Yogurt...Made fresh in my kitchen!

By Marcy@JustCrumbs... , In , 8:07 PM

The honey, aka liquid gold, that you see drizzled is courtesy of The Gritty Girl
     Lately I have seen a lot of post from other foodies on homemade yogurt. I have to admit I was skeptical, but intrigued. Some posted about having yogurt making machines that did the trick. Well, I was not going to go out and buy any special equipment; I have enough gizmos and gadgets sitting around. Then other foodies started posting on making yogurt with items that you already have around the house, no special equipment, gadgets, or gizmos. My eyes brightened. I continued reading food blogs on yogurt making and to my excitement, it is miraculously EASY.



     There are two, yes two, ingredients needed to make yogurt from scratch. Milk and a starter. Wait, don't stop reading because I said "starter". A "starter" can be purchased online, or you can go to the grocery and buy a container of.....yogurt. That's right, just a single serving container (about 6oz) of yogurt will do the trick. I bought Stonyfield Farm brand. I like it because it contains 6 live active cultures, compared to 4 with some other brands. I would recommend getting full fat or low fat yogurt and plain (if you can find it, I couldn't and used vanilla). On to the subject of milk, buy whole milk or 2 percent. Otherwise the result of the yogurt will be runnier.  I purchased 1%, it was a dollar, I am cheap and I was still skeptical on this homemade yogurt thing. My yogurt is set, but runnier than I would have liked. It tastes good! I guess that is the main thing. Plus the homemade granola I made this morning tops it nicely, and makes up for its runny consistency.



  Okay, you know the ingredients, now for the equipment. You will need a pot, thermometer (not necessary, but handy for precision), whisk, bowl, storage containers (I used glass bowls with lids), warming source (this can be anything from a heating pad, oven, crockpot, etc...), and towels. That's it. Nothing fancy schmancy here. I used my dehydrator for one batch and heating pad for another. Needless to say the heating pad worked wonderful. My dehydrator kept it too warm, so I would not recommend this method of incubating. If you use your oven, set it on warm or the lowest temperature, warm it up, then shut it off. You will wrap your container (with lid) in a towel to help insulate it, so please, PLEASE, make sure your oven is OFF and only warm. I wrapped up the heating pad and container and left it on low. If using a crockpot check out this method from A Year of Slow Cooking. This site gives you a step by step on how to make the yogurt using your crockpot. I find it more time consuming than other methods, but if you have it, use it.




    
      Let's talk flavors. You can flavor your yogurt however you wish. I am a plain kind of girl. My feeling on this is that if I have plain yogurt I can flavor it anyway I see fit. For example, if I am wanting strawberry yogurt, I add strawberry jam and mix it up. I feel that my opportunities are endless with plain yogurt.  I also use plain yogurt in place of sour cream or milk sometimes. If I have only strawberry yogurt then I can't replace or substitute, and that is not fun for me. So I will continue to be a plain kind of girl, because behind those plain girls there are always many opportunities of FUN;)




    I recommend you at least try making your own yogurt. Add it to your bucket list and do it soon. The taste is clean and pure. You don't have any added sugars or chemicals. It is quick and easy. Yogurt is a superfood, it is healthy for you and does amazing things. Why pay to buy yogurt in the grocery when it takes less effort to make it? Make it with your kids, teach them that not everything has to be bought at the store. Get back to basics. Leave the sugary processed goop behind and broaden your horizons. Another added benefit, the WOW factor. When you started reading this and I told you I made homemade yogurt, you were amazed and wowed! The process is easy. Now go out and amaze and WOW your family and friends!


HOMEMADE YOGURT

1/2 gallon of whole milk
4-6 oz container of plain yogurt (not fat free)


1. Add milk to a pot large enough to hold at least a half gallon of milk. Heat until just before boiling (200 degrees), stirring gently and often to prevent scorching.

2. Let the milk cool until it is just hot to the touch (112-115 degrees). To speed up the process set pan in an ice water bath and gently stir.

3. Pour about a cup of the warm milk into a small bowl and whisk in the yogurt. Once it is smooth whisk the mixture back into the pan.

4. Pour into container(s), wrap with towel, and keep warm (using the method of your choice). Let sit  for 
8-12 hours. The longer the yogurt sits the thicker and more tangy it will become. Taste it around 6 hours, if it tangy and thick enough for you, take it out.

5. Chill. Yogurt will last 2 plus weeks in the refrigerator. If a watery whey forms on top, strain or stir back into the yogurt.





2 comments:

Ericabee said...

this is great! I love plain yogurt with honey. It looks pretty simple. And I'm crazy about making thigs from scratch. Have you tried mozzarella yet?

March 14, 2011 at 9:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Homemade yogurt yum! I can't wait to try. Thanks so much for sharing! I am now following your site =]

June 11, 2011 at 1:16 PM

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