How to Make Yogurt in 5 Steps: A Photo Journal
Eating yogurt daily has so many important benefits. To provide your family with the best, here is a step-by-step guide to making your own yogurt at home.
1.) Set up a make-shift double boiler with a couple of pots. Fill the bottom pot with water and pour a half gallon to a gallon of 2% or whole organic milk into the top pot. Clip a thermometer onto the side of the pot and wait for the milk to heat to 80 degrees C. Take a 6 oz. container of plain yogurt (your “starter”) out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. As your milk heats, continue to stir, but don’t bother scraping off the milk that sticks to the bottom and sides, just leave it alone. If you get a layer of skin that forms on the top of your milk, just pull it off and dispose.
2.) Clean out jar(s) with hot tap water. You can use the cup, quart, or half gallon Ball canning jars from your local hardware store. Let jars dry while you clean out your cooler and get a few pitchers or large tupperware containers ready. You will later fill these with hot water to heat your cooler.
3.) Once your milk has hit 80 degrees C (do not go above this temperature or your yogurt will taste bad), cool it to 40 degrees C. Stir for the first 3 minutes to ensure that the temperature doesn’t rise any higher. Again, if skin forms on the top, just pull it off. This cooling process takes about 30 minutes or longer. Once cool, remove 1 cup of the milk from the pot and combine it with your starter (6 oz. plain yogurt). Whisk them together and pour mixture into the large pot of milk. Stir and allow cultures to spread for a few minutes.
4.) Pour milk into jar(s), but do not cover. Pack them into your cooler along with 2-3 pitchers/tupperware full of hottest tap water. Close the cooler tightly for 8 hours or overnight without opening.
5.) When you open the cooler, you will notice the yogurt will be more solidified. Cover jar(s) and refrigerate. Yogurt will firm up even more as it cools in the fridge. Flavor with honey, agave, maple syrup, extracts, fruit, jam, or cereal and enjoy!
We are an urban family of four attempting to live a healthy, sustainable, non-toxic life with respect for the earth. We create organic sleep solutions for kids, we design, we blog, and we run around after our two boys.
