How to Make Yogurt at Home

If you told me a week ago that I would be making yogurt at home and loving the results I would have told you that you are nuts! But honestly, my friend shared a simple recipe with me for making homemade yogurt that was really easy and now I am hooked.. In fact, I may never buy yogurt again... just saying!

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What You'll Need:

1 gallon milk (Fresh). I used milk from a friends farm so I could make butter also, however any milk will do!

1 cup plain yogurt (Fresh). This is your starter culture. My friend gave me some of her yogurt as a starter however, as the orginal recipe mentions you can use Dannon Plain yogurt, the fresher the better. I guess Dannon plain yogurt only has milk and culture in it which is what you want.

A large pot. Large enough for to heat up 1 gallon of milk.

4 or 5 quart canning jars with lids or 7 or 8 pint canning jars with lids. You will want to sterilize these in boiling water. I used my canning pot to do this.

A Thermometer

A Cooler. Make sure the lid fits well.

How to Do It.. Complete With Pictures!

Sterilize jars and lids. I just stuck these in my canner, added 2 inches of water and boiled them in the covered pot for 10 minutes. I removed from heat, and set aside without opening the lid.

In a large pot, heat the milk over medium heat until it is between 185 & 195 degrees (F). Do not boil.

(This is me paying attention to the rising thermometer)

Place the covered pot of scaled milk in cold water to cool it down until it reaches between 122-130 degrees F. (it doesn't take too long).

Remove the pot of cooled milk from the water bath.

Mix 1 cup of scaled milk with 1 cup of the starter yogurt. Stir to blend the two together.

Slowly mix the yogurt mix into your scaled milk pot and mix thoroughly. Remember the milk should be under 130 degrees F at this point, if it is hotter it will kill the yogurt culture.

Pour mixture into the sterilized jars, filling to the top and covering immediately with sterilized tops.

In your cooler, add a gallon of water that is around 127-130 F and place cooler in a warm location. (I used hot water from the sink, and it was by default around this temperature. It will cool to around 122 degrees after the jars are set in, which is what you want, remember above 130 degrees will kill the bacteria, so use your thermometer)

(Notice the old school cooler!)

Carefully set your inoculated jars in the cooler so the bottom of the lids are just above the water.

(My dog always has to check out what's going on... isn't he cute?)

Check and confirm the temperature of the water... should be as close to 122 degrees F as possible.

Let the cooler sit undisturbed for at least three hours, but I kept my in undisturbed for overnight. 8-12 hours is great, any more than that will make it taste a little sour.

Put in the fridge to stop the yogurt process and chill for at least 4 hours.

Open & Enjoy!

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Viola! You have yogurt!

I mean... a lot of yogurt! 1 gallon of milk = 1 gallon of yogurt!

Note: that this is plain yogurt and quite tart... You might not be use to fresh plain yogurt like this, however by simply adding a little sugar and fruit you will have a yummy treat!

Variations:

For Greek Style yogurt or tips and ideas for flavoring your yogurt, follow these directions for making yogurt and then check out these posts.... [ This is a teaser... it is coming very soon but I actually don't have a post for this yet! ]

Enjoy! if you try making homemade yogurt; let me know what you think below!