How to Make Homemade Yogurt With Your Own Supplies

Look online for instructions for making homemade yogurt, and it seems everyone wants you to buy a machine. Perhaps you have enough kitchen gadgets that only get used for one select process. Yogurt can easily be made at home without purchasing any special equipment. No doubt, the machine for making yogurt is efficient and a reasonably priced appliance. If you find you are making yogurt all the time, it might be a wise choice for your home. But first, try this strategy and see if yogurt is a hit at your house!

Of course, I recommend you select the highest quality ingredients for making yogurt. Try making it with raw, whole milk from grass fed cows for the best nutritional quality. Or purchase non-homogenized organic milk if the other is unavailable in your area. The poorest choice is simple pasteurized, homogenized whole milk from the grocery store, but it will make yogurt.

Secondly, you will need some yogurt to serve as the culture. Again, it is important to select the highest quality plain yogurt that is available. Brown Cow/Stoneyfield (Did you know they are made by the same company?) is available nationwide, but also look for yogurt made by a dairy in your area. It must contain live cultures; the more cultures, the better. It is essential that the yogurt not be sweetened or flavored, simply plain whole fat yogurt.

Milk and yogurt are the only essential ingredients. Flavoring or sweetening your yogurt is completely optional.

The necessary equipment for making yogurt is a stove, pot, whisk or spoon, chef's instant read thermometer ($2-$4 at most grocery stores), wide mouth mason jars, and a cooler.

Determine how many mason jars will fit in your cooler. This will determine how much yogurt you will make. If you only want to make fewer jars than your cooler holds, you can fill additional jars with warm water (about 120 degrees) and place them in with the yogurt to maintain the needed warm environment.

Pour milk into each quart jar that you wish to make yogurt in until it is about ¾ full. Then pour all the milk into your pot over low heat. The milk must be warmed slowly and evenly to about 110 degrees. Steadily stir or whisk the milk to ensure through heating.

While the milk is heating, place ¼ cup of yogurt in each quart mason jar. When the milk has reached 110 degrees, pour warm milk into the mason jars. Whisk gently to thoroughly mix yogurt into milk. If you are using pasteurized milk, the temperature need not be quite so specific and can be heated up to about 180 degrees. Put lids on the jars and place all the warm

jars in the cooler. Insulating the jars with a towel or small blanket will ensure that the temperature is warm enough for the culture to grow. Leave the cooler closed for seven to eight hours, and then move the yogurt to the refrigerator. As you enjoy your yogurt, remember to reserve some as a starter culture for the next time you make yogurt.