How to make your own yogurt

When my husband started talking about making homemade yogurt, I thought he was nuts. "Yogurt? You've got to be kidding me!" However, after his first batch, I was hooked. Now we make it on a regular basis. My baby loves it! And, it is unbelievably EASY!

Here's what you need:

-1 Gallon milk (Fat content your choice. I always use whole organic).

-1 cup ready made yogurt with active cultures (I use Stonyfield Organic but you can use any plain yogurt as long as it says "active cultures" on it. Once you have a batch made, you can use your homemade yogurt as a starter).

-2 cups Dry Milk

-1/2- 1 cup Sweetener* (sugar, agave, etc. Honey is best added AFTER the process is finished.)

-1/2 tbs Vanilla*

*optional ingredients/adjust to your flavor preference

Stock pot

Whisk

Cooking Thermometer (candy thermometer works well)

Containers with lids

Consistently Warm Place

Prep time: 1.5-2 hours

Here are the basic steps:

Step 1: Pour approximately 1 gallon of milk into a stock pot. Using a cooking thermometer, heat to 185 degrees F. Stir occasionally to prevent the milk from scalding.

Step 2: Once the milk has reached 185 degrees F, remove from the heat source and mix in Dry milk, Sweetener, and Vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are completely dissolved.

For a sweetener, I use about 1/2 cup of peach honey

(I made peach honey by boiling leftover peach peeling with white sugar until it reduced to a syrup). 

However, I DO NOT recommend regular honey.

Step 3: Let the milk mixture temperature reduce to 110 degrees F. Add the yogurt starter and stir until it is completely dissolved.

Step 4: Pour into clean, dry containers. I prefer glass containers, but I have also used plastic. You can save your peanut butter jars, jelly jars, and any other type of jars for yogurt. Just make sure all your containers have lids (these are what you will be storing your yogurt in as well).

Step 5: Fill containers with milk mixture. Do not put the lids on the containers. Place the filled containers in a warm place (not HOT- approx. 110 degrees F is ideal) for 8-12 hours. (The longer the yogurt sits, the tarter the yogurt will become.) I place my yogurt in my OFF over- the- range microwave and turn the over- the range- light on. You can also use your OFF oven and turn the oven light on. Or, you can place your containers on a heating pad (with a very low setting) on your countertop. Some people have even had success placing their containers in a warm sunny spot inside the house. However, if you are not so adventurous, you can purchase a yogurt maker at many "Big Box Stores". They come with containers.

Step 6: After 8-12 hours, remove the yogurt from its warm area, place the lids on the containers, and refrigerate immediately. Use within 4 weeks of your make date. Makes a 1+/- gallon yogurt.*

That's all there is to it! Add some fresh organic fruit or eat plain!

Enjoy!

*I make 1 gallon of yogurt at a time because we use it daily. You can easily cut this recipe in half to create a more manageable batch!