Homemade yogurt

I’ve been waiting a while to post this because I’ve been experimenting with homemade yogurt via several different recipes that I found on the web. Some of the methods were very easy but too thin and runny for my liking, and others were too complex. I finally found a way to make yogurt that is relatively easy, very creamy, and not tart in flavor. Want to give it a try?

What you need:

• slow cooker
• candy/cooking thermometer
• 8 cups milk
• starter: 1/4 cup plain, full fat, active live culture yogurt from the store or 1/2 cup of reserved homemade yogurt

Instructions:

• Pour the milk in the slow cooker. Turn on low heat until temperature reaches 180-200 degrees. This takes about 3 hours.
• Turn off and let milk cool to 105-110 degrees. This takes about 2 1/2-3 hours.
• Pour one cup of the hot milk in a separate bowl and mix in the starter. Stir the mix into the slow cooker.
• Keep heat turned off, cover with lid, and place a heavy, folded bath towel on top to incubate.
• Incubate for 3-5 hours.  After 3 hours, tilt the crockpot to see if the yogurt is firm. I stop incubating as soon as possible because I don’t like a tart flavor. If you prefer a tarter flavor, incubate longer.
• When firm, refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Be sure to reserve 1/2 cup so that you can use it as a starter the next time you make yogurt. Supposedly, you can freeze it, although I never have.

Homemade yogurt will keep in the refrigerator for up to 8 days. I actually double this recipe for my own family, and found that it really doesn’t matter how much you make as long as you watch the temperatures. When making more, you need only a little more time to get to the proper temperatures.

This makes a yummy, creamy plain yogurt, which tastes much better than storebought. It is also fresher, healthier and much less expensive. We add flavoring at the time of serving. To flavor ours, we have used maple syrup, honey, jams and jellies, mashed bananas, small amounts of vanilla, or even pancake syrup. Sometimes we top it with granola.