Anyone make their own yogurt?

bump :flowerforyou:

I have a yogurt maker someone gave me as a gift. Sadly I have never used it. Might make that a summer project

Be sure to check your crockpot manual for temperatures for each setting. For instance, mine has four: High, Low, Simmer, Warm.

Warm, which is the lowest is 165F which is too high for yogurt. If you find your results don't set or it's too tart, but you love the crockpot method, try putting the yogurt in a ceramic basin set in water.

Like I said, depends on your crockpot.

To the person who wondered about the safety of homemade yogurt, like any food preparation, as long as you use clean utensils & pot there should be no problem. Once the yogurt is set and put in the fridge it's as safe as store bought yogurt.

Why is 165F too high? I'm confused because some sites say 170F, one says 185F. Which is right. Bacteria in milk is killed at 185F but if you're using pasteurized milk (I know, pasteurized milk is bad for you too) why would you need 185F?

When 2.5 hours were up, I checked the temp and it was 173F. Will continue and hope I don't die. BTW, I usually treat my milk with a 2% solution of hydrogen peroxide. It kills bacteria and milk will last for weeks. They do this in Europe where milk isn't refrigerated and have done so for years, or thats what I was told once. Any europeans care to weigh in on this.

Scalding takes place at around 180F and serves three purposes: it kills harmful bacteria that may spoil the food being prepared, it destroys enzymes that may affect the way the milk performs in the recipe, and it raises the temperature of the milk to speed up results. In yogurt preparation, scalding alters the structure of the protein in the milk in such a way that it causes less whey and a firmer product. Pasteurization done prior to sale in a store just kills bacteria to acceptable government limits--it doesn't kill it all.

The milk then needs to be cooled to a temperature that will allow the culture to grow--too hot or too cold and your yogurt will not set properly.

As for using H2O2 for milk preservation, I can't comment--sounds interesting.

Bump! I didn't even know you can make your own yogurt! I so want to try now too. I made greek yogurt using regular yogurt and although it was thick I did not like the taste so it must be the brand of yogurt that I bought.

I Use the Easiyo Yoghurt Maker... and sachets.... its sooooo simple.... :flowerforyou:

http://www.easiyo.com/index.html

OK, here's how it is working.
1/2 gallon of 2% milk. Heat to 185F stirring constantly (use double boiler if possible). Cool to 120F in ice water bath. Take out 2 cups of warm milk and add 1 cup fat free plain greek style yogurt (at room temp) and 3/4 cup powdered milk. Mix gently and pour back into the rest of the milk. Put into crock pot that has been pre-warmed. Unplug crock pot and set it on a heating pad set to low. By this time the milk is at 110F (the perfect temp). Put lid on the crock pot and wrap in heavy bath towels. 8 hours later you have a thick greek style yogurt. I drain the whey with a jelly straining stand/cloth bag. This makes 32 oz of fantastic yogurt.

Thank you so much for the step-by-step instructions. Can't wait ti try it!

I'm really tempted to do this, I think I should just try it once just to be able to say I did it. When I get down to my last 1/2 cup, I can decide whether to eat it or have it contribute to the next batch.

I like to make my own because it's so much cheaper than buying store-bought yogurt. Like exponentially cheaper. And then since I made it, I know exactly what's in it and I can control how much sugar it contains. It's definitely worth it. Go for it!

I made this over the weekend using my crockpot and 1% milk. (I did add a packet of unflavored gelatin since I used the lower fat milk.)

It is wonderful! I won't eat plain store-bought yogurt--I just don't like it--but this is great. Just a bit of a tang and great in recipes, too.

Thank you so much for the link!

oh really? are you in the US or the EU? cuz I know canadian store bought has never worked for me.... in the EU i am able to make it all the time.

I used plain commercially-bought yogurt to make mine. Tillamook plain yoogurt (US). Worked grat and I need to make more!

How do you calculate the calories for it?

How do you calculate the calories for it?

I just use database entries for plain yogurt. If you use whole milk like I do, there's an entry for "plain whole milk yogurt" and I use that. I also sometimes strain mine to make it Greek-style, and I use the database entry for "plain whole milk Greek Yogurt" -- I think there's a brand name associated with that one though. But I figure it's close, if not 100% accurate. You can also get technical and look up the information for whey (which is what you strain out to make it thicker) and then subtract that from the totals for your plain yogurt batch, but that's too much work for me.

Raven1114, it's very easy! Give it a try!