How To Make Homemade Yogurt

Calendar October 14, 2009 | Posted by Kristen

IMG_4359-1 In my last post, I explained why I think homemade yogurt is worth my while, and today, I’m going to tell you exactly how to go about making it.

As I said previously, this is not a terribly time-consuming project. It did seem a little overwhelming to me the first time (I was so never going to make it again, actually!).

Happily, once I did it a few more times, I realized that making yogurt really requires very little hands-on time. I’ve found that it’s best to make yogurt while I’m already in the kitchen doing other things because that way I can do dishes or work on meal prep while the milk is heating and cooling.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t require a lot of unusual equipment. Here’s what you’ll need:

-4 glass quart jars with lids
-a large stockpot (2 pots make the job easier)
-a cooler large enough to hold 4 quart jars
-a measuring cup
-a whisk
-a kitchen thermometer
-optionally, a pitcher

And here’s the recipe:

Homemade Yogurt (makes 4 quarts)

Ingredients
1 gallon of milk
1 cup yogurt starter(you can use a small cup of plain Dannon or Yoplait yogurt, or you can use a cup from your previous batch.)

1. Place four quart glass canning jars, four lids, and four screw-tops in a large pot. Fill with an inch of water; cover with lid and heat to boiling. Boil for ten minutes. Leave the lid on the pot and move it off the heat until you are ready to use the jars.

2. Pour one gallon of milk into a large, heavy bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven. Heat the milk to 185-195 degrees Farenheit(90-90 Celcius).

3. Place the pot in a sink filled with cold water and let the milk cool to 120-130 degrees farenheit(50-55 degrees celsius)

4. Stir one cup of yogurt starter into the cooled milk, using a whisk. Stir well to ensure that the starter is thoroughly incorporated into the milk.

5. Pour the milk into jars, using a pitcher if desired, and put the lids and bands on. Place them into a cooler.

6. Heat one gallon of water to 120-130 degrees F(50-55 degrees C) and pour into cooler.

7. Shut cooler lid and leave in a warm place for three hours. When the three hours are up, place the yogurt in the refrigerator. Sealed, refrigerated yogurt jars will keep for at least a month.

To make a delicious vanilla version of this yogurt, add 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar to the four quarts of milk when it’s cooling in the sink. Then stir in 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla, depending on your preference, and proceed as usual with the recipe.

If you’d like to see step-by-step pictures of this recipe, go check out the original yogurt recipe post on The Frugal Girl.
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Kristen blogs about saving money cheerfully at The Frugal Girl. In addition to being a life-long devotee of frugality, she’s a photography nut, a baker, a homeschooler, a musician, and more importantly, a wife and mom who loves God.

Category Categories: cooking and recipes | Tag Tags: , , | Comments 2 Comments »

Comments

2 Responses to “How To Make Homemade Yogurt”

  1. Michelle says:
    October 23, 2009 at 11:15 am

    Thanks for posting this. I make my own yogurt in one quart batches and have wondered if making a gallon at once would work. By the way, do you use whole milk or skim? Your photo looks like it is very creamy.

  2. Kristen says:
    October 23, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    I use whole milk every time. It makes for a mild, thick end product, which is delightful. You can use any sort of milk you want, but lower fat yogurt will just not be as creamy. All of us here at Chez Frugal Girl are on the scrawnier end of things, so I don’t worry about the fat content at all.

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