It is no secret that I love making yogurt! I make some every 2-3 weeks, and have it pretty much every day! I love the consistency of my homemade yogurt, and love having it around to use in place of mayo in recipes, or even sour cream!
I can never go back to buying yogurt, because I love the add-ins in my yogurt. On any given day, I may add fruit, homemade jelly, nuts, chocolate, chia seeds, peanut butter, or whatever I can find in my kitchen! Both my husband and I have some in our lunch every day – I can’t imagine not having it!
Recently, I purchased this Villa Yogurt Starter from Cultures for Health. What is Viili yogurt?
Originating in Finland, Viili is a thicker yogurt which thrives on cream. It is also known as Viila and is similar to other yogurts such as Pitkapiima, Viilipiima, langil, taette, tatmjolk, langmjolk and skyr. Perfect for use in parfaits or in place of sour cream in recipes.
Viili is a mesophilic culture, meaning that it will culture at room temperature, so no yogurt maker is needed! All you do is combine the starter with milk, and let it sit at room temperature. 12 hours later, you have yogurt! You can continually reuse it to make more – you just combine 1 tbsp of the yogurt with more milk, and start all over. It is super easy!
This is the packet I received from Cultures for Health.
Simply empty the contents of the packet into 1 cup of milk. You can use any kind of milk (skim, 1%, whole, etc), however they say you will get thicker yogurt if you use whole milk.
Pour, stir, and cover!
Check back in 12 hours, at which time it will be thick and the consistency of yogurt! They recommend placing in the fridge for at least 6 hours, so the culture with stop working.
The next time you want to make yogurt, take 1 tbsp of your yogurt, and add 1 cup milk. Pour, stir, cover again. In 12 hours, you will have more yogurt!
It really is so simply, it is hard to believe it works! This culture can be reused infinitely, as long as you keep some of the yogurt to add to the next batch.
I wanted to test the thickness of the yogurt made with whole milk versus 1%, and here you go -
The one on the left is whole milk, and the one on the right is 1% milk. I can tell a big difference!
Honestly, I don’t mind the thinner yogurt, it still tastes good!
I am loving this! I am still making my other yogurt, but I am keeping at least a quart jar of the viili yogurt in my fridge as well.
Question: Would you try making Viili Yogurt? You should! It is so super easy!
UPDATE: Due to some questions I have received, here is some additional information on making this yogurt.
- If you wish to make this with raw milk, some additional steps are required. (Cultures for Health will send you this information when you order the starter, and it can also be found here.)
- You can make this yogurt with alternative milks (almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk etc), however it is not likely that it will continue to reculture time after time — so it is suggested to keep a backup of a dairy culture if you want to make it with other milks.
- Make sure your like is not ultra-pasteurized — it should just say “pasteurized” on it. Just like with making cheese, the ultra pasteurized process can make the milk unusable to making any type of yogurt.
Please note: I was not compensated for this post in any way. I recently discovered this yogurt culture on Cultures for Life on my own, and purchased it with my own money. Opinions stated are my own.
This is linked to the Homestead Barn Hop and Inspire Me Monday.
Your yogurt came out very good, I would choose one on the left, I am whole milk person (if I need a skimmed milk, I’ll make it myself).
I know this company, and at some point wanted to buy a kombucha culture from them and kefir grains. But ended up making my own kombucha from a bottle of store bought original. And kefir grains someone gave me. I’ve read somewhere that in order to thicken thin yogurt you need to add a dry milk powder. Have you tried this method before?
I made some jam to go with your yogurt!
http://www.picnicatmarina.com
I have actually added milk powder to yogurt before — that is how I first started making yogurt, but it seemed to bother my stomach, so I stuck to the straight milk method! Good for you on making your own kombucha culture! I have so many kombucha scoby’s now, I don’t know what to do with them! lol! I actually made some jam yesterday that I am posting about next week
I’m satisfied with making yogurt using heat, but may give this a whirl. To be honest, the thing that might stop me is having to purchase the culture, though that could also make me keep a batch in stock. And I do add some dry milk powder to thicken up my other yogurt.
It really is super easy! I actually sat on buying this for a long time, so I understand! I used to add dry milk to my yogurt, but found it bothered my stomach for some reason.
I would absolutely try this! One of my goals for this summer is to make homemade yogurt and get into the habit!
Katie @ Katie Without Restrictions recently posted..The Importance of Friendship
Very cool! I love making my own yogurt! BTW, I just got that book “One Thousand Gifts”, and I can’t wait to start reading it!
Ooh, I am loving that book! I hope you enjoy it.
Katie @ Katie Without Restrictions recently posted..The Importance of Friendship
This looks great. Do you think I could make it with almond milk??
Brittany (Delights and Delectables) recently posted..Getting Our Garden Growing
On the Cultures for Health website, it says you can make this yogurt with alternative milks, but it might not reculture over and over … maybe for the first few times, but that is it…. sorry! I know some yogurts you can make with almond milk! I know I have seen this one and I think this one sounds pretty easy too!
Thanks girl!!
Brittany (Delights and Delectables) recently posted..Getting Our Garden Growing
Wow—what a great concept! Sometimes I don’t make yogurt just because I’m lazy. This would totally banish my excuse for that. Lol.
I’d definitely try it, and will check it out! Thanks for sharing this great find!
Lisa recently posted..Lemon Essence Vanilla Cupcakes – with Almond/Coconut Flour (grain free, super low sugar)
Used to make yogurt all the time when the boys were home. This way looks so easy. Maybe I’ll give it a try for Jamie. We also made cheese with the yogurt. Need to get back to those things!
Jane recently posted..THE NEITHER HERE NOR THERE MONTH
Wow! Cool to be able to make your own yoghurt.
Malou recently posted..Cheap date in the flower fields
Thanks Malou! It is a lot of fun!
wow thanks so much for this. i’d love to try this one out myself. perhaps with raw milk
Thank you! You can definitely make this with raw milk — on the Cultures of Health website, they say you have to take some additional steps with raw milk, but they walk you through what needs to be done here.
I have the same starter and love it…when I share samples of it I always remind people to use non ultra pasturized…there are also tips for making it with raw milk on line too.
Thank you! Yes, it is great and so easy!