Homemade Yogurt Recipes and Instructions

I have made Homemade yogurt a couple times, and a couple different ways.  I also received a recipe from a FB friend on how she does it.  I will include everything I know and have found out and you can pick what seems like the best way for you to make it.

 First off this part is the same in all the recipes.  You have to heat milk on the stove until it is almost boiling, but not scorched.   You can use whole, 2%, 1% or skim milk, raw or pasteurized, but what you choose will affect the thickness of your final product.   I use fresh goat milk from our backyard farm.  It has a good amount of cream, but still produces a rather thin yogurt.  One thing I've read is that a lot of commercial yogurts have gelatin in them, which I personally don't want to ad, but another way to thicken is to ad Powdered Milk.   (2.5 Cups per gallon of milk)  You do this while its hot so it dissolves well.  Then you have to leave the milk to cool for a while until it reaches about 110-115º F.  Once it has cooled down you can mix in your starter.  There is freeze dried starter available from  Yogourmet at most health food stores, online at Amazon.com or you can just get a container of fresh natural yogurt.  It is best to get plain yogurt with as few ingredients as possible, and make sure it says that it CONTAINS live and active cultures, not just made from them.  Those cultures are what consume the milk and convert it into yogurt.   Also once you have made yogurt, or in my case got some from a friend.  You can save some and use it to culture the next batch.  I've heard this only works for about four or five times before it becomes to strong and sour.

Basic Recipe:
1 Gal. Milk
2.5 C. Powdered Milk (Optional)
4-6 oz. Yogurt, OR 2 packets freeze dried starter
Warmer of choice

   Once the milk is cooled some and the starter is mixed in, its time to "insulate" the yogurt so it can culture at the proper temperature.  There are about 100 different ways you can do this part.  The first time I made it, I used my Excaliber  Food Dehydrator.  It was tall enough once I removed all the trays, to stand up Quart size jars inside.  Then I just set the temperature for 110º and turned it on.  That kept the air around the jars at a steady temperature while the Yogurt was culturing.
     However, since then, I came accross a couple of yogurt machines I decided to try.  One is the "Yogourmet" Multi.  I really like this one because it is simple and straightforward.  It has one large 2 Qt. container that fits inside the main container which you fill with water.  The water bath method keeps the temperature nice and even around the yogurt.  I incubated mine about 7 hours and It worked great!   I also have the YoLife Yogurt maker by Yogourmet.  This one is basically a heated platform you can set several jars on, then it has a cover that goes over them, and it maintains the proper temp as well.  It also comes with a second taller cover for Quart size Jars.

  Also many people use a crockpot for the whole process, from start to finish.  it takes about 2.5 hours to heat the milk to the right temperature, depending on the crockpot. (approx 180º) Watch yours closely the first time and see how long it takes.  Then you have to let it cool several hours to the right temp. (110-115º)  Then simply mix in your starter, and wrap the crockpot in a large towel and let it sit 6-8 hours.  You could also use the water bath  method in the crockpot by pouring the milk into jars and then sitting them in the warm water inside the crockpot.
  The fourth and final way that I know of is using a small to medium cooler, and pouring hot water in the bottom.  After the milk has cooled and you ad the starter you would pour into quart jars or large plastic bowl and put into the hot water in the bottom of the cooler.  Then close the lid, wrap in a towel and let it do its thing for 6-8 hours.
    Once you have your finished Yogurt you can prepare and store it however you like.  Some people like to put sugared & chopped fruit in the bottom of small containers, and spoon the yogurt over the top.  Others will just keep a large container in the fridge plain.  Your plain yogurt also makes an excellent Sour Cream Replacement.