Home-Made Yogurt: Easier Than You Think, Better For You Than You Know!

Scottie Bruch, a certified yoga instructor, sent us this post:

To be completely honest, I was not a very big yogurt fan growing up.  I didn’t like the texture of the store-bought yogurt with the chunks of what I considered to be “mystery” fruit, but I also didn’t care for the taste of plain yogurt.  So, I simply avoided yogurt, or if I had to eat it, I would gulp the chunks down without chewing and try to finish the little plastic cup before the real taste of the yogurt could get to my taste buds.

That all changed a few years ago, though, as I was reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I was on an airplane back from Las Vegas, of all places, after celebrating my 30^th birthday and a year of being a stay-at-home mom.  Quitting my career gave me the opportunity to really start focusing on foods and the health of my family…growing a garden, baking bread, experimenting with many foods from scratch.  But, I had never even thought of making my own yogurt.  I’m not sure that I even knew it was possible until Kingsolver wrote about making her own yogurt and soft cheeses.  When I got home, I visited our local kitchen store and bought my very first yogurt maker.  I then made my first batch, and I was in love.  Plain, creamy yogurt from a little glass cup.  No mystery fruit, no plastic container.  Since, I have been making yogurt every week.  I can add my own granola, mix in a little local honey, or throw in some strawberries from the garden.  I can include it in meals or I can whip up a healthy breakfast smoothie or yogurt popsicle for my children.

Making yogurt is one of the simplest things that can be done in the kitchen. There is very little necessary equipment and very few ingredients.

Equipment:

• Heavy-bottomed pot (you can use a double-boiler for a water-jacket effect)
• Kitchen thermometer
• Yogurt maker (not necessary, but easy)

Ingredients:

• Milk (any kind is fine, but I prefer local, raw, whole milk)
• Plain yogurt with live active cultures or freeze-dried bacteria

Steps (using a yogurt maker):

• Heat milk to 185˚F. Pour milk into the heavy bottomed pot or double-boiler.  The amount of milk you use will depend on your yogurt maker or how much yogurt you would like to yield.  My yogurt maker consists of 7 jars that hold 6 ounces each, so I pour 42 ounces of milk into my pot.  If not using a double-boiler, you must monitor and stir the milk constantly so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.  Let the milk reach 185˚, which is the temperature at which milk begins to froth.  This temperature can be held for several minutes.
• Cool milk to 110˚F. While the milk is heating, you can make a cold water bath in the sink.  Remove the pot from the stove and place it in the cold water to help cool the temperature of the milk quickly and uniformly.  Let the milk cool to between 120˚ and 90˚.
• Warm the starter. While heating and cooling the milk, let the starter yogurt or bacteria sit at room temperature.  This will prevent it from being too cold when you add it to the milk
• Add the starter. Add a couple tablespoons of plain yogurt or follow the directions on the freeze-dried bacteria and add that to the milk.  Stir well.
• Put the mixture into containers. Pour the milk mixture into the clean containers that are part of the yogurt maker.  I find that using a ladle and a funnel make the job easy.
• Allow the yogurt bacteria to incubate. Place the jars in the yogurt maker and turn it on.  The yogurt maker will keep the yogurt warm and still to encourage bacteria growth, while keeping the temperature as close to 100˚ as possible.  Follow the directions on the yogurt maker to know how long to leave it in.  I generally make my yogurt at night and take it out of the maker in the morning.  Note that there are ways to keep your yogurt warm and still without the help of a yogurt maker.  This can simply be “Googled.”
• Refrigerate the yogurt. Place the yogurt in the fridge.  It will keep for 1-2 weeks.
• Use yogurt from this batch as starter for the next batch.

It is really as simple as that.  But, why would you want to make your own yogurt?  My reasons include that it tastes better, it is less expensive, it is healthier for my family, and there is no packaging waste.  There are some decent yogurts out there on the store shelf, but I have difficulty finding yogurts with limited amounts of sugar or that have used quality milk without being too pricey.  There are many “scientific” reasons out there, as well, for why home-made yogurt made from quality milk is better for you than store-bought yogurt, but I am, by no means, an expert on the subject.  What I do know is that I actually like yogurt now, and maybe “like” isn’t even the right word for it…I crave my yogurt, and it makes me happy to know that something so easy can be so good for my family.  Try it for yourself, and let your family experience the difference.