Sour milk and yogurt.. Is there really a difference?

My yogurt experiments continue. After a very successful cream cheese making, I decided to try my hand at making my own yogurt again.

Making cream cheese is actually so simple. I simply grabbed a square of layered cheesecloth, thick enough that I could barely see my hand through it. I lined a bowl with this, and scooped a small container of balkan yogurt into it. I pulled the corners up so the yogurt was contained into a ball, and clipped it with a bag clip suspended over a coffee cup.

8 hours later, all the whey has dripped out of the yogurt and left behind cream cheese! Hurrah!

The cheese is a bit sharper tasting then regular cream cheese, but I'm pretty sure that's because mine has no added sugars or preservatives. I mixed in a little dill and garlic, and it tastes amazing on bagels.

The next frontier: Yogurt!

I have tried this experiment many, many times. Every time, the yogurt just doesn't really do much. It floats on top of the milk and begs me to end its life. So, I try again.

I took a bag of whole milk, heated it over medium heat until my thermometer (stolen from work) registered 100 degrees F. My mother recommends 185 for next time. Food for thought. Once I reached 100, I plopped my little cup of yogurt into the bottom of a mason jar, and poured the milk over it. Mix it up, pop it into the oven with the light on, a sort of incubator.

8 hours later, and I'm pretty sure my live cultures are flipping me the finger, if they had any. The milk hasn't done much, so I'm going to let it sit longer. Apparently my friend used to let hers sit for days... Not sure about that one.

Well... It's thickened, but I'm not sure if it's spoiled or if it's yogurt. I'll convince my boyfriend to taste it, and then I'll let you know. Over out.