Homemade Yogurt

Rachel bought me a yogurt maker some time ago.  I believe I have mastered the art of yogurt making and I'm willing to share my secrets.

The first secret is to acquire a yogurt maker.  This is mine.  It was cheap (under $20) from Walmart online.



All a yogurt maker really does is keep the milk at the right temperature so that it will actually form yogurt.  I know of others who have struggled to use other devices.  It is hard because the optimal temperature range is rather small and not a normal cooking temperature.  This is why a so-called yogurt maker is nice:  it is optimized to maintain the right temperature.

Another key item is sanitation.  After all, the process of making yogurt is to get certain types of bacteria to grow, and we don't want any bad bacteria to also grow!  This is why you will see in my process that I take sanitation very seriously.

First, I get all the equipment out.  My yogurt maker comes with 7 glass jars with corresponding plastic lids.  I also use a funnel, a spoon, prongs, and a beater.  I put them on a cloth like I'm going in for surgery.  I will also use two pots (one that fits inside the other), a wooden spoon for stirring, and a candy thermometer.



I also need plain cultured yogurt.  This is essentially the yogurt starter by providing the bacteria cultures you need.  Generic brands seem to be the best.  The further away the "sell by" date, the better.  If the "sell by" date is only a couple days away, it may not even work; I've had problems with that.  Better quality yogurt comes from a fresher yogurt starter.



Next, I get the two pots, one that will fit inside the other with room to spare, to use as a double-boiler.  In the larger pot I add a little bit of water and put it on the stove-top on high heat, and later turn it down so the water doesn't boil over the side.  Then I put the smaller pot inside and add 4 cups of milk (my glass yogurt jars amount to 4 cups).  I put a candy thermometer in the milk, careful not to let it touch the bottom of the pot.



I use whatever milk we have in the refrigerator, usually 1% milk or non-fat milk.  I don't know how the type of milk affects the yogurt.

I stir the milk every so often.  It needs to heat up to 85-90 degrees CELSIUS (185-195 degrees F).  The purpose is to kill all the bacteria already in the milk, so it doesn't compete with the bacteria we want to grow to make our yogurt.



Then I take the milk pot out and set it aside to start cooling.  The milk will need to cool to about 100 degrees F.  In the meantime, I sanitize everything.  I add more water to that larger pot and get it to a boil.  Then I use my prongs to dip everything (spoon, funnel, glass jars, lids, everything).



Once I have sterilized everything, I then dump the water, cool down the pot in running water, then use that pot to help cool down the milk even faster by putting in some cold water and ice and using the double-boiler method to cool down the milk.



I usually take the milk down to 100 degrees F even.  But I'm told anywhere between 90 degrees and 110 degrees will work best.  Too warm and it will kill some of our good bacteria.



Then I add about 2 tablespoons of my plain yogurt into the milk and mix it up with the beater.  Sometimes I just add the whole container of yogurt because what's the point in only using half the container?  I also don't beat it for very long.  I'm told it is suppose to be bad to agitate it too much.  I'm really just trying to get it mixed in well with the milk and not clumps at the bottom.



Finally I poor my milk through the funnel to fill each of my glass containers.



And then I put my filled containers into my yogurt maker.





It sits in my yogurt maker for about 7-8 hours.  I find that is about the right amount of time so the yogurt isn't too tart, but it will be firm.  I also put it on the counter where it won't get agitated by vibrations.  Putting it on top of the refrigerator is a bad idea because the vibrations will agitate the mixture and make it harder to form good yogurt texture.

After about 7-8 hours, I first turn off the yogurt maker and let it sit for about 1 hour to start cooling down.  Then I put the lids on and put the jars into the refrigerator and let them cool in the refrigerator for about 2 hours before consuming.

I don't keep around homemade yogurt in the fridge for more than 10 days, just to be safe.

I only make plain yogurt.  I have heard (never tried it) that making flavored yogurt doesn't work very well.  Instead, I just add frozen or fresh berries or fruit to my yogurt at mealtime.

That's it!