Homemade Yogurt

I was feeling all domestic last night and decided to try out a new recipe for something I've never made from scratch before. When I was a kid, my mom had a yogurt maker, and I remember I loved it when she made a batch of yogurt. Recently, a blog I follow posted a link for a homemade yogurt recipe. The mom-chef guaranteed it was a very easy recipe and she would hold my hand through each step. Since my girls love yogurt and are always asking for it, I figured I'd give it a shot.

The steps were easy to follow and the result was not too bad. The thickness was just right. But since I don't usually buy plain yogurt, the final product was a little tart for me. However, once I added some 100% pure maple syrup, it was pretty good. Ashlyn lapped up her bowl, and Emma just wanted more syrup.

In case you're interested, here's the recipe I used. I'm sure there are many variations out there, and I'll probably experiment with adding some things to sweeten it up, but this recipe is a good place to start. This is not a crock pot recipe, but rather a recipe that requires minimal dish using and dish washing. That sounded good to me.

These are the basic steps. (I'll go into more detail below.)
1. Heat to sterilize the milk. (185 degrees)
2. Cool milk to proper incubation temperature. (90-120 degrees)
3. Add starter yogurt.
4. Incubate at warm temperature 4-24 hours.

These are the supplies you'll need:
*Sterile glass jars (quart canning jars or empty mayo or spaghetti sauce jars work great)
*Milk (any kind, from skim to whole, but ultra-pasteurized is not recommended)
*Candy or meat thermometer
*Pot large enough to hold your glass jars
*2 Tbs of plain yogurt per quart of milk (Buy the freshest yogurt possible at a store and make sure it has “live and active cultures”.)
*A large cooler
*Bath towel

The details:
(Most details and pictures below are from Kitchen Stuardship. I did do a little editing and adding in of my own comments. If you have any problems with your end product, Kitchen Stuardship has some troubleshooting tips you might find helpful.)

1. Put a washcloth in the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the jars from breaking if they start shaking when the water boils.

2. Pour milk into your jars to about an inch from the top.

3. Place jars into the pot and fill pot with tap water around the jars.


4. Put thermometer on edge of pot. Heat on high until water is boiling (now your thermometer is sterilized).

5. Move thermometer into one of the jars; turn heat to medium-low or so, just enough to keep the water boiling.

6. When the milk is at about 185 (you can’t burn it with this method, so if you forget it for a while, it’s OK!) turn off the heat and put lids on the jars.

7. Cool the milk in a sink full of cold water. You can gradually add some ice to the water after the jars are all situated. (I made the mistake of adding the ice before I put the jars in, but it was too much of a temperature shock to one of my jars, and the glass cracked. Gradual is better--less chance of cracking jars.) It works in about 20-30 minutes with water just halfway up the sides of the jars. You could also place the jars in the refrigerator, but it can be pretty taxing on some refrigerators, and it also takes longer (around 50 minutes).

8. Take starter yogurt out and let it sit on the counter. This ensures that it’s not too cold when you mix it into the warm milk.

9. Put a lid on your pot of boiling water and arrange the towel in the cooler so you can put the pot in there without melting anything, then close the lid, towel and all.

10. Check the temperature of the milk periodically. Your goal is to cool the milk down to about 100 degrees. Incubation happens between 90-120 degrees, so you have some wiggle room, but 100-110 is optimal. *If you miss the window and it gets too cold, just heat it up again in the pot on the stove. It’s just milk at this point, so you’re not out anything!

11. Gently stir in 2 Tbs. of plain yogurt for each quart of milk.

12. Put the lids on again and nestle your jars in the cooler. Keep them wrapped in half of the towel. Take the lid off the pot to let the heat out, then close the lid of the cooler to keep the heat in.


13. Keep the cooler still. Jiggling will affect the consistency of the yogurt. Incubate 4-24 hours. Shorter incubation makes sweeter yogurt, longer is more tart. Also, a lower incubation temperature makes sweeter yogurt and higher makes more tart. (I let mine sit overnight--it ended up being about 9 hours. Before I went to bed, I added a little more boiling water to the pot and put a blanket over the cooler to make sure it would be warm enough during the night.)

14. When you decide time is up, put the jars into the freezer for about an hour. This improves the texture. No room in the freezer? Just go right in the fridge. If you forget the yogurt in the freezer, it’s fine. Yogurt can freeze! Just thaw in your fridge.

That’s it! You have created yogurt!

Scoop a little out and freeze it so you will have a starter for the next batch you make. Some friends have suggested sweetening the yogurt with maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, or Splenda. Stir in you own fresh or frozen fruit or top it with some granola. Enjoy!