How do you make yogurt?

[emzhengjiu]

I really want to begin making yogurt at home, preferably without buying any equipment. What will I need to get started? I have an instant read thermometer and a candy thermometer. What is the best starter culture to get? Also, my girls love flavored yogurts, especially peach. What can I add that won't be too unhealthy? Thanks so much.

 

Judy

[ladydusk]

I've never tried it, but understand you can make yogurt in your crockpot.

[Tutor]

I really want to begin making yogurt at home, preferably without buying any equipment. What will I need to get started? I have an instant read thermometer and a candy thermometer. What is the best starter culture to get? Also, my girls love flavored yogurts, especially peach. What can I add that won't be too unhealthy? Thanks so much.

 

Judy

 

You'll need:

milk

dry milk

yogurt culture or plain yogurt with active cultures

candy thermometer

cooking pot

quart jars

heating pad

cooler

 

This recipe is for a quart of milk, but can easily be doubled or tripled:

 

1. Pour quart of milk into cooking pot, mix in 1/2 cup dry milk powder, and attach thermometer to monitor temp. Heat milk to 180 deg.

2. Turn off heat and let cool to 115 deg. (can either do slowly on stovetop or in ice bath)

3. Put 1 T. prepared yogurt (or culture according to package directions) in jar and add a little of the warm milk; mix well.

4. Pour this into milk in pan and mix well.

5. Pour back into quart jar and screw on lid.

6. Place jar in cooler with heating pad set on low. Leave 6-12 hours. (The longer it sits, the tarter it gets. I put it in just before bed and take it out in the morning.)

7. Chill in fridge 3 hours.

 

You can experiment with not adding dry milk (we need it when using raw goat's milk and store-bought milk, but not with the lightly pasteurized cow's milk from the farmer's market.) If you are using prepared yogurt as your starter, you can buy a large amount of it and freeze it in an ice cube tray then pop them out and store the cubes in the freezer. You'll need about 1 cube per quart of milk; just thaw it in a cup at room temp while waiting for the milk to heat.

 

If you want vanilla yogurt, add the vanilla to the milk at step 1.

 

We usually add honey and some fruit when eating it. We just blend it in or top it just before eating. We don't store it sweetened or with the fruit added.

 

If the yogurt doesn't set right or is a little too tart, you can use it for cooking or to make smoothies or yogurt pops.

 

You can also use the yogurt to make cheese. Yum!

[Aunty Social]

Is that really all? I'd love to try making homemade yogurt, but have been afraid to.

 

Is it thick, like greek yogurt, or runny/slimy like that awful trix kind? Also, does it have all those live bacteria that are supposed to be so good for you? And can I use greek yogurt for the start, since I have some in the fridge?

 

This sounds almost too easy to be true.

[laughing lioness]

I have a tutorial on my blog. Link in sig line, look under homesteading.

[LaxMom]

I agree with Tutor, though I'd leave out the powdered milk. Otherwise, I heat the milk to about 120F, let it cool down to about 110, stir in the yogurt I'm using as a starter (I like the Fage or Brown Cow), pour it into jars and put them in the cooler with the heating pad on low.

 

Frankly, you could really do it without the thermometers, just make sure it's only slightly warmer than skin temp when you put the starter in.

[Tutor]

Is that really all? I'd love to try making homemade yogurt, but have been afraid to.

 

Is it thick, like greek yogurt, or runny/slimy like that awful trix kind? Also, does it have all those live bacteria that are supposed to be so good for you? And can I use greek yogurt for the start, since I have some in the fridge?

 

This sounds almost too easy to be true.

 

My experience so far (a month maybe :001_smile: ) is that the cow's milk (from the farmer's market, not the grocery store) comes out very thick and mildly tart (don't need to add the dry milk); raw goat's milk yogurt comes out runnier and tarter, but is excellent in smoothies and for cooking since its flavor holds up to the cooking.

 

Yes, it has the cultures. They come from either the yogurt or culture starter you use (thus why you need to use a yogurt with active cultures... otherwise it won't work because there are no happy microbes working on the milk).

 

I was amazed at how easy it was. Within a week, I was not only making yogurt regularly, but also yogurt cheese and farmer's cheese. Both are amazingly simples also (although I am still tweeking the farmer's cheese recipe a bit).

[*********]

Ok, so don't laugh.

 

I really had no idea that you could make your own yogurt at home. Don't ask me how I thought the yogurt at the store got made. :tongue_smilie:

 

Seriously, you can make it in a crockpot?! I mean, come ON! How cool is that?! My boys LOVE vanilla yogurt, and even on sale, it's a little pricey sometimes. I'm sooooo makin' me some yogurt....

 

Thanks for this thread! Now, if anyone wants to share how it is that you'd make cheese out of the yogurt... :D

[Aunty Social]

I have a tutorial on my blog. Link in sig line, look under homesteading.

 

Thanks for the link - love your blog!

 

My experience so far (a month maybe :001_smile: ) is that the cow's milk (from the farmer's market, not the grocery store) comes out very thick and mildly tart (don't need to add the dry milk); raw goat's milk yogurt comes out runnier and tarter, but is excellent in smoothies and for cooking since its flavor holds up to the cooking.

 

Yes, it has the cultures. They come from either the yogurt or culture starter you use (thus why you need to use a yogurt with active cultures... otherwise it won't work because there are no happy microbes working on the milk).

 

I was amazed at how easy it was. Within a week, I was not only making yogurt regularly, but also yogurt cheese and farmer's cheese. Both are amazingly simples also (although I am still tweeking the farmer's cheese recipe a bit).

 

Huh. Looks like I'm going to have to give it a try (and field more "crunchy granola" remarks from my dh:lol:). Of course, now I need the recipes for yogurt and farmer's cheese!

[LaxMom]

Thanks for this thread! Now, if anyone wants to share how it is that you'd make cheese out of the yogurt... :D

You just strain it through cheesecloth until it's the consistency of cream cheese.

 

(And you probably don't want to use vanilla... or maybe you do. :D)

[Renthead Mommy]

Can you freeze homemade yogurt?

 

I used to freeze regular yogurt. The small containers I'd freeze, pull out the night before and put in fridge with bagged lunch. By lunch time the next day it would be thawed just right, and have kept the rest of lunch cold.

 

Overseas I'd freeze the large containers sometimes. (Often you'd get it one week, and then it would be a few weeks before they finally got more in.) The freezing didn't seem to work as well on the large containers as it did on the single serving size one. The large ones never seemed 'just right' after freezing. Not that they were bad or anything, just not quite like when you buy them from the store. Maybe it was because you couldn't stir them up as much as the single servings??

 

But because of how the larger containers changed a little make me wonder. Also are the cultures still alive if you freeze them?

 

I'd love to make homemade, but I'm probably the only one that would eat it, and it's not something I eat everyday as is.

 

How long does the homemade last in the fridge?

[Tutor]

Now, if anyone wants to share how it is that you'd make cheese out of the yogurt... :D

 

Are you ready? 'Cause this is going to be amazingly hard.

 

Got a pencil?

 

;)

 

Here you go:

 

Yogurt Cheese

You'll need:

plain yogurt

cheesecloth (or very clean, thin dishtowel or cloth napkin)

colander

bowl

string

fridge

wooden spoon

 

1. Place colander in bowl and line with cheesecloth.

2. Pour in yogurt.

3. Gather cheesecloth corners and tie with string (making a bag for the yogurt).

4. Tie bag to shelf in fridge over bowl or to wooden spoon placed across bowl so that bag of yogurt hangs over bowl.

5. Let hang about 5 hours until liquid stops dripping from bag. (This is for at room temp; hang overnight if in fridge.)

6. Unwrap cheese from cloth and wrap in plastic wrap to chill and firm-up in fridge.

 

It makes a tangy, soft cheese that is excellent served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of roasted garlic and spread of pita bread.

 

If you do a search for "making yogurt cheese" on youtube, you'll find a ton of videos. Have fun!

Edited August 27, 2009 by Tutor
typos

[LaxMom]

If you do a search for "making yogurt cheese" on youtube, you'll find a ton of videos. Have fun!

Videos? :001_huh: Watching yogurt drain sounds about as video friendly as watching paint dry.

 

:D

[Tutor]

Videos? :001_huh: Watching yogurt drain sounds about as video friendly as watching paint dry.

 

:D

 

Seriously! :001_smile:

 

After reading a recipe for it, I couldn't believe it was as easy as it sounded, so I checked for a video. I felt kinda silly after.:tongue_smilie:

[NavyWifeandMommy]

I want t make it but afraid of it going wrong and I make us all sick. My kids and I love store bought yogurt and I will buy about 50 a payday at the comassary. (military grocery store). It be nice to have another person around who has made it help but so far everyone I know now does the store bought thing. I guess I better suck it up and brave it out and make some, I want to do the crockpot one since I use it for just about everything.

[Cricket]

Has anyone made yogurt from only reconstituted dry milk? I'm thinking about stocking up on supplies. Yogurt is a staple around here. Just wondering how it would taste made from dry milk.

[Caitilin]

Or you can buy the starter here, and make your own on your kitchen counter. Easy peasy. And cheap. And no heating needed. It's great, and they sell kefir and kombucha cultures too, as well as sourdough bread culture. I have bought and made the yogurt, and it's good! You have to flavor and sweeten afterwards, if you want it flavored and sweetened, but that's still easy. I think think the one we bought is the Viili type. Good luck on your quest! ;)

[Amira]

Has anyone made yogurt from only reconstituted dry milk? I'm thinking about stocking up on supplies. Yogurt is a staple around here. Just wondering how it would taste made from dry milk.

 

I always use powdered milk for my yogurt, because I store it and yogurt is a good way to use it up. Since it's common to add powdered milk to yogurt to thicken it a bit, I've never noticed a difference in the flavor. Another thing I love about using powdered milk is that it doesn't need to be boiled first. You'll need to experiment with your powdered milk though to figure out how much you'll need. I make 2 quarts at a time and use about 1-3/4 cups of non-instant powdered milk. If you're using instant, you might use as much as three cups (although I do think the flavor is a bit off with instant). Anyway, just use warm water, stir in your powdered milk and then your yogurt, and incubate as usual. We go through about a gallon of yogurt a week.

[Quiver0f10]

I've never tried it, but understand you can make yogurt in your crockpot.

 

 

I have been doing this for a few weeks now and LOVE it! It is the easiest way to make yogurt.

[justamouse]

I agree with Tutor, though I'd leave out the powdered milk. Otherwise, I heat the milk to about 120F, let it cool down to about 110, stir in the yogurt I'm using as a starter (I like the Fage or Brown Cow), pour it into jars and put them in the cooler with the heating pad on low.

 

Frankly, you could really do it without the thermometers, just make sure it's only slightly warmer than skin temp when you put the starter in.

 

 

I've only used a few tablespoons of Stoneyfeild to act as a starter, but I was never happy with the consistency, then I tried the Greek style and that worked a bit better. Are any of you able to get it really thick?