Thursday, July 26, 2012

Making Homemade Yogurt

Nothing is better than homemade yogurt.  It is super creamy and full of lots of good bacteria!  There are many recipes out there, but I like to keep things simple.  Below you will find my simple recipe for making yogurt.  I always recommend using raw milk when you make yogurt, but the recipe below is for those who cannot get access to raw milk.

Items you will need:
1 gallon of milk (you can buy low temp pasteurized milk at Whole foods, its called Super Natural).
1 Large container of plain yogurt (We use Stoneyfield plain yogurt)
5 quart size mason jars
1 heating pad
1 sink plastic container (You can this at the dollar store)
3 large towels
1 roasting thermometer (I use a Oneida roasting thermometer)
1 Stainless steel stock pot
1 ladle
1 funnel

Prior to starting this recipe sterilize mason jars. 

Place the gallon of milk in the stock pot.  Position your thermometer so that it sit mostly in the milk.  Turn the stove on Med-High and begin stirring the milk.  Stir continuously until milk reaches 180 F.  Take the milk off the heat and pour into mason jars. (I use the ladle and funnel to pour the milk into the mason jars.)  Let the milk cool down to 110 F.  Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of the yogurt into each container and stir.  Place lids on top. 

Place heating pad inside plastic container, plug into the wall and turn it on to the lowest setting.  Fold one towel in half and place on top of the heating pad.  Pull one layer of the towel back and place yogurt containers inside the container.  Cover yogurt containers with the layer you pulled back and tuck the containers in, like you would your kids ;-).  Place the other two towels on top of the containers. 

That's it, your done for the next 24hrs.  After 24hours, take the containers out and place them in the refrigerator for three hours before eating.   Yogurt will last a long time as long as the container is not
opened.

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