What I Made from Just 3 Liters of Milk | Traditional Turkish YOGURT, CHEESE & More

Ever wondered what you can do with just 3 liters of raw milk? In this episode, I’ll show you how I turned that simple ingredient into a full table of traditional Turkish recipes—nothing goes to waste!

🍶 I start by making creamy yogurt using a probiotic culture
🧀 Then I turn the remaining milk into cheese using vinegar and salt—and show how to preserve it in brine.
🥣 I use the leftover whey to make soft poğaça, a Turkish savory bread.
🥗 With the yogurt, I prepare refreshing ayran and classic cacık.
🥐 And with the homemade cheese, I make crispy rolled sigara börek using yufka dough.

Every step highlights sustainable, delicious ways to use up every drop of milk. Whether you’re into gut-friendly foods, Turkish home cooking, or simple dairy recipes, there’s something here for you.

📌 Recipes included:

Homemade Yogurt

Fresh Vinegar Cheese

Brined Breakfast Cheese

Turkish Poğaça with Whey

Rolled Börek with Cheese

Ayran (Salted Yogurt Drink)

Cacık (Yogurt with Cucumber and Herbs)

⏱️ No machines needed, just traditional, practical methods!

📍Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more Turkish recipes and food culture videos.

#TurkishFood #HomemadeYogurt #FromScratch #TraditionalRecipes #Poğaça #Börek #Ayran #Cacık #NoWasteCooking #ProbioticFoods #DairyRecipes

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Hi everyone, this is Aisher Alan. In today’s video, I’ll show you how I used just three liters of raw milk to create a traditional Turkish foods. From yogurt and cheese to poor, burk, iron, and more. Everything is homemade and nothing goes to waste. Let’s get started. I’m starting with 3 L of fresh unpasteurized milk. I know not everyone can find raw milk, so feel free to use pasteurized milk for the recipes I’ll be showing you. I first brought the milk to a boil, then let it simmer for about 15 minutes. During this time, I poured it back and forth with a ladle from a height. This helps some of the moisture evaporate and results in a thicker, creamier yogurt. After that, I rested the milk for 15 minutes to cool down a bit and I poured into two jars about 800 ml each. and let them cool down to around 45 Celsius degree before adding the yogurt starter. I kept one small cup aside to check the kimak layer later. You can make yogurt using any live yogurt culture. Traditionally, we use a spoonful of old yogurt to start a new batch. But these days, even homemade yogurt might not always have the healthy live bacteria we want. So, I decided to use fresh probiotic culture I bought from the market. To activate it, I mixed the powder with some lucarm milk that I poured baked from the jars and mixed it with the powder and let it sit for about 15 minutes to [Music] activate. Meanwhile, the boiled milk had cooled down to around 45 Celsius degree. You can also check with your little finger if it bites you a little bit. It’s ready to add the live yogurt. I also add some of the old yogurt to the probiotic and milk mixture and then transferred into my jars. I steered gently with a spoon and covered them with plastic stretch film and poked a few holes to let moisture escape. Then I wrapped the jars in a thick cloth to keep them warm and left them in a quiet draftfree corner of the kitchen for about 4 to 4 and 1/2 hours. After that, I checked gently if the yogurt has set and it was beautifully thick, creamy and full of healthy cultures. You can also see them on the sides of the jar. Before eating, it’s best to refrigerate overnight, uncovered so it can fully set and thicken. They looked beautiful and thick. I even turned the jar upside down to show you and nothing happened. I couldn’t wait to taste it. And believe me, it’s so much better than storebought yogurt. You can really tell it has live cultures. There is a slightly tanginess that gives it away in the best way. Bel white cheese using vinegar. To make the cheese, let’s get back to the milk I boiled yesterday. I had about 1.2 L of milk left in the pan. It was still hot. I mixed in half a cup of vinegar. I used grape vinegar, but for a whiter result, you can use apple cider. And 1 tbsp of salt. Then I poured this mixture into the hot milk. You can also do this before the milk reaches boiling point to yield more cheese. Stir gently and it started to curdle right away. After waiting for f 15 minutes, I strained it using a fine strainer. You can also use cheesecloth for a more traditional method. I pressed gently with the back of a ladle to help release the liquid, also known as whey, and place the cheese in the fridge overnight. Don’t throw away the whey. It’s very nutritious and we’ll use it to make a cheese brine and breads and pastries. The next day, the cheese had set beautifully. I cut it into cubes and placed them into a [Music] jar. Then I prepared a salty brine using some of the leftover way and poured it over the cheese. This helps keep the cheese from coming into contact with air, which could cause it to spoil. If stored this way in the fridge, the cheese can last for about one to two weeks. Just make sure the pieces are always fully submerged in the brine. Iron, salty yogurt drink. Now, let’s make a classic Turkish drink, iron. It’s refreshing, hydrating, and only needs three ingredients: yogurt, cold water, and a pinch of salt. I used about one part yogurt to two parts cold water. Added some salt, about four of a teaspoon, and whisk them together until smooth and foamy. You can adjust the thickness by using more or less water depending on your preference. Iron is perfect alongside grilled dishes, pastureries, or just as a cooling drink on a warm day. In hot days, you can also add some ice cubes to keep it cold. Jojuk yogurt cucumber cold soup or side dish. Jojuk is a quick and refreshing side dish or cold soup that only takes a minute to prepare. I used grated cucumber. No need to peel. It’s extra nutritious and crunchy. You can also dice them very finely. Sometimes I also do that. It’s delicious yogurt. I used about 3/4 of a cup for two cucumbers, some salt, give it a stir, and then I add some chopped dill from the freezer. You can always use fresh and dried mint, splash of water to loosen it up, and give it a stir. And it’s ready to serve. You can drizzle some olive oil on top or garnish with few mint leaves if you like. It’s light cooling and perfect as a side dish or even a dip. Calm burk rolled fried pan burk. One of the best way to use homemade cheese is in burk. Crunchy, savory, pasturery. You can fill it with all kinds of cheeses, herbs or even vegetables. In Turkish markets, we often find classic white cheese that’s perfect for ber. I also have some traditional lore cheese from my hometown Custoamono similar to ricotto. Today I’m going to use mix of that with the cheese I made yesterday. The cheese was surprisingly firm, so I crumbled it with a fork and added the l cheese. Then I combined them with chopped parsley and a pinch of salt to make the filling. I used yufka sheets and cut them into triangles. If you are using rectangular frozen filow dough, you can cut each sheet diagonally into two triangles or trim the edges to create a wide base for rolling. I spread the filling along the white edge as you can see, rolled it up tightly, and dipped my finger in water to wet the tip and seal each piece. Then I heated up some vegetable oil in my mediumsiz skillet and fried my rolled ber eggs until deep, golden and crispy. You can prepare the burk rolls ahead of time, store them in the fridge for four or five days or freeze them for later. Make sure to make sure the heat is medium high and fry until golden crispy. If you serve it right away, it will be delicious flaky ber with a soft savory filling. Perfect as a snack or for breakfast. Poorcha savory pastur using whey. Now let’s use some of that nutritious leftover whey to make soft delicious pocha. Instead of milk, I used one cup of whey and cup of water along with cup of oil and either fresh yeast or dry yeast. Two eggs keeping the yolk for topping using the whites inside the dough. Used 4 tablespoon of sugar. If anyone knows about this sugar dispenser, share them in the comments. First, I added about five cups of flour and tablespoon of salt. Then added a double acting dry yeast and knead the dough until it is soft and playable. Adding more flour if needed. I turn the dough into a bowl, cover and let it rise until it doubles. Then I cut the risen dough into 20 pieces. Shake them into bowls. And this time I used kashar melting cheese. It is similar to mozzarella. on top of them and then rolled again. Keeping the cheese inside, place them into a tray. Let it rise again for about half an hour until it rises. Then I egg washed on top. heated up my oven into 200 Celsius degree. Sprinkled some nigella seeds and on the second pan I have another different flavored bread and baked until golden. Again, these are perfect for breakfast or tea time and a great way to use up fail while reducing food waste. With just three liters of raw milk, we made so many delicious things. Creamy yogurt, fresh cheese, iron, jajuk, ber and soft pocha. Nothing went to waste. Even the leftover way found its place in our kitchen. I hope this video inspires you to try homemade dairy and enjoy the process as much as the result. Let me know which one you’ll make first or if you ever tried something similar in your own kitchen. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next episode. Atos. [Music]