How To Make Homemade Yogurt Cheese

The process of making yogurt cheese is simple enough for anyone to do, and though yogurt cheese makers are commercially available, it actually requires nothing more specific or sophisticated than a colander or strainer, a couple of coffee filters or paper towels, and a bowl.

Start With The Right Yogurt
This is the only step that could possibly pose a problem; if you start with the right base ingredient making yogurt cheese is practically foolproof, but if you start with the wrong kind of yogurt you'll almost certainly be disappointed with the results.

It doesn't really matter whether you choose to make your cheese with regular, low-fat, or no-fat yogurt. It also doesn't matter whether you use plain or flavored yogurt, though flavored yogurts are generally sweetened and often carry a higher calorie count.
 

What really matters is that the yogurt you start with does not contain gelatin, which binds the whey to the yogurt and basically thwarts the whole cheese making process. Choose your yogurt with this in mind; if there is gelatin in the yogurt, it will say so on the label.

 

There's nothing difficult about making yogurt cheese, and that includes assembling your equipment. If you have a strainer large enough to hold your yogurt, that's great, but if you don't, just haul out the colander you use to strain your spaghetti.

You need to line your strainer or colander with something fine enough to keep the yogurt solids contained but let the whey run through. Coffee filters are excellent, but paper towels or even a clean cotton kitchen towel work perfectly too.The only other piece of equipment you need is a bowl for the whey to drain into. Experiment until you've found one that your colander or strainer can sit on without touching bottom - this is important because you want the whey to drain away and not be reabsorbed.