What makes the ideal yogurt strainer?

[Smithy]

Now that I've taken to making my own yogurt with some confidence, I'm looking for a way to strain all of it (1/2 gallon initial liquid) at once.  None of my fine-screen strainers has enough capacity to do that.  My colanders could handle it, but their holes are quite large and I use them too often to want to take one out of commission for an entire 24-hour period.  I've seen "yogurt makers" that are essentially a nested fine-screen sieve and bowl.  I could have sworn I'd seen a picture of yogurt strainer in these forums recently (@kayb, was that you?) but my searches are coming up empty.

 

I can simply buy another colander, one that will nest conveniently into one of my mixing bowls, and line it with cheesecloth. I wonder, however, whether there's an optimal shape, construction material and size.  Is a dedicated set worthwhile?  This Euro-Cuisine GY50 Greek Yogurt Maker on Amazon looked about right at $15 yesterday, but while I dithered over whether it was too much a single-use item it vanished from Amazon's shelves.  It's now only available through a third-party seller - and at (to me) mystifyingly high prices.

 

Recommendations, anyone?

[Darienne]

Several years ago we rented a completely empty house for a few months.  Amongst the stuff that we bought at second hand stores and flea markets and dollar stores, etc, etc, were a few pairs of what my Mother would have called glass curtains, the sheers which went under the drapes.  Brought them home with us and amongst their many uses was just what you are discussing: draining large amounts of yoghurt.   You could buy some at a second hand store probably as few people apparently use them any more. 

[MelissaH]

I usually take one of my sieves, line it with a coffee filter, and pour in as much yogurt as will fit to the top of the coffee filter.

[ElsieD]

 

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,40733,75415&p=75859

 

I too am looking for a better strainer set-up than a sieve.  I like the look of these and will be checking them out..  I have been using dim sum papers, the ones used to line bamboo steamers, in a sieve to strain my yogurt but the handles on the sieve are awkward to place in the fridge.  So, this plus the papers look as though they would work well.  Those papers, by the way, work better than anything else I've tried and that includes coffee filters and cheesecloth.  Yogurt releases very easily and nothing sticks to them.  If you can't find them, I'd be happy to send you some.

Edited July 11, 2017 by ElsieD
Corrected the link (log)

[andiesenji]

I use one of these that I keep exclusively for yogurt, kefir or cream cheese.  (I have three or four of the bags - I use for fruit, etc.) 

I keep the dairy bag in a plastic bag in the freezer between uses so it does not get mixed with the others.

 

I set the feet in the bottom of one of my 2-quart Cambro containers in the fridge.  

 

I have tried all the other strainers made for yogurt and none work as well as this simple strainer.

[helenjp]

For large amounts, boiled tea-towel in a colander.

[Smithy]

43 minutes ago, helenjp said:

For large amounts, boiled tea-towel in a colander.

 

Does it need to be boiled for sterilization purposes, or does that do something to the texture?

[kayb]

This one is what I have. It's showing on Amazon Prime right now for $15.56. I'm happy with it; I like the ease of being able to dump the yogurt in, snap the top on, and stash it in the fridge. I never have room for my big colander in the fridge.

 

It holds a half-gallon, but it fills it completely.

 

[Shelby]

I use one of these

[ElsieD]

35 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I use one of these

 

I tried one of those and sorry, but I found it didn't work very well for me.   

[mgaretz]

On 7/11/2017 at 10:27 AM, Darienne said:

Several years ago we rented a completely empty house for a few months.  Amongst the stuff that we bought at second hand stores and flea markets and dollar stores, etc, etc, were a few pairs of what my Mother would have called glass curtains, the sheers which went under the drapes.  Brought them home with us and amongst their many uses was just what you are discussing: draining large amounts of yoghurt.   You could buy some at a second hand store probably as few people apparently use them any more. 

 

That fabric would be voile and you can get a yard relatively cheaply at any decent fabric store.  Ideally you'd look for either a cotton or nylon, but polyester would be fine too.  Joann's has some on sale right now for $4.19/yd

[JohnT]

If you go to a catering equipment supply shop, look for a pack of deep fry oil filters - they should do the job. I purchase them in packs of 100 and have a special stainless steel funnel they drop into. The funnel has lips to fit over a large bowl or small drum. The filters are 24 cm deep and 24 cm across the top and conical in shape.

[andiesenji]

5 hours ago, mgaretz said:

 

That fabric would be voile and you can get a yard relatively cheaply at any decent fabric store.  Ideally you'd look for either a cotton or nylon, but polyester would be fine too.  Joann's has some on sale right now for $4.19/yd

That reminds me, I have 50 yards of the stuff from when I made my own "tenting" for catering outdoor events.  I went to the garment district in downtown Los Angeles and bought a 100 yard roll - used half of it.

 

[gulator]

On 7/11/2017 at 6:43 PM, Smithy said:

Euro-Cuisine GY50 Greek Yogurt Maker ...    but while I dithered over whether it was too much a single-use item it vanished from Amazon's shelves.  It's now only available through a third-party seller - and at (to me) mystifyingly high prices.

Recommendations, anyone?

Decided to get the Euro Cuisine Greek Yogurt Maker but with the stainless steel strainer, good reviews, quality seems good as well.

[Smithy]

On 7/13/2017 at 2:32 PM, gulator said:

Decided to get the Euro Cuisine Greek Yogurt Maker but with the stainless steel strainer, good reviews, quality seems good as well.

 

That explains the higher price than I'd originally seen; I hadn't picked up on the stainless steel insert.

 

There have been some wonderful ideas here.  I pulled the trigger on the unit I linked to earlier when it magically reappeared for $15.77 on Amazon (the same one kayb has, as it turns out).  I like that it has a colander and strainer together, as do the baskets to which ElsieD linked.  Meanwhile I've been trying different cheap home solutions.  Cheesecloth in my chinoise mimics the jelly bag to which Andiesenji linked, but it's too tall for my refrigerator space and I think the same problem would happen with the jelly strainer. The deep-fry oil filters also sound like something I'll need for our next trip.

 

Thanks, everyone!

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

That explains the higher price than I'd originally seen; I hadn't picked up on the stainless steel insert.

 

There have been some wonderful ideas here.  I pulled the trigger on the unit I linked to earlier when it magically reappeared for $15.77 on Amazon (the same one kayb has, as it turns out).  I like that it has a colander and strainer together, as do the baskets to which ElsieD linked.  Meanwhile I've been trying different cheap home solutions.  Cheesecloth in my chinoise mimics the jelly bag to which Andiesenji linked, but it's too tall for my refrigerator space and I think the same problem would happen with the jelly strainer. The deep-fry oil filters also sound like something I'll need for our next trip.

 

Thanks, everyone!

 

The same one at Amazon.ca is $36.75.  Ouch!  The stainless steel one is almost $50.00.  Plus we pay an additional 13% (in Ontario) sales tax on top of that.

[helenjp]

Boiled tea-towel in strainer or colander method:
Why boil? To avoid contaminating the yogurt, also a pre-wet cloth is more efficient than a dry cloth strainer.
Why a tea-towel? Because straining yogurt will eventually rot the fabric, so you may as well start with something cheap to replace.