April 7, 2010

Homemade Yogurt


Making yogurt at home is incredibly easy and requires minimal supplies. Today, I tasted my first batch and it was delicious. Helping me along was Dr. Fankhauser. I varied the procedure a bit.



SUPPLIES
8 Half-Pint Jars
2 Stockpots
Measuring Cup
Kitchen Thermometer

INGREDIENTS
1/2-gallon Milk
Plain Yogurt

Seriously, this is easy. I cut the original recipe in half and used smaller jars.

First, sterilize your canning jars. I do not have a dishwasher, so I use the old-fashioned method of boiling the crap out of them. I do this in a very LARGE (worried it will break the ceramic stovetop one day) pressure canner.


Next, pour milk into stockpot and slowly bring it to 190 degrees. Immediately place it into a sink of cold water. Cool to 130 degrees.


Place a half cup of the cooled milk in a measuring cup. Add enough yogurt to make one cup. Stir to completely blend.

Add this mixture slowly to the cooled milk and stir to blend well.

Pour evenly amongst sterilized half-pint jars. Add lid and ring. I left very little headspace in mine. Place jars back back into the pot you sterilized your jars in. I wrapped a towel around them to help insulate. Place the whole pot in the oven with the light on. The light provides enough warmth for the GOOD bacteria to grow, we cooked the milk to kill the BAD bacteria.


Allow this to sit for about 12 hours and you will have delicious yogurt!


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