Homemade Yogurt
Yields: 1 Gallon of creamy yogurt (less if you strain it for greek style yogurt)
Ingredients
- 1 Gallon minus 1 cup of Milk I always use whole milk- no low fat in this house
- 1 4 to 5 ounce container of plain yogurt or 1/2 cup
Equipment needed
- instant read thermometer
- 4 quart size canning jars cleaned well
- 3-4 jars can be any size, old sauce jars etc. or additional canning jars
- Cooler large enough to hold all the jars
- Wide mouth funnel optional but makes life easier
- For greek yogurt you will need cheese cloth and a fine mesh strainer
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, over medium to medium high heat, heat milk to 180°F, stirring occasionally to prevent scalding.
- Remove pan from heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until the milk reaches 110° to 115°F on the instant read thermometer. This temperature range is important to properly incubate the bacteria so you will get thick yogurt.
- Place the store bought yogurt into a small bowl and ladle about a cup of the warm milk onto it. Gently stir, just a couple of quick stirs- You don't want all the yogurt mixed in.
- Then pour the yogurt/milk mixture back into the pan with the warm milk and give it a few gentle stirs (once again, clumps of yogurt are fine).
- Ladle the mixture into the 4 clean canning jars and close tightly.
- Fill the remaining jars with hot tap water and close tightly. Place the yogurt and water jars all in the cooler and close the cooler. Depending on the size of your cooler, you may want to add an extra jar or two of hot water help keep it warm. (my cooler is just big enough to hold 4 yogurt jars and 4 small water jars)
- Leave it alone for 12 hours up to 24 hours. After this time, you should have thick creamy yogurt.
- If you want greek style yogurt you will have to go one step further. Place a layer of cheese cloth in a fine mesh strainer and place the strainer over a bowl. Place the yogurt in the strainer and allow to sit (in the fridge) for several hours or until desired consistency is obtained. You can save the whey (the clear liquid that is released) for another use or discard.
- Sweeten the yogurt to taste. Maple syrup is great for this! Add in whatever you like-some ideas- vanilla, peanut butter, jam, fresh fruit, granola, chocolate chips, caramel and apples.
Notes
Save about 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt to make more yogurt. After a while, if you notice that your new batches of homemade yogurt are getting too thin then go ahead and make your next batch with a store bought container.