Homemade Yogurt

There are certain foods that seem impossible to make at home.  I don't get excited when mixing flour, butter and eggs results in cookies.  In my mind, that's just logical.  But turning milk into yogurt?  Magical.  Turning regular yogurt into Greek yogurt?  Magical and super thrifty!  I did a lot of online searching for the perfect yogurt making method and recipe, but I found that nobody seems to agree on the "right" way.  So, I tried a couple of different ways.  The first was a flop and the second was perfect.

Here is what I did:

Taking bits and pieces of recipes from here, here and here, I came up with this recipe.

Homemade Yogurt

1/2 Gallon Milk (I used 1% organic milk)
1/2 cup store bought plain yogurt (I used Nancy's plain organic)
1/2 to 1 cup powdered milk, optional  (I added this)

1.  Mix milk and powdered milk (if using) in a saucepan.  Stirring constantly, heat the mixture to 180 degrees.  I use this Taylor thermometer, it works very well.

2.  Remove Milk from heat and continue to stir for 2-3 minutes to avoid scorching the bottom.  Allow to cool to 110 degrees (mine took about 40 minutes).  While the milk is cooling, heat the empty crockpot on the "warm" setting.

3.  Mix 1/2 cup store bought yogurt into the milk mixture.  The yogurt is your starter.  After your first batch, you can reserve some homemade yogurt to use as a starter.

4.  Preheat the oven for one minute (the temp doesn't matter).  Turn the oven and crockpot off.  Turn the oven light on.

5. Pour the milk/yogurt mixture into the preheated crock, put the lid on and wrap in a large towel.  Place this in the oven, close the door and try to be patient.  It will take from 8-10 hours for the yogurt to cook.

[Tangent:  Hadley kept asking, "Are we cooking yogurt?"  When I'd say yes, she'd reply, "but I don't like my yogurt cooked, I want cold yogurt!"]

The light will maintain some heat in the oven, and the towel will help hold in the heat from the crock.  The idea is to maintain a temperature of about 105 degrees, and there are lots of ways to do this.  Some people use electric heating pads, coolers, or drawers rigged with clip-on lights.   This seemed to be the safest way in my mind.  Just don't turn the oven on!

The next morning, you will find this:

The yellow liquid is the whey.  I know the photo doesn't look appetizing, but don't let that deter you.   Chill the yogurt in the fridge for 2-3 hours, then enjoy!  You can add honey, fresh fruit, or even throw it in the blender with some frozen fruit.  Yum!  

Now, the best part...

You can make "Greek" yogurt!  Along with the rest of the country, I've jumped on the greek yogurt bandwagon.  The problem is, it's pretty expensive, especially the organic kind.  Making greek yogurt is super easy.  

1.  Place a sieve or colander on top of a bowl, then line it with a coffee filter or cheesecloth.  Fill with yogurt, place in the fridge, and wait for the magic to happen.  In a few hours, the whey will drain out and you'll be left with thick, creamy yogurt.  The longer it drains, the thicker it will get.  

If you don't use these coffee filters, you obviously don't care.

I know a lot of people eat Greek yogurt for the protein content.  It would be easy to figure out the protein per serving in the original yogurt recipe, but with the Greek version I'm unsure how much protein leaves with the whey.  However, I've read that whey is mostly carbohydrates and thus, when the whey drains you the yogurt that is left has higher protein per volume and an higher protein to carbohydrate ratio.  

I'm guessing you could skip the first part of this recipe and strain store bought yogurt to thicken it, but I'm not sure.  If anybody tries, let me know.  

  I won't bother with the "flop" recipe, but I am pretty sure it failed because I added the starter when the milk was too hot.  So, learn from my mistake and wait for the milk to cool before adding the yogurt starter.