How to Make Delicious, Homemade Yogurt

Do you like to eat yogurt? Next to ice cream, yogurt is one of the most popular dairy items around. It's a very nourishing food that can actually help cure some ailments. There are several brands of yogurt on the market today that actually taste very good. But, the best tasting, and freshest yogurt is the kind you make at home. Once you learn how to make delicious, homemade yogurt, and how easy it is, (and fun), you'll never eat store-bought yogurt again!

Yogurt, which is basically fermented milk, originated in Asia and Europe. Yogurt is very similiar to Armenian matzoon. Matzoon has been shown to be eaten by the early Bulgarian tribes. It's thought to have been responsible for the tribes living such long lives.

To make your own yogurt, you will need a small container of yogurt that's been homemade or bought. Make sure the yogurt you use contains "active cultures" or your homemade food won't turn out right. Using a little of a store-bought product won't affect the taste of the finished product, though. The only reason you need it is for the cultures.

Pour a quart of fresh milk into a clean saucepan. (All containers and utensils must be clean in order for the yogurt to "set" properly.) Place it on your cookstove and heat it until it comes to a boil. Boil it for twenty seconds, then remove it from the heat. To make homemade yogurt, allow it to cool down until it's lukewarm.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, take three teaspoons of the boiled, cooled milk, and mix it with one teaspoon of yogurt. Then, add this to the pan of milk; stir well.

To make homemade yogurt, pour the mixture into one or more oven-safe dishes or bowls that have lids. Then, once the oven is at the right temperature, place the filled containers on a cookie sheet. Seal the containers with the lids and slide the cookie sheet into the oven.

Close the oven door completely and allow the containers to sit undisturbed all night.

Then, in the morning, remove the containers of yogurt from your oven and place them in the refrigerator. Once it's chilled, your delicous, homemade yogurt will be ready to eat!

Keep a bit of your homemade yogurt in your refrigerator as a "starter" for the next time you make a batch.

Your homemade yogurt will be tasty enough, but if you want to jazz it up a bit, you can add a few drops of vanilla extract and a little sugar to a serving of it to make a great-tasting Vanilla yogurt. Or, if you're watching your weight, nix the pancakes or waffles you would love to have for breakfast, and stir in a couple teaspoons of light maple syrup in a serving of your homemade yogurt. It's lower in calories and better tasting than pancakes and waffles. Not to mention the fact that maple syrup yogurt is healthier for you as well!

Want some more mouth-watering ideas on ways you can flavor your homemade yogurt? Stir in two tablespoons of orange, grape, strawberry, raspberry, or apricot preserves into a serving of cooled yogurt.

Mix a few drops of mint extract in with a serving of homemade yogurt to make a delicous minty treat. Enjoy!