Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Yogurt

Since I am most likely in the hospital enjoying my new baby this morning, I thought I would auto post a fun Tasty Tuesday recipe for you to try out.  Making your own yogurt can seem pretty intimidating at first, at least it did for me, but now that I've got it all figured out, it is a piece of cake.  There are quite a few different ways of doing some of the steps in the process, so you might have to try out a few before you find what works and what you like.

First you will need to heat up your milk to 185 degrees.  The easiest way I've found to do this without scorching the milk is to put it in a jar in a pan of water.  At this time, I also take out a couple of tablespoons of my yogurt that I will use for a starter and let it warm up to room temperature.  If this is your first time, you can use plain or vanilla yogurt from the store (make sure it has live and active cultures) and after that you can just use some from yogurt that you have previously made.  You will need about 2 tablespoons per quart of milk.


After you have heated it, it needs to be cooled to about 115 degrees.  I do this by setting the jar in my freezer and checking and stirring it every 15 minutes or so.  You could also do this in the fridge or just on the counter, but it will take longer.
Once it is cooled I always add some non-fat dry milk powder to make the yogurt a little thicker.  This is completely optional, but if you want to try it, add about 1/4 cup per quart of milk.  Then you need to gently stir in the yogurt starter that should be at room temperature by now.
The next step can be done many different ways and can produce a wide range of taste and consistency of your yogurt.  The milk mixture needs to be kept warm for anywhere from 4-12 hours at a temperature anywhere between 90-120 degrees in order to incubate and let the cultures grow.  I have read many different ways of doing this, including putting it in the oven and leaving the light on, putting it in a cooler with a pan of boiling water, crock pots, or any other place you can keep it warm.  I tried a few of them, but always had to keep a thermometer by it and check the temperature often. Since I knew I wanted to make yogurt often, I purchase a yogurt maker for about $20 and that way I can just set my jar in it and not worry about keeping it the right temperature.  Anyway that you try it, it needs to be in a place where it won't have to be moved for several hours.  You will get sweeter yogurt with lower temps and shorter incubating times and tarter yogurt with higher temps and longer times. 

Then you will need to refrigerate it for several hours before eating it. Before using any of the fresh yogurt, I always take out about 2 tablespoons and store it in a separate container to use as my starter next time.

Even though it takes quite a long time to make, it really doesn't require constant attention and is not a time consuming process.  You may need to try it several different times in order to get the taste or consistency you like (my first time it was really soupy and I've also had it not work at all!) but don't give up!  There are many uses for your yogurt once you get the hang of making it.  It is good for eating plain or topped with fruit, granola, or other things,  making smoothies, and using it in recipes in place of sour cream, mayonnaise, cream, or buttermilk.  It can be frozen or used to make yogurt cheese, which can also replace sour cream or cream cheese in recipes.
Hopefully you enjoy trying this fun process as much as I have!  Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know how it turns out!