Anybody make yogurt?

I figured that since we love to make things ourselves isntead of buying something here, there might be some yogurt makers here.

I make it now and then, and it's great. Super easy. Basically I take some milk (I usually have 1% or 2% at home) and heat it until it's close, but not boiling. I then add some skim milk powder (i never actually measure but i would bet it's about 1/2 cup per 2 liters of milk), stir it up and let it stay hot for a while (this is to hopefully kill any wild bacteria). Then I cool it down. Once it is cool to the touch (still warm), I transfer it to a plastic container and add a couple spoonfuls of store bought yogurt (or from my previous batch). Make sure the yogurt has active bacterial cultures. You then place it in an oven that was heated for a minute or two, and turn the oven light on (this will keep it warm). Leave it overnight or until it solidifies.

I have never been overly worried about sanitation, but I have also had a few batches that turned out lumpy or watery (but still tasty). I'm not sure if that had something to do with wild bacteria.

Yeah we used to make it all the time. Probably should get back into it, it's really really easy.

SWMBO has makes it sometimes. pretty easy.

Wife makes it every now and then.

Sounds easy! I may try this! Thanks for the idea and instructions! Does the milk need to be raw milk, or can it be regularly pasteurized?

emoutal said:

I have never been overly worried about sanitation, but I have also had a few batches that turned out lumpy or watery (but still tasty). I'm not sure if that had something to do with wild bacteria.

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IIRC, yogurt strains are very temp sensitive so if its not a specific temp it won't gel quite right, but it's still go. So basically, the watery or lumpy yogurt is good, just didn't set because of temp.

Brewing Clamper said:

IIRC, yogurt strains are very temp sensitive so if its not a specific temp it won't gel quite right, but it's still go. So basically, the watery or lumpy yogurt is good, just didn't set because of temp.

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Good to know, thanks.

Sounds easy! I may try this! Thanks for the idea and instructions! Does the milk need to be raw milk, or can it be regularly pasteurized?

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Regular milk works fine (that's all I've ever used).

Thanks for the post!

I've made yogurt many batches and some turn out the lumpy or watery and some don't. In either case I strain them using a bouillon strainer and strain off about 40% of the original milk volume. Then I put in back in the pot that it fermented in. Next I use a immersion blender to lightly blend it. In both cases the yogurt turns out thick and creamy!

I make all our yogurt, 5 quarts at a time (we eat a lot of it). Having had yogurt made with Guernsey cow milk, I can no longer abide low-fat or even normal-fat yogurt... so I add a quart of Half-n-Half to a gallon of whole milk, heat to 180, cool to 110, mix in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (Brown Cow is my fave), pour into boiled quart containers (recycled yogurt tubs), and ferment overnight in an old cooler chest with a 30-watt halogen bulb on a rheostat to keep it warm. (Our room temps here are about 64F even in August.) It always comes out nice and thick, with a lovely thick cream-top, just like Brown Cow only better!

I've tried re-pitching from the last batch, and it worked well for a couple of generations and then started drifting off... by the 4th gen it wasn't really what I wanted any more. Not bad, just different. So now I just buy one of the single-serving cups of plain yogurt, and pitch that.

I really recommend adding cream to whole milk, unless you can get high-fat milk from Jersey or Guernsey cows. Rich fatty yogurt is marvelous.

ETA: The whole process of heating, chilling, pitching, and packaging takes just about an hour. I heat in a stock-pot inside a bigger pot (my old 3-gallon BK, actually), and chill with cold water in a big pressure-cooker. Ferment at least 8 hours and then transfer to the fridge.

Here is a link to one of my favorite sites on making yogurt and cheese
https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/yogurt-making-illustrated/