I love experimenting in the kitchen and I also love to make sure I have healthy foods that my family will actually eat. Enter the wonders of yogurt! It can be sweet, savory, a condiment, a satisfying meal, or even a refreshing beverage. Yogurt is something I always have in the house and, until a few months ago, something that I always bought.
The benefits of making yogurt at home are numerous. The savings, flavor, and process make the time commitment and planning it takes a worthy investment. Now, in my experience, homemade yogurt is quite different than store-bought. Not only is it far less costly to make than to buy, you likely have all the equipment you need in your kitchen already. Then there is the taste, which I can't understate! The only way I can explain it is that, well, it just tastes more like yogurt. The plain yogurt is fresh and clean, and you get to decide how much and what kind of flavors and sweetener (if any) goes into it. The icing on the cake is that feeling of accomplishment when you open the lid in the morning and find that you have created a perfect little environment in which the culture of beneficial bacteria has been able to thrive, turning the warm milk into thick, creamy, endearingly lumpy, pleasantly tart yogurt.
We tend to enjoy thicker yogurt, but keep in mind that this recipe can be easily adapted to suit your taste. Generally, the longer the incubation period the thicker the yogurt will become.
Equipment
- Stock Pot with tightly fitting lid
- Whisk
- Oven with light or pilot light
- Towel (for insulating)
- Large wire mesh strainer
- Flour sack towel or cheesecloth
- Pizza stone (optional)
Ingredients
The most important thing here is that the milk and yogurt starter are fresh. Use high quality plain yogurt with live active culture and avoid additives like thickeners and preservatives. After the first batch is done, set 1/2 cup of the homemade aside first thing so it's ready for the next batch. I buy fresh starter every 3 batches.
- 1/2 gallon organic whole milk
- 1/2 cup yogurt (starter)
Method
- Set the yogurt out to come to room temperature, turn on the oven light, and make sure all the equipment is clean.
- Scald the milk. Heat the milk in a pot on med-high heat whisking every few minutes to ensure the milk doesn't burn. As soon as the milk starts to get frothy and bubbles around the edges, remove from heat.
- Let the milk sit uncovered to cool. I whisk occasionally to prevent skin from forming.
- After 45 minutes, put the tip of your clean pinky finger into the milk. If the temperature is quite warm but tolerable to keep your finger in, it's time to proceed. If it's still too hot, keep checking every ten minutes or so.
- Preheat the oven to 350 for 5 minutes and then turn it off. Keep the oven light on!
- Whisk in the yogurt starter, cover with lid, wrap with a towel, and place on pizza stone or sheet pan in the oven with the oven light on*. The stone acts as an added insulator to help maintain the temperature during incubation.
- Let the yogurt incubate for 8-12 hours, ideally between 105-112 degrees. I know it's hard to resist, but try to not open the oven to check. If the mixture is disturbed it will stop the process! I usually put mine into incubate at 9 pm and then in the morning "voila!"
- Now that you have a pot of fresh yogurt you need to strain away some of that whey! Place the flour sack towel or cheesecloth in the strainer, add the yogurt, and place it on top of a clean pot or bowl to catch the whey. Stir every 30 minutes until the yogurt reaches the desired consistency. We like ours thick so I usually strain it for an hour and a half.
- Place in clean containers and refrigerate--it will stay good for approximately 7 days and will yield about 6 cups of yogurt and 2 cups of whey**.
*Sometimes a gas oven's pilot light will keep the oven warm enough. I recommend an oven thermometer to check as the insulation can vary between ovens. A good quality pizza stone will also help the pot retain the heat and regulate the oven's temperature.
**Don't throw that whey away! It can be used as a liquid for breads, soups, cooking rice, and countless other things to add flavor and protein--recipes to follow!
