Here's the easiest way to make nice thick yogurt I've found-no special equipment!

[HappyGrace]

1. Bring 4 cups of whole milk (we use raw milk, so I would advise whole milk since I've not tried this with lower fat milk, but feel free to experiment!) up to 180 degrees in a pan.

2. Then take it off the heat and let it cool down to 120 degrees (no cooler than that!)

3. Meanwhile heat some water in a quart jar in the micro to get the jar nice and warm. Empty the water out of the quart jar and put 1-3 T plain yogurt in the bottom, add the warm milk and stir well for about 20 sec. Put the lid on and wrap in a blanket for 8 hours. That's it!

 

It will thicken up after refrigerating. Remember to save some yogurt for your next batch.

 

This has been saving us a lot of money. You can mix all-fruit jam or honey into a bowl of it if you like it sweeter.

 

Note: As for yogurt for a starter, if there's ANY way you can buy Seven Stars brand yogurt near you, it is AMAZING! It's originally from a Turkish culture and is very mild and creamy and not sour at all. You only have to buy it once, and if you continue to just keep a starter from every batch (a few tablespoons) it will always taste so nice and creamy like Seven Stars!

 

Note to raw milk users: unfortunately, this process does pasteurize raw milk, but experimenting with any lower temps yielded a very runny yogurt.

[beansprouts]

I like to use 2 cups of (all natural) half & half with two cups of whole milk. The more fat you use the thicker and creamier the final product. Also the tartness of the yogurt depends on the incubation time. Six hours produces a nice mild yogurt, but if you like it tart you can go up to 12 hours.

[HappyGrace]

I didn't try a shorter time. So a quart of yogurt would be "done" incubating (in the way I described) in 6 hours, and if I refrigerate it then, it will make it even less tart? (Not that it's tart, but one time it did come out a bit more tart, and now I'm thinking it was maybe due to inc. time.

[beansprouts]

I didn't try a shorter time. So a quart of yogurt would be "done" incubating (in the way I described) in 6 hours, and if I refrigerate it then, it will make it even less tart? (Not that it's tart, but one time it did come out a bit more tart, and now I'm thinking it was maybe due to inc. time.

 

Yes, according to my reading and experience you can determine the tartness by how long you incubate the yogurt.

[Tammyla]

Can you estimate how long it takes to cool down from 180' to 120'? This sounds like something simple enough for me to make. ;)

[HappyGrace]

10 minutes? The first couple times you definitely need to keep an eye on the temp going up to 180 and then coming down to 120, but then you get a feel for it. I was thrilled when a df gave me this recipe because it makes it so doable!

 

Thanks, Cindy, I will try six hours today!

[Sena]

I make my yogurt a little different. For step 3. I add 1/2 cup of yogurt to the milk, whisk it in for 2 min. I then fill my canning jars up and put them in an oven that has been preheated to 200 and then turned off. I leave them in for 6-12 hours, depending on when I get around to getting them out.

 

We also use raw milk. My SIL tried this with store bought whole milk and it didn't work. Has anyone had success with store bought milk?

[sandyr]

What type of store sells yogurt starter - grocery, health food, ??

 

Sandy

[Sena]

I use any whole plain yogurt as a start, if I have my own on hand I use that.

[beansprouts]

You can use any yogurt with live and active cultures. Stonyfield farms works, so does Horizon.

[cjzimmer1]

 

 

We also use raw milk. My SIL tried this with store bought whole milk and it didn't work. Has anyone had success with store bought milk?

 

Well I have a yogurt maker but all that really does is maintain the temperature for you. I have never used anything but store bought milk (due to economic difficulties as a child my parents got raw milk from my grandparents. I STILL can't drink a glass of milk plain because I remember so vividly having nasty chunks of cream floating in my milk. Don't know how you all do it but I thought it was horrible stuff). Sometimes I use straight whole milk and sometimes I use half whole milk and half skim milk (but then I will add 1/4 cup of dry powdered milk) and it comes out great everytime.

 

Stephanie

[Amanda's Mommy]

DD only likes vanilla flavored yogurt. At what point would I add it and how much?

[cjzimmer1]

DD only likes vanilla flavored yogurt. At what point would I add it and how much?

 

Depends on how strong of vanilla you want and how sweet but after it cools down and I have stirred the yogurt culture in, I add the vanilla and sugar. I have 5 cups of milk and 1/2 cup yogurt and to that I add about 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. You will have to alter that amount based on the amount of milk you are working with and you taste preferences.

 

Stephanie

[amary]

We do something similar. I heat 1 quart fat free milk and 1/4 C powdered milk to 180 and then cool to 120 (takes about 15-20 mintes). I add a few tablespoons of yogurt (original was stonyfield plain, non-fat), whisk and then pour into old pint size 32 oz yogurt containers. I wrap in towel and put in the fridge after 4 hours. It's almost as firm as the original, although that isn't true if I leave out the dry milk. If I leave it longer than 4 hours it's too tart and doesn't seem to be that much firmer.

 

I keep frozen strawberries and blueberries in the freezer. We always have a handful of each thawed in the fridge so the kids can help themselves. It is a great $$ savings.