home from work the following day, the contents of the tub, though a lot runnier than I had hoped for, smelled like unflavoured yogurt.

Remembering my SAS training (ie reading Lofty Wiseman`s book when I was a youngster), I stuck my finger into the tup and ate the blob of alleged yogurt that came out stuck to it.  About an hour later, a fish supper was deposited on top of this sample.  The following morning, two mouthfulls were consumed, the tub having been in the fridge overnight.  Thus far no ill effects have been noted.