Here are some things to keep in mind when dealing with yogurt. As always, this list strives to be comprehensive, so many things here may be well known by some.
- Choose yogurt with a sell by date furthest away from the current date.
- Choose yogurt that lists the active cultures available within the yogurt, including Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus salivarius and/or thermophilus.
- Yogurt lasts for 10 days beyond its sell by date, but should be eaten sooner than later.
- The cultures within yogurt give it tenderizing properties, and allows yogurt to make for a wonderful marinade.
- To replace milk with yogurt, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of yogurt used.
- To prevent prevent yogurt from curdling when adding to a hot mixture, bring the yogurt to room temperature.
- When cooking with yogurt, cook it over low heat only until the yogurt is warmed through.
- Excessive stirring of yogurt will make the yogurt become runny and lose its consistency.
- Yogurt will not seperate as easily in hot preparations that are flour based.
- To fix a yogurt that has seperated, dissolve 1 teaspoon of corn starch or two teaspoons of All purpose Flour with 2 teaspoons of cold water. Add this mixture to one cup of the seperated yogurt and fold together over low heat.
- To retain the healthy benefits of the active cultures, prevent the yogurt from exceeding 120 degrees F.
- When heating yogurt in a recipe, remove the mixture from heat before adding the yogurt, or stir in the yogurt over low heat.
- Plain yogurt can replace both mayonnaise or sour cream.
