Homemade Yogurt – I Did It!

I was determined to learn how to make yogurt as part of our homestead experiment. Honestly, hubs doesn’t get why that was so important to me. Maybe I don’t either. It just seemed to be a rite of passage. Of sorts.

I have to be honest, making yogurt was very intimidating to me. I just knew I was going to do something wrong and give us all food poisoning. But it was unexpectedly easy, and I love how it tastes!

To be clear, I didn’t just come up with this. I adapted mine from the tutorial that Julia at Blissfully Content provided.

Here is the equipment that you will need:

2 quart canning jars with lids and rings

1/2 gallon whole milk

2 TBS vanilla

1/2 cup honey

1/2 6 oz. container of plain or vanilla yogurt with LIVE CULTURES

crockpot

candy thermometer

First, boil enough water in a stock pot to sterilize the crockpot (by rinsing it with boiling water) and your quart jars (by boiling them in the water for a short time. Set them aside for when you are ready for them.

Turn your crockpot on low and let it heat up. And fill your sink with really cold water. Now you’re ready to make your yogurt!

Pour the milk into clean, heavy bottomed pot , hang in your candy thermometer in and and stir constantly until it is heated to 180 degrees.

You want it to stay at that temperature for at least 60 seconds.  I also added my honey at this point so it was easily melted and blended in.

Take your pot and put it in the sink filled with cold water until it cools to 110 degrees…I stir occasionally. Once it gets there I added the yogurt starter

and the vanilla and whisk everything together.

Now, turn your crockpot off and unplug it. (Yes – you need to do that!) And pour your milk into the crockpot.

Put the lid on, and thoroughly cover the whole crockpot with a thick towel.

Let it sit for between 7-9 hours. I prefer the 9 hour mark, as there is a bit more “tang.” This makes it work for recipes that ask for sour cream, giving it a double purpose!

When it’s done, you just spoon it into your quart jars, and voila!

Julia mentioned in her tutorial that if the finished product was not sweet enough a little raw sugar, confectioner’s sugar, or other sweetener could be added. I found it tasted just fine without, but that is certainly an individual preference.

So, I deem this experiment a success! And I see many more jars in my future.

Happy Homesteading!

JulieAnn

Please understand I can’t be responsible for any bad results. This blog is all about experimenting, afterall! 🙂 Just make sure you are working with clean equipment and sterilizing your jars.

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