How to make Homemade Yogurt

My mom made homemade yogurt almost every day of her life. To her it was a daily part of her routine.  She did not use any special equipment or thermometers. In those days people use their senses to do these things and we can too.

A neighbor friend recently decided she wanted to start eating healthy and was going to avoid buying a lot of these ready made foods. One of those is yogurt. Yes!

Have you have ready what it says on your yogurt containers, here's an example -
Nonfat yogurt (cultured grade A non fat milk, modified food starch, fructose, kosher gelatin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3), water, blueberry puree, fructose, contains less than 1% of modified corn starch, natural flavor, blue 1, red 40, aspartame, potassium sorbate (to maintain freshness), acesfulfame potassium, sucralose, malic acid, sodium citrate. I got the above on a blog post by The delicious truth. Her has some good info on his blog.

Back to my neighbor, she went and purchased a thermometer, a double boiler and some sachets of yogurt bacteria culture on line. 

She was shocked to know that I make yogurt twice a week at home without any special equipment or ingredients. 

The irony to making yogurt is that you need to have a little yogurt to make more yogurt. Yes, a tablespoon of yogurt has enough bacteria to reproduce a whole jar of more yogurt bacteria.

You seriously do not need all that. Here's how I make my yogurt, simple, easy and always full proof.  

Here's what you'll need.  

4 cups Milk (I'm making 6 cups below)

4 tsp plain active yogurt approx - (I have two tbsp below)

What is plain yogurt? - not the synthetic but the one that says active culture. Some say active bio culture. 

Method:

Pour milk in a sauce pan and bring to almost a boil. you will see small bubbles on the sides of the pot.

Another indication is this thin skin that forms on the top of the milk as it heats. It's the fat in the milk that rises. 

Switch the flame off and cool the milk to almost warm. 

You want to make sure the milk is not hot nor cold. It sounds tricky but it's not. 

Clean your hands and place your small finger into the milk. If you feel it is warm to the touch it's ok. 

Close to room temperature is fine but more than warm will kill the bacteria in the yogurt. 

Think of when you give milk to a baby. You want it warm, not too warm but not cold either. 

It's the same here... 

Pour approximately 3 1/3 cups milk in a glass jar or stainless steel or glass bowl. Do not use aluminum.

Add the balance half cup milk into a small separate bowl to help mix the yogurt.

Add your yogurt to the 1/2 cup milk. 

Use a whisk and mix the yogurt into the milk really well. 

Now pour that into your jar of milk that's ready to make yogurt. 

Again use a whisk and mix the milk well to ensure the yogurt is mixed well. 

Cover the jar with a lid and store in a warm place, untouched for 4 to 6 hours

Note: - for yogurt to form two things are important. 

1. Warmth - you have to keep the jar in a warm place.
   In summer that can be anywhere on your kitchen counter, I still keep mine in the oven.
   In winter - I warm the oven to about 50C/100F for five minutes. Switch it off and place my jar in the warm oven.  
2. Do not disturb - do not touch the jar while the bacteria culture is doing it's job. Let it alone. 

After about four to six  hours- depending on the weather.  You will see that the milk has caked up.  That's your yogurt. 

At this time the yogurt formed is very milky not sour. As you keep it longer it will continue to mature making it sour.

Technically it is ready now but it's best to let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours more to let the bacteria mature.

After 3 to 4 hours in the fridge you will see that the yogurt has a nice creamy yet sour texture.

You see how thick that is? This is 3% milk fat. 

You can make yogurt with skimmed milk too but it will be very thin and liquid. 

Store bought non-fat yogurts have cornstarch added to make them thick.  

And that's how to make homemade yogurt. It's really not difficult, just a matter of making it a part of your routine. 

How to use it? 
Fruit yogurt - to every cup of yogurt add two tablespoons of fruit puree.
For example  - 2 tbsp strawberry puree to one cup plain yogurt make strawberry yogurt.
Now figs are in season here so - I mash up two figs into the yogurt, add a tbsp of honey and the kids enjoy fig yogurt.
Honey Granola - Add plain yogurt to your granola and add a tbsp of honey.
Cooking - you can use it to any recipe that calls for plain yogurt.
Make yogurt drinks  - similar to my upcoming post Mango yogurt drink.

I do hope you will try making homemade yogurt and enjoy it's natural taste.

Thanks for stopping by.