Homemade Yogurt

If you eat yogurt like we do, you know how expensive good organic yogurt can be. So to save on expenses, I decided to try my hand at making my own with some help from a cousin who was awesome enough to teach me. By making it myself, we have saved over $40. Yes you have to initially buy the gallon of whole milk (almost $4 here in PA). We use a gallon of raw milk from a local farm that is purchases at a fraction of the cost of a gallon in the grocery store. The use of raw milk is personal choice, so please no bashing on this as I know the benefits as well as the warnings. Our trips to the farm are usually weekly, so we get between 5-8 gallons at a time. With that being said lets make some yogurt.

Equipment: large pot

milk crate

towels

candy thermometer

whisk

cheesecloth(pillowcase)

large bowl

Ingredients: 1 gallon of milk

1 cup of organic yogurt with live cultures

In a large pot, heat the milk slowly, stirring frequently as to not scorch it to the bottom of the pan, until it reaches a temperature of 180-200 degrees. Right before boiling point. If you don't have a candy thermometer, it should be cool enough to put your finger in it but warm enough that you don't want to leave it there.

Get your crate ready. Place towel in the bottom of the crate. Make sure you have it in a place that you are not going have to disturb it at all.

Pull your warmed milk off the stove and place in a sink of cold/ice water. Do not get water into the pot. Cool to about 110 degrees. Place into your milk crate, wrap more towels around the sides.

Add your yogurt. DO NOT STIR!!!!!!!! Replace lid and let it sit for 8-10 hours. Place in refrigrator for another 8-10 hours.

By now it should be a yogurt consistency, (if not, like my first batch, here is what you can do with it). Now you can either eat it as is or strain the whey out and make it a thick Greek yogurt like we do. To strain pour you yogurt into your cheesecloth/pillow case, close it, and let it hang (I had it hanging off my cupboard door handles) over a bowl to catch all the yummy whey (save it, many uses for it). Once done to you liking, store in airtight container. Stir before each use.

Take out 1 c of yogurt and set aside as to not eat it, this is your starter for your next batch.

You can do so much with the flavorings. We use homemade jellies, jams, apple butter, even peanut butter. What you add is limitless, use your imagination, get creative and above all else enjoy the fruits of your labor. It is so worth it.

Happy cooking, God bless!