How to smoke yogurt???

Does anyone know how to smoke yogurt? I just had some at a great little restaurant and would love to be able to make it myself! I can always revert to the old trial and error method but if anyone has any experience, advice or ideas - I would love to hear them!

LornaFarris
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9 Comments

petitbleu
petitbleu March 17, 2012
What a great idea! My guess is that you'd want to use a cold smoking method, since I'm not sure how yogurt, even Greek yogurt would hold up under any kind of heat. I remember seeing an illustration of a homemade cold smoking technique in Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn--take a metal pan (a roasting pan would work; not nonstick of course), and place a handful of chips in the corner (applewood, cherry, hickory, and you could even throw in some of those lovely smoked lapsing soughing tea leaves). On the end of the pan opposite the wood chips, place a metal pie plate full of ice in the roasting pan. Place the container of yogurt (it should probably be a shallow, wide container so as to expose the most surface area possible) inside the ice. Light the chips and cover with aluminum foil until the chips burn up completely. Again, I've never smoked yogurt before, but it sounds awesome.
 
LornaFarris
LornaFarris March 16, 2012
That wok smoker idea sounds great! I would love specifics although I'm sure I could play around with it and see what works. Let me know if you try smoking yogurt!
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. March 18, 2012
for a 4 lb chicken, barbara tropp uses
1/4 c. tea leaves
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. raw rice
1/8 c. wood chips
and smokes it for 10 minutes. i would think to start off by smoking 8 ounces greek yoghurt for 8-10 minutes. let sit 5 min, remove lid and taste. you can keep smoking it if you add more sugar (assuming you still have some of the other ingredients viable). if the yoghurt 'melts' (i don't think it would), see if the smoke will still happen with lower than medium high heat.
from The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking pg 160

I also bet the chef would be happy to share her/his technique. I have found that 3-4pm is often a better time to call dinner chefs for this kind of thing.
 
LornaFarris
LornaFarris March 16, 2012
Thanks everyone! As far as I know this restaurant literally smoked the yogurt... It wasn't flavored with anything else. The server said it was smoked over rose wood something like that. Looks like a cold smoker or hand held smoker would be my best bet! (Adding liquid smoke to mayo sounds super yummy as well...) Thanks again for the ideas :-)
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. March 16, 2012
lorna, the trad way i smoke things is in a heavy- foil-lined wok with pad of foil in bottom on which is combo of rice, brown sugar, wood chips, tea leaves. over this a rack and your foodstuff. i suppose you could put a plate of strained yoghurt(so it's not so watery; greek yoghurt would be best, probably) on the rack.Heat to high until smoke plumes start to rise, add wok lid, lined with foil, seal bottom and top foil, turn heat to med high and smoke 10-20 minutes. turn off heat, let sit 5 minutes, uncover, taste. (explana:heat melts the sugar which catches the tea and rice and chips and produces smoke..) This is chinese (barbara tropp ckbks) technique. if you need specific quantities,let me know. I've been meaning to try this with tofu. If i do, i will try some yoghurt next to it and post back on this thread.
 
inspiredbyyou
inspiredbyyou March 16, 2012
sam, you is FUNny.:-}
 
hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour March 16, 2012
I think adding a small amount of liquid smoke would work - make sure to use one that is literally just smoke and water like Wrights. Start with just a drop or two - it's a pretty potent flavor. I'm sure the smoking gun would work as well - I've got one and have used it to smoke all sorts of things. You could also make your own cold smoker. You can look for videos on youtube and I've got instructions here: http://www.food52.com/recipes/15430_smoked_pork_rillettes
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 March 16, 2012
That's how some places here make a smoked mayo. Richard Balis (sp) with "Flip Burger".

An Aside: I keep remembering an old Beverly Hillbillies episode where granny wants to Smoke Crawdads and wondering around the park with the Hippies.
Officer: What are you doing here at this hour?
Granny: I'm trying to smoke some crawdad, but first I need to find a little pot.
Officer: Okay come with me.
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 March 15, 2012
They probably use a hand held smoker. "The Smoking Gun". which is pretty popular right now as it can cold smoke things that are not normally smoked like yogurt, bloody marys, and lettuce.
http://www.cuisinetechnology.com/the-smoking-gun.php
 
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