How to Make Yogurt - The Simple Way

My sister, God bless her soul, was the one who made me see just how easy making yogurt could be, so Emily, this post is dedicated to you.

Emily making something that is not yogurt

Yogurt maker, shmogurt maker. Cooler and a thermostat? Pshaw. I'm sorry but if I'm going to do something on my own, then it needs to not be a pain in my butt, and it definitely needs to fit into my life. The word "incubation" is an instant turn-off. If I have to buy special equipment, get exclusive mail-order cultures, or do weird dances and chants to get it to work, then I'm out. If it costs a ton more, then I'm out again. And if it's gross? Out. However, with yogurt, we kind of scarf it down, and it turns out that it IS easy, it IS cheaper to make, and it tastes, well, like yogurt.

Yogurt is AWESOME. Most everyone knows that it has amazing health benefits, and aside from probiotics which are widely accepted now as a total necessity in everyone's diet, yogurt is a great source of calcium and protein, it's packed with vitamins and minerals, and even some folks who are lactose intolerant can like, tolerate it. Sadly, most yogurt in the stores is either full of sugar or worse, fake sweetener, and if you're like us and prefer chemical and hormone-free food, the organic varieties are EXPENSIVE. In addition, we prefer full-fat to non-fat dairy for several reasons, so finding an inexpensive, organic, whole-milk yogurt, preferably from grass-fed cows without added ingredients...can be done...but the amount of money that you'll pay for it will make you laugh, and then cry.

If my kids and I ate one of these every day, it would cost us over $100.00 a MONTH. Four times the cost of the same amount of homemade organic yogurt.

For the price of a gallon of milk you can get four quarts of yogurt. Organic or not, there's no arguing what the better deal is. We drink raw milk when we can, but since my method of yogurt-making involves pasteurizing the milk first, I just buy organic whole milk from the store for this. It's even cheaper if you find milk marked down because it's close to the expiration. Once cultured, dairy products last longer.

I like to make my yogurt in the evening (another Emily tip) after the kids go to bed so that it's done in the morning, and so I don't have to worry about accidentally turning the oven on.

Note: I'm not going to assume that anyone reading this is a total idiot, nor do I like blog recipes with tons of stupid pictures, like me pouring milk into a measuring cup. If you don't know how to measure then please, continue buying your yogurt at the store until you learn. Ok, let's get to the point.

Homemade Yogurt    

(Makes 2 quarts)

Tools Needed:

• Measuring cups - I use an 8-cup glass one like this because it's the easiest
• Measuring spoons
• Pot large enough to hold your desired amount of yogurt
• Candy thermometer or any food-grade thermometer that will measure from 110 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit 
• Wire whisk
• Recycled yogurt containers with lids or, my preferred, glass mason jars, also with lids
• Dish towel for each container of yogurt
• A stove and an oven.

Ingredients:

• Milk (any kind will do, but whole milk makes a much tastier, thicker yogurt, and fat won't kill you)
• Yogurt from a previous batch of homemade goodness, or just any plain stuff from the store, as long as it says "live, active cultures." This is the one time I allow myself to buy the bank-breaker, pictured above.

Directions:

1. Measure 8 cups of milk. Like this: 

   

   smart-ass picture of milk in a measuring cup

2. Pour into your pot.
3. Heat on medium to low on the stove-top until the temperature reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 30 minutes, give or take). Whisk it when you think about it.
4. Once your milk hits 180 degrees, remove it from the heat (I like to pour mine back into the glass measuring cup at this point - it cools down faster and is easier to pour into my jars when the time comes).
5. Wait until the temperature drops to between 112 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (this could take anywhere from one to two hours). 
6. While you're waiting, turn your oven light on to warm it up a bit.
7. When you're sure your milk is between 112 and 110 degrees (too hot will kill your cultures, too cold won't activate them), whisk in 6 tablespoons of yogurt. Here's a picture of me whisking my yogurt in.

   

   Me with a whisk. Amazing.
8. Once the yogurt is incorporated into the milk, pour into your containers, put the lids on, and wrap each jar in a dish towel (this is all of the insulation I give my yogurt and it's never failed me).
9. Turn OFF your oven light, unless your house is chilly and make sure your oven is OFF. Put your towel-wrapped containers in the toasty-from-your-oven-light oven, and leave them undisturbed until the liquid has thickened...into yogurt. It should culture for at least 5 hours, and mine usually takes between 8 and 12, again, depending on the temperature of my house. I'll check it before I go to bed, and if it's still runny which it usually is, I just leave it in there until the morning. If you're afraid you'll forget something is in your oven, leave a post-it note on your oven controls so you don't accidentally turn it on before your jars are removed. That would be bad.
10. Once your yogurt is set, like this: 
    
    leave it out at room temperature for 2 hours before refrigerating it.
    
11. Chill thoroughly to stop the culturing process, and then eat it!

Now, the actual culturing in the oven is where it can get tricky, which is why I was on the fence with yogurt-making. The goal is to keep your jars as close to 110 degrees as possible while the yogurt cultures, which is why yogurt machines are so popular, and why you hear words like insulate and cocoon and swaddle when yogurt making is talked about. However, as I played around with different methods, I found that I have the greatest success just sticking my jars, wrapped in towels, in the oven. If my house is colder, like in the winter, I'll leave the oven light on the whole time. In the summer, I turn it off as soon as I put my jars in so that they don't overheat. You'll obviously have to figure out what works best for you, and even with these simple instructions, that may involve a batch or two of runny jars or yogurt. Don't give up! If it's not perfect, it doesn't mean it's not edible. Use the runnier yogurt in smoothies or in baking and keep trying, because once you get this down you'll be empowered with a skill and will simultaneously be saving hundreds of dollars a year.

Ok, so I didn't go deep into the hows and whys of yogurt making, and quite frankly I don't want to. But, if you want to know the science behind it and how it works, I encourage you to check out Cultures for Health which has a TON of really great information, recipes, tutorial videos, and FAQs. They also have a trouble-shooting section if, God forbid, my method just doesn't work for you.