Have you ever made homemade yogurt? I’m amazed at how crazy easy it is to do and my kids love it.
Homemade Yogurt
Recently my sister-in-law offered to show me how to make my own yogurt. I knew that my mother-in-law had been doing it for years in Morocco but I never attempted it. I was convinced I needed a fancy yogurt machine, because how could I possibly create edible yogurt by leaving it out for hours on end? It just seemed crazy to me. But, in fact, it’s the normal way to do it so this past weekend I decided to give it a try. And guess what? My family loved it! I was so happy because not only was it SO EASY, it also does not create any more waste than a milk carton, there are no preservatives and it’s so much less expensive. I don’t love yogurt but my family does and we go through a lot each week. Following are the steps and recipe for DIY Homemade Yogurt!
Things you will need:
- 1 Half gallon of milk
- 2-3 Tbs of plain yogurt (as a starter)
- 1 4-5 Qt pot with lid
- 1 Metal or plastic spoon
- 1 Dial thermometer with clip
- 1 Heating pad
Step One: Heat the milk.
You will make as much yogurt as the amount of milk you use. Since this was my first try I started with one pint.
You need to heat the milk to 185 this is the point at which the milk proteins start yogurt culture production. If you do not have a thermometer, this is also the temperature at which milk begins to froth, like in a latte. If you hold the milk at 185°F for 30 minutes, you will get a very thick consistency. I let mine simmer for 30 minutes and then turned off the heat.
Step Two: Cool Milk to Add Yogurt Starter
You need to cool the milk to 110 before adding the yogurt starter. I recommend gently pulling off the milk skin from the top with a spoon and discarding, then pouring the milk into a new container without stirring so not to disturb the crust that’s been made on the bottom of the pot. Then, take a spoonful of plain yogurt or yogurt starter and mix it with a VERY small amount of the cooled milk in a small cup or large spoon. Then add this mixture to the cooled milk and stir to combine.
Step Three: Place Milk Aside
Cover the milk with towels and place on a heating pad in a safe spot in a corner. You can also leave the yogurt out overnight but I opted to do it this way. You can leave the heating pad on medium for 7 hours. After 7 hours, you can stir the yogurt and see it’s curdled. Stir the curds into the yogurt to smooth it, then place the homemade yogurt in the coolest section of your fridge overnight.
Step Four: Eat!
Now enjoy! Next time I will be using it in my Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie!
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Thank you for making the steps so clear. This should be doable 🙂
I’ve made yogurt once before, but I didn’t write down what we did and never tried again! You explained it really well here…thanks 🙂
Kristen – I was amazed at how easy it is! I can’t believe I haven’t been doing this all along. I didn’t add sugar or vanilla, though, and next time I will. Even still my family ate it up so fast without it being sweet!
This looks so neat. I have never made my own yogurt, but now I really want to try to.
I’ve made yogurt before, but haven’t tried the ‘heating pad method’. Luckily, I found a beautiful yogurt maker at the thrift shop for $2 and it works great. Unfortunately, it’s a single function device.
Hi Karen – What is single function? I love our thrift store – we find lots of great things there.