Homemade Yogurt!

As I mentioned in my Granola post, I had a lot of stomach trouble when I lived in China, and yogurt and granola did a lot to help.  Over there, the yogurt I bought was very simple, plain, and not as falsely creamy as what you buy here in the States.  I found it really hard to adjust to eating American store bought yogurt when I got home.  In fact, I never did get used to it again, because I started making my own.

The extensive pile of ingredients; complicated, I know...

Look at the ingredients list on most of the yogurts you can buy at a supermarket, and compare it with my ingredients list below.  It’s kind of astounding how many additives a lot of store-bought yogurts contain.  You don’t need to eat all that.  True, homemade yogurt has a different flavor and texture, but you’ll find that you’ll grow to prefer it to all those sugars and thickeners and artificial flavors.  If you need to sweeten it, add honey and fruit or something.  Or, do like I do and eat it with granola, which goes perfectly with it.

My double boiler

Homemade Yogurt

This is a very simple process, don't be intimidated!

First think ahead about these things:

I find a double boiler system is the best way to avoid scalding the milk as I heat it.  I just use a large pot of water and put my 3 qt saucepan in it.  (A saucepan with a spout would be ideal, minimizing the amount of milk you lose when pouring it into the jars.  It took me a long time to finally cough up the money to buy a good spouted pan, but it's going to change my life, I can tell.)

It’s very tricky to do this without a thermometer; I recommend buying a meat thermometer so you can accurately measure the temperature of the milk as you heat and cool it.

You are going to need to keep the yogurt warm for several hours.  It needs to be kept at 90° to 100° for 4 to 8 hours.  Sometimes a low setting on the oven works – I have an oven thermometer and have marked my oven’s temperature dial at approximately 100°.  I have also used my microwave as a steam cabinet, placing the jars of yogurt in there with a couple of cups of boiling water.  With this method, you’ll have to reheat the water every 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the ambient temperature. (Unplug the microwave to avoid accidentally nuking the cultures!)  I generally do the microwave "steam cabinet method" in the summer, and use the oven in the winter.  I’ve also dreamed up a scheme to use a styrofoam box and a medical heating pad, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet.  And, I believe there are machines sold for this purpose, but I feel it’s more fun to be inventive!

Inside the microwave become "steam cabinet"

You’ll need some kind of heat resistant container with a good lid to make the yogurt in.  I find glass jars are perfect.  I use old pasta sauce and pickle jars, maybe about quart size.

Ingredients:

Milk *

             Yogurt containing live cultures **

            For the milk:  Choose your volume ~ what you use is approximately what you get.  I generally make a gallon at a time; it keeps well and usually lasts me 2 or 3 weeks.

For the yogurt:  A few tablespoons of plain yogurt** per large jar

Jars are ready for the warm milk

  *  I find whole milk works best and produces the thickest, creamiest result

**  I have found that Dannon’s Plain Yogurt works best.  With each subsequent batch of yogurt, I just use a few tablespoons from the previous batch.  The yogurt cultures need to be live to work.

Method:

In saucepan / double boiler, slowly bring milk to 180°.  (You'll have to stir frequently / constantly as you approach 180°.  I generally start paying close attention around 130°.)

Remove from heat and let cool to around 110°.  (I find this takes way too long if I just leave it on the counter, so I dump out the hot water from the bottom pot, refill it with cold water, and cool the pot of milk down.  It takes a couple of times, but it cuts out like 20 minutes of waiting.)

Pour into jars and add a couple of tablespoons of starter yogurt per jar, stir and seal.

Place in “incubation.”  Keep at 100° for 4 to 8 hours.  The longer it stays at 100°, the thicker and tangier it will be.  I once left mine for 12 hours by accident, and it was glorious!

My favorite breakfast!

I happen to think this yogurt is marvelous.  It’s also simple and healthy.  Pair it with the granola, use it in smoothies, or eat it by itself or with fruit.  It’ll change your life.