Homemade Yogurt
I never would have believed that making yogurt would be so easy! I made this every couple of weeks or so pending on how much I make at once. Once I figured out a few tricks to the trade, I was able to nail it every single time.
Here’s a few of the lessons I’ve learned in making yogurt. First, you gotta heat it up for it to be thick. If you like a runny yogurt, that’s fine. You can then make it more “raw.” My thought process is if I want the benefits of raw milk, I’ll drink a glass or put it in a smoothie. If I want the benefits of yogurt, I’ll eat yogurt. Second, which is just as important as the first step, you have to let it cool down before adding your starter in. I didn’t do this the first time I made yogurt and killed the starter. I ended up with weird tasting milk. Third, let it ferment, but not too terribly long if you don’t like it super tangy. I definitely have forgotten about it and left it for 18 to almost 20 hours before. Still fine to eat, but more tangy than I personally prefer.
A couple other things I’ve found helpful to the overall texture of the final product is skimming the foam or layer that forms on top as it cools. Not something you HAVE to do, but it does make that first scoop more of the same texture as the rest. I also drain some of the whey especially when I first crack open the jar. It makes it less runny. I overall really enjoy my starter to be greek yogurt, but any kind works well.
You can skim the cream and use just the skimmed milk too in making this. Then use the cream to make butter! Or you can leave it as whole milk. Either way works well. When I have more time, I enjoy being able to use the cream in other recipes. When I’m in a pinch, throwing it whole in saves me from having to do something with the cream later on. It depends on what you want in your yogurt and if you want to use the cream in other ways!
This is obviously just my plain yogurt recipe. I have made flavored before, but I typically enjoy plain more to flavor as I want and to use in recipes. If you’re interested in a flavored yogurt, let me know and I’ll get some recipes out on it!
Homemade Yogurt
Ingredients:
1/2 gallon milk
1/2 cup yogurt
Instructions:
Put your milk in a large pot. Slowly heat the milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring occasionally. Keep at 180 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let the milk cool down to about 110 degrees. If desired, skim the foam or film that rises to the top as the milk cools. Whisk in the yogurt.
Pour into clean mason jars. This should take about 2 quart jars pending on if you skimmed the cream of and how full your jug was. Put a tight fitting lid on your jars. Put the jars into a cooler. For a hard sided cooler, pour warm water (110-120 degrees) into the bottom of the cooler. The water only needs to come up the bottom of the jars a couple inches. For a soft sided cooler, place another jar filled with warm water (110-120 degrees) and sealed with a tight fitting lid in with the jars of yogurt. Let the jars sit in the cooler for 8-14 hours to ferment and culture.
Remove the jars from the cooler and place in the fridge until cold. If desired, when ready to serve, drain some of the whey from the yogurt. Serve with fruit and honey or use in recipes! Enjoy!
