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3 Ways to Make Homemade Yogurt

Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients

  • 1/2 gallon Whole Milk
  • 1/4 cup Yogurt with cultures
  • 1 tablespoon Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 teaspoon Gelatin optional

Instructions

  1. In a saucepan, begin heating the milk. Use your thermometer to monitor the temp. You want to heat the milk to 180 degrees F. Whisk the milk as it's heating. At this time, you can stir in a small amount of gelatin if you wish. If you've made yogurt before and it's too runny, gelatin can be very helpful bt only a small amount is needed.
  2. Once you have finished heating the milk. Remove it from heat immediately. Whisk it gently from time to time to cool it down OR stick the bottom of the pan into cold water to cool it down more quickly. Watch your temperature carefully. You want it to get down to 110 degrees F.
  3. Once you've reached 110 degrees, stir in the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. The sugar and vanilla are optional, however, the sugar will help your cultures have something to munch on which will result in a thicker yogurt. Something to consider if you've had issues with runny yogurt. The vanilla is just for flavoring. No need to add if you want a plain yogurt.
  4. Once you've whisked in all your ingredients well, pour the mixture into your clean, prepared yogurt jars.
  5. Place the jars into the yogurt maker (I like to already have my light on and the machine warming). Turn it on and let it set in a warm, undisturbed place. Note the time...your yogurt will need to culture for at least 8 hours. Longer if you like a tangier yogurt.
  6. Once the yogurt is done, store it in the fridge. Our yogurt made with this method usually lasts about 2 weeks.

Recipe Notes

My recipe uses either a previous batch of homemade yogurt or yogurt from the store that already contains cultures. I have tried the yogurt culture tablets but have had much more success with using another batch of yogurt instead.

You will also need a Yogurt Maker and a candy thermometer to make this recipe. The thermometer is not optional and you can pick one up for around $5. If you'd rather not use a yogurt maker, you can try one of the methods near the bottom of this post or possibly try using your oven (I have not tested that method).