Yogurt Cheese

Yogurt is a great source of both calcium and protein and those benefits extend to the yogurt cheese that we can make from it.

To make cheese out of yogurt all you need do is strain the whey from it, so, it's super easy to make and chock full of beneficial probiotic bacteria - that is assuming your yogurt was full of live culture in the first place.

Number one thing to do is make sure you start your cheese making venture with the right product. As Mrs Beaton would have said "first catch your hare"!

If you already make your own yogurt then it will be suitable. If you're going to buy the yogurt, read the label carefully.

• The label must state contains active yogurt culture. If it doesn't, it means that it has been heat treated after making and the beneficial probiotic cultures have been killed. Yogurt must contain at least 100 million bacteria per gram at the time of manufacture to display the “Live & Active Cultures” seal.

• Read the label to see which cultures are in the yogurt. Have you any preference? If so, make sure you choose the right brand of yogurt.

• You get to choose which type of milk is used. Sometimes we forget that yogurt can be made from more than just cow's milk. So check out the goat's milk yogurt, and the sheep's milk and buffalo milk yogurt. You can bet if a critter produces milk, someone somewhere in the world makes yogurt out of it. Live a little – try them all!

• Check that it doesn't contain any gelatin or thickener.

• Check the fat content of the yogurt. Because you are going to strain the whey out of the yogurt, it will seem richer than the non-fat version of yogurt does. Full fat yogurt does not seem to separate as well so that you can't make such a firm cheese and quite honestly the final flavour is not as good as using low fat yogurt.

• Check the "best buy" date. Yogurt is at its most nutritious fresh and the beneficial bacteria slowly diminish throughout the yogurt's shelf-life. So it makes sense that if you're doing this for a specific health benefit such as controlling yeast or candida, the yogurt you make the cheese from should be as fresh as possible.

How to Make Yogurt Cheese

Okay, you've caught your hare - sorry, bought your yogurt - that was the tricky bit. So many labels to read!

Take it home and strain it. It really is that simple.

You can buy a proper yogurt cheese drainer. The Cuisipro Donvier yogurt cheese maker can be bought through Amazon or or you can simply strain it through cheesecloth, paper towel, or a coffee filter. If, like me, your Scottish heritage just won't let you throw out that piece of used cheesecloth and you have to wash and boil it ready for the next time, then the commercial yogurt cheese makers are the way to go. You still have to wash them and the sieve part is a bit of a hassle but not half as much as fiddling round with your cheesecloth.

Roughly, two cups of yogurt will make one cup of the cheese but that varies with your starting yogurt and how long you leave it draining. Spoon it into your strainer and place it over a container to collect the whey and put in the fridge. Much of the whey will have drained within two hours but leave it longer (ideally overnight but up to 24 hours) to get a nice consistency.

Some people discard the whey. DON'T. It is a nutritious liquid full of protein and Lactobacilli and can be drunk straight or used in baking. If I'm not going to use it that way, I feed it to our dogs. When Berry had puppies I added the whey to the puppies food. They loved it and they grew so well. I'm convinced that yogurt cheese is a healthy addition for both man and animals.

Experiment with different products because they all taste a little different.

Using Yogurt Cheese

Spread it on bagels, muffins, or sandwiches; use it as a delicious topping for your baked potatoes (mix in chives and the herbs of your choice).

This is one of these wonderful things that will take on the flavour of whatever you mix it with so use it freely in your whipped cream, mayonnaise and icecream to increase the goodness factor. It's so creamy and delicous that a dollop on a desert turns a plain pud into a treat.

A yogurt cheese smothered desert teaming with health-giving probiotics. Now that’s my kind of desert!

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