Homemade Yogurt

Here is my "recipe" for homemade yogurt. Once you start doing this and become comfortable with the process, you'll be hooked! It's MUCH cheaper to make this yourself and is so convenient of a process. And there are so many various ways to use yogurt in your cooking! I've gotten to the point where I try to always have some freshly made yogurt on hand.

I wrote down these instructions a few years back, and have changed my process a bit since then. I now use my dehydrator to incubate the yogurt instead of my oven. Also, I don't leave the yogurt in the pot when I incubate it, but rather divide it out into quart sized mason jars. They go right from the dehydrator into the fridge!

**Note: These instructions are for making yogurt with store-bought milk. If you have the blessing of fresh, raw milk you'll need to alter the first step of heating the milk. I'm not familiar with using raw milk, so make sure you research that a bit if you have the opportunity to use fresh milk.

Homemade Yogurt Instructions

Ingredients:
Milk
Yogurt starter (plain)
Powdered milk (optional)


Equipment:
Stainless steel pot & lid
Metal spoon
Towel
Candy thermometer
Oven thermometer

1. Heat milk on stovetop to 180-185 degrees.
2. Let milk cool to 112 degrees.
3. Stir in powdered milk (optional).
4. Stir in yogurt starter.
5. Place lid on pot and wrap towel around it. Place in warmed oven.
Keep oven between 90 degree and 120 degrees.
6. Incubate for 4-8 hours. (I like the temperature around 100-110.)
7. Place in refrigerator overnight.

Notes:
A. Set starter out on countertop when you begin heating milk.
B. Yogurt starter must be plain yogurt with active cultures.
C. Longer incubation time yields tarter and thicker yogurt.
D. Higher incubation temperature yields tarter yogurt.
E. Milk with a higher fat content yields thicker yogurt.
F. Adding powdered milk boosts the nutritional quality of the yogurt and helps to thicken it also.
G. Add approximately ¼ cup of powdered milk per quart of liquid milk.
H. Save some of your homemade yogurt as a starter for the next batch.
I. You can cool the milk faster by placing the pot in the refrigerator.
J. A candy thermometer is useful for checking the temperature when you are heating and cooling the milk.
K. An oven thermometer with a probe is helpful for monitoring oven temperature.
L. Using the pilot light in the oven creates small amount of heat to assist in keeping oven temperature regulated.