Regular readers of the Transition blog know that I am very enthusiastic about reducing our carbon footprint in the kitchen. So when Ali asked me if I would like to trial Transition’s new Wonderbag, which claims to be ‘saving the planet, one stew at a time’, I jumped at the chance! Aesthetically it resembles something between a piece of 1970’s furniture and a large tribal-print turban and, whilst I am always enthusiastic about trialling a new piece of kitchen equipment, I will admit I was a little dubious as to the usefulness of this somewhat garish kitchen utensil.

A 1970's beanbag or brilliant cooking device?

The Wonderbag works by providing insulation to a cooking pot. The food is first brought to the boil on a stove and then the pot is placed inside the toasty cocoon of the Wonderbag to continue cooking. The insulation provided by the Wonderbag ensures that the pot retains enough heat to cook the food. The bag also works for cold food and it can apparently keep foods frozen for up to 12 hours: working as a kind of squashy coolbox.

Throwing caution to the wind and completely disregarding the ‘safety tip’ to avoid ‘putting lukewarm food in the Wonderbag as it is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria’ I decided to experiment by making yoghurt. A very successful experiment it was too.

Yoghurt: a wonder food?

I will fully admit this is a slightly selfish choice; yoghurt is probably my favourite food ever. I eat it every day. It is amazing by itself, with granola, over crumble,  in cake (lemon and poppy seed especially), as salad dressing… the choices are endless. However, I do admit that it is freely available across the land which does raise the question of why make your own?

We probably know yoghurt is pretty good for us; we’ve all seen those adverts attesting the need for ‘happy bacteria’. Whilst perhaps not the miracle cure suggested, there is some evidence which shows that yogurt has some serious health benefits, not least it is a source of calcium, protein and vitamin B12 (good for the brain!). On the other hand, there are a number of commercial brands which pack their yoghurts with additives, sugary jams and other nasties, seriously undermining the health benefits. We are seeing more brands which chose to use organic products, shun additives and offer a more ecological alternative but these do tend to be a bit more expensive.

The jury is out on whether it is actually cheaper to make yoghurt yourself. I reckon it cost me £2.06 to make  two batches of 500g. Two pots of shop-bought organic yoghurt would have cost around £3.00. You have to have a fairly heavy yogurt habit to see a significant saving.

The major saving for me is not in the food itself but in the packaging. Yoghurt is a huge contributor to food waste in the UK: there are estimates that over 1 million pots are thrown away every day! This can be for a variety of reasons, sometimes you buy more than you need, sometimes you buy multi-packs with flavours you are not so keen on, sometimes we just need a certain amount of yogurt and have to buy a large tub (I hear this is a problem, I will confess its not one I suffer from).  On top of the food waste created, all of this yoghurt comes in plastic containers that are made of mixed plastics which are quite difficult to recycle. We are lucky in Fife that our Council will recycle the debris from our yoghurt nomming habits, but people in other places are less fortunate.

The homemade yoghurt in my fridge is currently held in a no-waste tupperware. I can add whatever flavour I wish to it. It can be used for sweet or savoury dishes. I can use it to start my next set of yoghurt. There will be no waste. Plus I made my own yoghurt – how cool is that?! The result was pretty creamy and I realised that this is half the fun; experimenting with different levels of starter can provide a more sour yoghurt (ideal for cakes and savoury dishes) or a creamier alternative (a perfect substitute for icecream in desserts). I thought my current batch was a brilliant base for a yummy breakfast yoghurt.

Wonderbag Yoghurt

If you are inspired by my efforts and would to have a trial Wonderbag or even get your own, please contact Ali at the usual Transition email address.

The Breakfast of Champions

Wonderbag Yogurt

Ingredients

  • 500 ml milk
  • 3 tbsp of milk powder (optional)
  • 3 tbsp of organic yoghurt (with live bacteria)

Directions

  1. I used Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recipe with a few adjustments
  2. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it reaches 46C or until you cannot keep a (clean) pinkie finger in it for 20 seconds without serious discomfort (this is the highly technical method I used)
  3. Add the milk powder and whisk
  4. Transfer to a prewarmed glass bowl and stir in the yoghurt
  5. Top with a saucer and place inside the Wonderbag.
  6. Leave alone!
  7. 8-10 hours later, sit back and enjoy your newly created yoghurty creation!

Tips:

  • For your next batch of yoghurt, you can use 3tsp from this batch as a starter.
  • The milk powder is used for thickening the yoghurt. If you’d prefer a drinking yoghurt (ideal for smoothies) or a pouring yoghurt like Scandanavian filmjölk use less.
The Breakfast of Champions

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups of porridge oats
  • 3 cups of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sesame, linseed)
  • 1 cup of wheatgerm
  • 1 cup of chopped mixed nuts
  • 1 cup of apple juice
  • 1/2 cup of honey
  • 2 tbsp of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp of cardommon
  • 1, 1/2 cups of raisins

Directions

  1. Place the oats,  seeds, wheatgerm, nuts and spices in a bowl. Stir in the apple juice
  2. Add the honey and stir until coated
  3. Spread on a large oven tray (lined with baking parchment)
  4. Bake in a medium oven (180C) until crispy and brown (although it will crisp up as it cools)
  5. Leave on the tray whilst it cools
  6. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the raisins.
  7. Will keep for weeks (depending on how hungry you get)

Tips:

  • You can really add whatever you like to granola. I quite often make it when I seem to have lots of left over things from baking: coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, spices, dried fruit all work well.

(As usual, a downloadable pdf of these recipes is available on our recipe page)

 

 

alistair.macleod

Ali is project manager of Transition University of St Andrews.