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Before you begin there are a few things to make sure you have on
hand and a few things to know and understand about the process. Most of what you need you will be able to find in the grocery
store.
You need to begin with “starter yogurt”. Starter yogurt is yogurt
that has been made with active live cultures; this is the friendly bacteria that will turn your milk into yogurt. You can
buy a small container of yogurt at the grocery to use for this purpose. Make sure that the container says “Made with live
cultures” or something of this nature. You want to buy plain yogurt, not flavored. Each time you make yogurt you will need
some starter. You can use your own starter, but over time it looses its potency and your yogurt will not turn out. So I always
begin with store bought yogurt. You can freeze your starter yogurt in ice cube trays so that it is convenient to have on
hand.
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As far as tools for making yogurt go, you will need a
thermometer. A candy thermometer bought from the grocery store will work just fine. You will need a large pot to heat up your
milk and then something to incubate your yogurt for about 12 hours. The temperature of the yogurt must stay between 90 and 110
degrees during this incubation time.
There are a variety of ways of maintaining this temperature. If
you have a gas stove, putting your yogurt in the stove and leaving the pilot light on may be enough. Make sure you have a
thermometer in the oven so you can keep an eye on the temperatures. If you have a stove that you can set at around 100
degrees, this works also. Another method that works is to use a small styrofoam ice chest. While you are making the yogurt fill
up the ice chest with hot tap water. Right before you set the jars in the ice chest empty the water, place filled jars in the
ice chest, and fill with 110 degree water up to the bottom edge of the lids. Put the cover on and place a blanket over this.
After about 4 hours check to make sure the water is still the right temperature (between 90-110 degrees). If the water is
cooling down, dump half of it out and replace with 110 degree water and cover again. Check every 1 ½ hours or so to make sure
the water is staying warm. If the temperature of your yogurt gets to high or to low then it will kill the culture. So it is
important that during the incubation period that your temperature stays between 90 and 110 degrees.
Here is my easy and tasty homemade yogurt recipe
Homemade Yogurt
Crystal Miller
8 cups milk, cow or goat (I raise Nubian goats and use my own
goat’s milk most often, but have made lots of yogurt with cow’s milk from the store)
1/3 cup powdered milk (this is optional but will make a thicker
yogurt)
¼ cup pure maple syrup, optional for sweetened yogurt
½ cup starter yogurt
Before you begin wash 2 – quart sized canning jars. If you want
to use 4- pint sized jars instead that would be fine too. Have the metal rings and lids ready to cover the jars when you are
done.
Pour your milk into a large cooking pot. Heat the milk up to 185
degrees. Allow the milk to cool down to 110 degrees. The cooling can take a long time. If you want to speed the process up fill
your sink with cold water and place the pot of hot milk in the
water and stir and stir. The temperature drops fairly quickly this way, so make sure to have your thermometer handy to keep
checking.
After you reach 110 degrees add the remaining ingredients and
stir until everything is dissolved very well. Pour this mixture into your ready and waiting jars. Put the lids on and put them
into what ever place you are planning to incubate and culture them. Leave them there for 10 to 12 hours. Try not to disturb the
jars to much. When the yogurt is firm it is time to remove them and put them in the refrigerator to get nice and cold. Usually 12
to 24 hours. If you make and incubate the yogurt during the day it can refrigerate overnight and be ready for breakfast the next
day.
If you would like flavored yogurt you add fresh cut up fruit or a
little bit of flavored jam when you are serving your yogurt.
Copyright: Crystal Miller, 2004.
About the Author: Crystal Miller
is a mother of 8 children and enjoys her God given role as wife, homemaker and mother!
She has a homemaking and country living web site called The Family Homestead
and has a free monthly newsletter called Homestead Happenings. You will find
sign up information on her website.
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