Making Homemade Yogurt

 Homemade yogurt is not only delicious (you'll never want store bought again) but it is also healthy for you (no additives-just milk and cultures). It's very easy to make once you get the hang of it, and it's much cheaper than buying your own.

You Need:

Large pot with lid

Thermometer

Beach Towel

Electric Heating Pad

Storage container

Large bowl (optional)

Large colander (optional)

Coffee Filters (optional)

1 Gallon of Milk (any percentage)

1/2 cup PLAIN yogurt (I prefer greek-and remember the yogurt will come out tasting like the type of yogurt you buy, so buy something good-I wouldn't recommend regular non-greek store brand, I haven't had good results with that. I usually use chobani, dannon greek, or fage)

Heat milk on stove to 180* F

 1. First pour the milk into the large pot, and heat on the stove to 180* F, stirring occasionally to make sure a skin does not form and the milk does not burn. This kills all bacteria in the milk and breaks down proteins to give you a good breading ground for the yogurt cultures

2. Then move pot of milk to the sink, fill with several inches of cold water, and allow milk to cool to 100*-110* F, stirring occasionally to make sure it cools evenly. Monitor this step closely.

3. Whisk in the plain yogurt once the temperature of the milk reaches 100-110*-if the temperature is too high it will kill the yogurt cultures, and if it is too low the cultures will become dormant. 

Wrap pot in towel and heating pad.

4. Place the lid on the pot of the milk/yogurt, and wrap the beach towel and heating pad around the pot. Set your heating pad to low (this may vary between heating pads, and you may need to experiment-the heating pad should maintain the milk at a temperature ranging from 100-110*).

5. Let the yogurt sit undisturbed for 8-12 hours so it can culture-begin checking on the yogurt after 8 hours, it should be thick and have a yellow/green liquid on top and should smell strongly of yogurt. Allow the yogurt to culture for up to 12 hours until it has reach desired thickness (but no more than 12 since it will start becoming bitter). 

6. Refrigerate for 12 hours, transfer into a storage container and then enjoy!

7. If you like thick greek yogurt (I love it), here is how to make it! After step 5, place your colander into a large bowl, and line the colander with coffee filters (I tried cheese cloth before, and the holes were too large). Pour your yogurt into the colander, allowing the whey to drain off into the large bowl. Store in the fridge. Allow to drain for 4-8 hours (12 to make yogurt cheese-like cream cheese)-or longer. When you do remove the yogurt from the refrigerator, flip the yogurt into the storage container and peel the coffee filters off. There will be A LOT of whey in your large bowl If it is too thick for your liking (or you left it drain for too long), stir in drained off whey a little at a time until desired thickness is reached. 

Notes:

*You can do batches of yogurt in any size-use these measurements to make smaller or larger batches. 2 tablespoons of yogurt to 1 quart of milk

*1gallon of milk = 1 gallon of yogurt unstrained, and about 1/2 gallon of greek yogurt

* You can use your own yogurt as cultures for next batches, but it becomes weak after several uses, so I would only recomend using your own once or twice, then buy another yogurt starter from the store.

 * If you buy a large container of plain yogurt as a starter, you can freeze left over yogurt for several weeks and thaw as needed to make new batches.