How yogurt is made – Homogenization, Fermentation.
Yogurt is a fermented dairy product which has been produced traditionally for a long time. This food is a healthy choice to add on your regular diet. The process of making yogurt is simple and easy. So, the write up will be covering what is yogurt made of and the manufacturing process of yogurt. Also, you will come to know production process of Greek yogurt.
So, before going to the manufacturing process, I like to explain some facts about yogurt.
Yogurt is a very nice source of probiotics. Moreover, yogurt contains several nutrients which are very essential for our health to boost the immune system. Also, it can be a nice food for the people of all ages. Besides these, this food has a vast use in the treatment of yeast infection and diarrhea as well. There are various types of yogurt available with different flavors.
How yogurt is made?
Manufacturers use several raw materials to produce yogurt and these materials include milk, sugar, stabilizers, fruits, flavors and bacterial culture. Now, I am going to explain how manufacturing companies produce yogurt step by step.
- Preparation of the milk: There are different types of yogurt such as fat-free or full-fat yogurt, lactose-free yogurt, dairy- free yogurt, gluten-free yogurt, sugar-free yogurt etc. So, it is the most important step to modify the milk in such a way that it can produce the desired type of yogurt. Moreover, the manufacturers also ensure a suitable fat-solid condition of the milk.
- Heating up the milk: Before entering this step, milk is being added with stabilizers. Then the milk undergoes a heat treatment which is called pasteurization (the process of killing harmful microorganisms with the application of heat).
- Homogenization: After completing the pasteurization process, milk is being homogenized. This homogenization process is also very important to produce the smooth texture of yogurt, because this process breaks down the globular fat molecules into smaller particles.
Image Credit: madehow
- Fermentation: This is the process where bacterial activities turn milk into yogurt. After completing pasteurization and homogenization, milk is being cooled to 43-46 degree Celsius approximately. When the milk is cooled down to the desired temperature, bacterial cultures are added to the milk in 2% concentration. The bacterial cultures are of lactobacillus species and they are lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus.
After the addition of bacterial culture, the milk is incubated in a certain temperature to maximize the activity of bacterial culture. The incubation process occurs about 3 to 4 hours.
During the incubation process, bacterial culture converts the milk sugar (lactose) to lactic acid, which is an important byproduct of fermentation. Also, the lactic acid level helps to determine whether the yogurt is ready or not. The lactic acid level of the product is identified by treating the sample of the product with sodium hydroxide. However, 0.9% acidity and a pH level of around 4.4 is the present recommended standard for the manufacturers in the United States. The acid level of the product adjusted to the standard and when it reaches to the desired level, the product is allowed to cool down and later modification if necessary.
However, this is the basic process of manufacturing regular yogurt. The manufacturers also add flavor, sugar or fruits at different stages of processing.
Finally, the product undergoes quality testing. This is very important to hold the popularity of manufacturing companies, because if they do not do this step carefully, the customers may find any manufacturing defects which may lessen their profit.
How Greek yogurt is made?
When yogurt is made, it has basically two parts; the yogurt and the whey. Regular yogurt contains both, but the whey has been removed as much as possible in Greek yogurt.
I have already talked about the manufacturing process of yogurt, and the manufacturing process of Greek yogurt requires only one extra task. To make Greek yogurt, take your home made yogurt or any other regular yogurt and strain it with a Greek yogurt strainer or a cheesecloth whole night. After straining, your desired product is ready.
Along with the manufacturing process, Greek yogurt also differs from regular yogurt in several ways.
How frozen yogurt is made?
Frozen yogurt is made almost in the similar ways of making ice creams. Also, the similar ingredients (except the yogurt culture) are also used to make this.
I like to conclude saying that, try to eat yogurt daily in a certain amount to get its magnificent health benefits. Moreover, the research of the benefits of yogurt is still going on and there are many evidences which show the positive impacts of consuming yogurt. So, buy or make yogurt and get them.