Make your own Yogurt “Cheese" Spread!

When I (Bea) worked on a farm back in 2005, the farmer I worked for didn't sell at producer-only markets and so we would buy up a bunch of products from other farmers and then sell them for a markup in DC.  We used to drive many a mile to purchase wholesale Amish “Yogurt Cheese" in large tubes, like it had been formed in a Sonoform -- and then we farm workers would spend evenings chopping it into ~1/2 lb half-moon-shaped blocks and bagging it for resale at various farmers' markets.  So that was my introduction to the concept of “Yogurt Cheese," which initially just sounded entirely disgusting & bizarre to me.  However, as low-paid farm workers who had “room & board provided" [meaning, anything left over that hadn't sold by the end of our markets, we could eat ourselves], my coworkers & I became accustomed to this stuff.

After that farm season, I promptly completely forgot about it until recently when I was looking up basic cheese-making, and this recipe popped up for Yogurt Cheese that said it only takes 5 minutes.  Well, hell.  I can take 5 minutes to make cheese!  I told Chris it was time for a science experiment and he happily rushed to the kitchen to see what I had up my sleeve.  Science is a big motivator in our household!

You'll need:

• Plain yogurt
• Salt (optional)
• Cheesecloth
• Strainer
• Bowl that the strainer fits into
• Towel or plastic wrap
• A day's worth of patience (or a bad memory!)

To Make the “Cheese":

Step 1:

Fold your cheesecloth in half or quarters and place it in the strainer, which should be set into the bowl.

Step 2:

Scoop out some plain yogurt into the strainer; the final volume will be less than what you start with, so we used half of our quart of yogurt as a trial run to make about a cup's worth of yogurt cheese.  We were still a bit skeptical!

Step 3:

Cover the whole thing with the plastic wrap or towel, and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

Step 4:

The next day, lift the strainer out of the bowl.  The whey will have drained out of the yogurt and be caught in the bowl underneath, while your yogurt cheese remains in the strainer!  It's sort of like the consistency of cream cheese or sour cream.

Step 5:

Pour out the whey and save it to use in baking projects, or discard if you don't want to use it in the near future--it won't keep too long.

Step 6:

Salt the yogurt cheese, if desired.  Scoop it into an airtight container & store in the fridge.

Step 7:

Healthier “sour cream"

YUM!


Chris has enjoyed the yogurt cheese on a croissant with strawberry jam.  Bea enjoyed it topping a “burrito bowl" (her term for a bowl full of burrito filling, but without the tortilla).

Chris's Aside:

This “cheese" is not actually CHEESE!!!  Bea fooled me.  I told her you can't really make cheese in 5 minutes.  This stuff was pretty good though, you just have to make sure “cheese" is in “quotation marks" so people know it's not really cheese.

The final yogurt “cheese" spread