http://www.culturesforhealth.com/viili-yogurt-starter.html
I've been having some fairly decent success with making viili style yogurt (though I strain the whey out, so its kind of thick like strained Greek heirloom yogurt). I was making Greek yogurt for a long time (Greek heirloom yogurt is pretty much anything you buy in the store, strained or not, its all based on the cultured of bacteria used to produce the yogurt - a strained Greek heirloom yogurt is usually what people expect as 'Greek yogurt').
The time and effort to scald the milk for 30 minutes and then incubate at 115 for 8 hours (for Greek Heirloom) is much more difficult than incubating room temperature milk at 75 for 12 hours (for viili - or Finnish Heirloom). I finally used up the last of my Greek yogurt without maintaining some for the next generation.
I've still got most of my last half gallon of viili in the fridge, so once that gets used I'll post some pics of making the next round. Homemade yogurt is pretty easy, all things considered, and viili is especially easy. It's one food item that can end up saving lots of money over store-bought. If I wanted to pick up a Greek culture again, I would just get some plain yogurt from the grocery store, but to get something a little more fancy, you have to go through a site like this, or know someone that has a culture you can take a starter from. If anyone is in the Parker, CO area and wants an established viili starter (or sourdough starter, for that matter), just shoot me a message. :)
I am a big proponent of being closely connected to the food we eat, and being involved in the process of making it. As a daily and weekly rhythm, maintaining a yogurt generation can be a good reminder of our daily and weekly need for food, and our daily, hourly, weekly, constant need for God's sustenance. It makes fasting all that much more powerful.
