Homemade Yogurt

BrewerGeorge

Not exactly a recipe as much as a process. If you eat a lot of yogurt, you should try try this. It's incredibly easy and the results are outstanding, much tastier and fresher than commercial. It's quite a bit cheaper than buying yogurt, too, since you can make a GALLON of yogurt for about $3.

All you need is some quantity of milk - a gallon is easy to work with - of whatever fat % you want.
A small vat of PLAIN commercial yogurt with live starter cultures - the more types of culture the better. I like to use Greek for this.
A pot big enough to hold all the liquid while you heat it.
A thermometer.
Something to keep it warm while the culture does its thing.

Process:
Use basic home-canning levels of sanitation - boil your tools, etc
Heat the milk (only) to 185F-190F. Higher temps produce a thicker final product, but don't scald it.
(If you want to increase the protein, you can add powdered milk at this stage, too.)
Cover the pot and cool in a water bath until it's 110F.
Add your starter yogurt and stir well.
Pour into jars, tubs, or even the original milk jug and seal.
Set the jars in a dark, warm place overnight. I use a cooler with a heating pad (on low) inside.

In the morning you will have yogurt. The longer you leave it to ferment warm (up to about 12 hours or so) the tarter and thicker the yogurt will be. Refrigerate and eat as you would normally eat plain yogurt. I usually add chopped, canned peaches to mine. If you want "Greek" yogurt, strain the whey out over coffee filters for several hours until it reaches the consistency you desire.

You can make serial batches of yogurt by saving about 6 ounces from the last batch to use as the starter for the next one. If your sanitation is good, you can string along indefinitely doing this, but I tend to refresh the starter about every 6th batch.

Try it and I'll bet you stop eating store-bought except in emergencies.

mybeachpal

yum...sounds like I should make this ! Love yogurt, especially Greek-style.

McKayMachina

This is probably the most amazing thing I've ever read.

Thank you.

How long does it keep in the fridge?

BrewerGeorge

This is probably the most amazing thing I've ever read.

Thank you.

How long does it keep in the fridge?

Just about forever, literally. It may eventually mold on top - and I'm talking several months when I say 'eventually' - but even then you could still safely eat under the mold.

Essentially, it's already 'spoiled' - just in a good way.

I forgot about a pint of yogurt that I had set aside out in my beer fridge for almost a year. I wasn't quite brave enough to try it after I found it, but it looked and smelled absolutely perfect.

McKayMachina

AMAZING! Thank you!

BrewerGeorge

Bump for the daytimers.

mattellis2

nice. will give this a go. have you had better results with one type of milk or another (1%, 2%, whole, etc.)? what about different brands? premium milk make any difference?

BrewerGeorge

I normally drink 2%, so that's what I use for yogurt. Just Marsh (Indy regional) or Kroger milk. Obviously, though, the better the milk, the better the yogurt will be.

mattellis2

what about the proportion for your starter? Do you just use 6 oz of plain yogurt whether you're making a 1/2 gallon or a full gallon?

what brand do you use for a starter? (i shop mostly at kroger)

thanks!

Breckgirl

I like vanilla flovored yogurt. Have you tried making it vanilla flovored?

BrewerGeorge

Ratio of starter doesn't matter much unless you get into batch sizes beyond a rational kitchen size. Forget what we use them for, the purpose of those bacteria as far as they are concerned is to make more bacteria - and they'll get right on it. If you underpitch a bit, the worst that will happen is that it will take a bit longer.

I've used several different brands of starters including Dannon regular plain when I started. My favorite now is Stoneyfield because they have six live cultures. Generally, use anything you want with LIVE cultures and it will make yogurt. The more live cultures it lists, the better.

mattellis2

thanks! I am going to try this tonight. I will update tomorrow.

One more thing...can you explain the straining thing a little more? Do you just put the finished yogurt in a coffee filter and let gravity do its thing until it gets to the thickness you like?

BrewerGeorge

You need to use a metal strainer or collander to provide structural support, but otherwise yes. Put the looser yogurt in coffee filters and let it sit - maybe stir occasionally. There's no real point to saving the soured whey. If you let it sit long enough, it will get almost as thick as cream cheese.

mattellis2

ok, yogurt mixture is in sealed jars, in a cooler, wrapped in an old electric blanket. i'll check on it before i go to bed to see how it is doing (5 hours or so).

thanks for a cool idea!

BrewerGeorge

Good Luck!

KayteeBear

I've been making my own yogurt for a long time now. I used to just put the jars in the oven and let sit with the pilot light on overnight. Then I moved and didn't have a working oven and started using my slow cooker, just letting it sit overnight in the slow cooker.

I find the higher fat the milk is the thicker my yogurt will be. I also am using Balkan Style (can't remember which brand) and get super thick yogurt all the time now. I can usually use my homemade yogurt as a starter for about four or five times until it starts to thin out a bit.

1grammie

bump

mattellis2

ok just checked on it...seems to be doing well. i have a fairly thick mixture in the bottom of the jars with about 3/4" of thin liquid at the top. i assume this is the part that gets drained off?

-matt

mattellis2

my yogurt came out ok. going to have to work on the flavoring/texture a little bit. it was a little bit chunky...think i need to blend it some. i ate a pint this morning with a tablespoon of peanut wonder in it. wasn't terrible, but it does need a little something else.

BrewerGeorge

Maybe sugar? Homemade tends to be more tart than you might be used to. Also don't forget that the commercial stuff is stirred and whipped up to normalize the texture. You've got to do the same at home if the homogenous texture is important to you. Straining will also help with the texture as it all becomes thicker.

darklord48

This sounds delicious. I'll have to try it.