This is a simple method for us do-it-yourselfers to produce creamy, smooth yogurt at home! It works and it tastes great! Compared to store-bought, it is tastier and less expensive. When you read that, you might think it is too complicated, but all you have to do is leave it in the warm water while periodically checking the temperature. It actually completes its own work, much like how rising bread dough does. I make use of the time to complete other tasks around the house. Be brave; it’s actually not that difficult.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 6 hrs |
| Total Time: | 6 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
| Yield: | 1 quart |
Ingredients
- 1 quart 1% milk
- ¼ cup dry milk powder
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt with active cultures
Instructions
- Place a large pot on the stovetop and place sterile 5 half-pint canning jars inside. Fill with enough water so that the jars are immersed up to their necks. Set the burner to low heat. The goal is to be able to maintain a consistent temperature between 110 degrees F and 115 degrees F (45 degrees C) for 4 to 6 hours. Check the temperature using a candy or meat thermometer periodically.
- Meanwhile, pour the milk and dry milk into a large saucepan. Stir to dissolve the powder and set over medium heat. Heat until just steaming; your thermometer should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from the heat and place the pan so the bottom is sitting in a bowl of ice water. Cool until the temperature has dropped to 115 degrees F (45 degrees C).
- When it reaches the temperature, remove it from the heat and stir about 1 cup of the milk into the plain yogurt until thoroughly blended. Stir this mixture back into the pan of milk.
- Pour the milk mixture into warm glass jars to within 1/2 inch of the rims. Set in the warm water bath. The water level should be up to the level of the yogurt in the jars. Cook uncovered and be sure to maintain the temperature at 110 to 115 degrees F (45 degrees C) for 4 to 6 hours. I like to do 6. Do not stir or poke the yogurt at all during this time – even if you are tempted! Doing this may cause it to become watery.
- When the time is about up, you can check the yogurt by pressing gently on the top or tipping the jars to see if it is set. It is done when the yogurt is firm and there is a thin layer of yellowish liquid on the top. Remove the jars from the water and dry off. Seal with clean lids and rings. They should be good to keep in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.
- Be sure to save a little extra out as a starter for the next batch. Over time your homemade yogurt will start to lose it’s potency as starter (like making a copy of a copy of a copy), so every fourth or fifth batch you may want to use store-bought yogurt as starter. Just make sure it says ”live active cultures” on the container. Good luck!
Reviews
I used this with my mom’s SUPER easy method to keep it warm (which she got from a Lebanese friend). Stir the warm mixture, put in a thermos, seal and let it sit on the counter for 5-6 hours. This does make a runny yogurt, but you can strain it to make it thicker.
I made mine by setting the filled and lidded quart jars on top of my upright freezer wrapped in a heavy bath towel. The temp there is just 103. By morning I had the most delicious yogurt waiting for breakfast .
Tweaked for no-strain Greek yogurt in microwave, cooler/heating pad, en mass!! 14 quarts (1 Q ea) whole milk, 10 1/2 cups (3/4 C ea) dry milk powder, 42 tablespoons (3 T ea) plain yogurt [I use Stoneyfield because it has 6 strains of active cultures!]. STERELIZE: 14 quart ball/mason jars/lids/rings, measuring cup 3/4, measuring spoon 1 tablespoon, funnel, and stirring spoon. MIX: Pour 1/2 quart milk & funnel in 3/4 cup dry milk powder in each jar stir well. Pour other 1/2 quart milk into each jar stir well. Cover jars w/ paper towels. HEAT: Equally space 4 four jars max and microwave for 20 minutes. Carefully remove & cover w/ paper towels on counter to cool. Repeat until all jars have been heated. COOL: While covered jars cool under 110F – line bottom/sides of clean/dry cooler with aluminum foil, place uncovered heating pad in bottom on low, cover with paper towel, let warm while finishing jars. INOCULATE: As jars reach 110F mix 3 tablespoons plain yogurt in each jar stir well, screw lids/rings tightly. Carefully place jars in cooler equally spaced, place aluminum foil on top, cover with folded towel, close cooler top on cord. SET: Place cooler in dry, calm indoor location, plug in set to low keep @ 110F-115F (45C). Check temp +/- 2 hours (if too hot unplug) re-cover DO NOT shake, stir or vibrate yogurt while setting!! Let set for 6-9 hours total. Then open cooler for about a hour. Place jars in fridge, keep cold good for 14 days. (I make twice a month) Enjoy! YumMama
Great reminder. I used to make yogurt (using this recipe) all the time when I was in Nursing school…Used my apartments radiator and left it overnight. Great yogurt. added sugar, vanilla, etc before letting it set. Fruit preserves after for changes in flavor. Great recipe!!
I have done this hundreds of times. I often use a wide mouth thermos for the incubation and it works quite well. For those who like a yogurt more like the store bought just put in a teaspoon of disolved gelatin in milk prior to incubating and you get a result that is similar to store bought.
So much easier than I thought! I am not much of a cook and was very intimidated by all of the temperature measuring, but it was really easy and very forgiving. I first tried it in a pan and a crock pot both and found the crock pot to be much easier. When the water got hot (but not too hot to put my finger in quickly), I switched it to warm. Temperature ranged from 100-150 in the pan and it still turned out great. 4 hours and I had my own homemade yogurt! I also added a tablespoon of agave nectar and a tsp. of vanilla to add a little flavor, and then threw some fresh blueberries on top – so good! Also, I was able to fit 9 mason half-pint canning jars in the crock pot, so I adjusted the recipe accordingly.
The receipe is great as it is. Another alternative-take 2 cups lukewarm milk(whole milk for creamy yoghurt) add 2 tsp store bought plain yoghurt.keep it overnight in a warm place. you’ll have the yoghurt ready in the morning. i do it all the time.works very well especially in summers. i rarely buy yoghurt as in india that is how we make yoghurt.
Boy, the yogurt gods must have been smiling on me today! Made through steps 2 as directed (total novice here), then (having seen Witzken’s note about making in crockpot), *baked* them in jars sitting in warmed water in crockpot. Used int temp prob and maintained water at apx 120 (which I guess should have killed culture, but didn’t). Covered with towel, then lid, and let them bake for apx 4 1/2 hours. Mine set up beautifully, completely smooth and creamy, with a nice little twang. I’m totally hooked, now 🙂 Thanks for recipe!
This can be flavored by adding 2-3oz of your favorite coffee syrup just before incubating. I’ve tried flavoring with jellies, but the results can be inconsistent and watery. Also, for an extra creamy treat, try making your yogurt with half & half. Probably not the healthiest treat, but it sure is good!
Great yogurt! I only used 3 TBsp of dry milk powder because I didnt want it to taste like dry milk. I also added 2TBsp of sugar. I have made this three times and it is always great. I incubate for 6 hours for great milld sweet yogurt it is nice and and thick too. I used White mountain yogurt as started and it worked the best. I used Fage 2% as starter second time and I went back to White Mountain for the third it was creamier both were very mild. I highly recommend. I used my crockpot filled with 115 degrees water and turned on to warm while I prepared yogurt then I turned it off and filled my jars. Then every 2 hours I just turned in on for 10 min on Warm to make sure it was at 110 degrees. works great who needs a yogurt maker.
Very easy base recipe. It looks difficult but with an instant thermometer the process is made so simple. I used my slow cooker to maintain the warm water bath and the yogurt was ready in 4 hours. The process is long but very low maintenance so I was able to get school work done – I just had to take a minute periodically to check the water temperature. Thanks for sharing! As an aside: this recipe also makes a great start for something like cream cheese. Just add a few pinches of salt and pour it into a muslin cloth or cloth table napkin. Tie the top with a rubber band and let it drain over a bowl in the fridge for a couple days (use a strainer to keep the cloth out of the drained whey.) I ate my cream cheese on crackers and it tasted so clean and fresh! The drained whey I added in place of water to soup for added protein.
I am the original submitter of this recipe. Just wanted to say that you can also make this in the slow cooker – I just tried it last night and it came out great. It takes about twice as long (14 hrs for me) but it’s mostly hands-off, so you’re not tied to the kitchen or hovering around the stove.
I make this all the time. I use skim milk though and I almost never have powdered milk so I just skip that. For the incubation period, I put the yogurt in jars and place them in my small ice chest. Then I fill water bottles with hot tap water, cover the ice chest, and change the water every couple of hours if I think of it. Sometimes I make this in the evening and let it incubate overnight so I don’t change the water. It always turns out great. I usually add a little vanilla or raspberry extract and a little sugar. It tastes so good! I serve it with dinner almost every night. I like it better than store bought yogurt.
This was not to my liking! it was lumpy and grainy textured and I did not care for the taste. This is my second attempt at making yogurt the first time i used real milk this time i used the powdered milk. i will definitely stay with the real milk it was really good i don’t even know why i was thinking about changing recipe.
I use a quart of whole milk , The ones that are in those Tetrapacks containers you don’t have to warm the milk or do anything just pour it and mix it with the yogurt. I also but yogurt starter that I buy at my local heathfood store, they are envelopes with powder containing the cultures,you store them in the fridge and they keep for more than a year. So I use one of those for my first batch and then use one of the yogurts that I made to make a second batch and so on until the It becomes a little to bitter for my taste,then I start with a new evelope.They go a long way and they are not very expenxive (10 envelopes for about 4.00 Dlls)I also use a yougurt maker it so much easier, just plug set time and forget about it until it beeps.Can’t be any easier that that. I also tried it in my oven and it works good too.
I made this first following the recipe exactly. The flavor was perfect, but I wanted something just a bit thicker. The 2nd time I made it I added 1/2 cup of dry milk powder and added about 1 tsp of gelatin. The texture was just about perfect. The third time, I added a bit more powdered milk and gelatin and it turned out perfect! The taste didn’t change much, but the texture was thicker – just how I like it. I add fresh or frozen fruit and fresh honey to this and make a healthy dessert! YUM!
I am so happy to have a way to make my own yogurt now! I used 2 quarts of milk and 1/2 c yogurt, no dry milk, and I ended up with a nice, thick yogurt. I had to leave about 3 hours into making it, so I preheated my oven a bit, stuck the whole pot of water/yogurt in there, and lit 4 tealight candles. When I got back 3 hours later the water bath had only dropped to 108° and the yogurt was perfect! I am making more right now…
I too used a crock pot on low and then “keep warm” setting once a temp of 115 was met.
I followed the recipe as is but made 4 quarts worth as we use it in our fruit shakes every morning for breakfast. I have kept this yogurt in the fridge for up to 3 months and it is still good. I tried two different durations of incubation this time, one for 6 hours and one batch for 12 hours. I thought the longer incubation would cause the yogurt to become tart- but they both tasted the same. I am just happy I have 4 quarts of yogurt for basically the cost of a gallon of milk. Basically a savings of around $10. For our fruit breakfast shakes, we use frozen strawberries and blueberries from Cosco (1/2 cup of each) plus 1 or two bananas and a couple cubes of ice and about 1/2 cup of yogurt. We add half a stem of grapes instead of honey or sugar to make it sweat. If you like your shakes thick, add the frozen fruit. If you like it more liquid so you can drink it through a straw, keep a container of the fruits in the fridge and add the thawed fruit to your shake with a bit of the juice.
Awesome, homemade yogurt! It is forgiving as someone said, I let it get up to 135f. and it still turned out good. I used 3 full pint jars that did fine. Can’t wait to try adding flavors, aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!
My first attempt at homemade yogurt came out great! I used a large thermos as an incubator for the yogurt. It worked perfectly! My batch was ready in 5 hours. Added 1 tbsp vanilla extract and 2 tbsp Splenda. My second batch turned out a little lumpy, and more sour because I had to leave it out all day while I was at work. The next day I strained it through cheese cloth and stirred until it was smooth. I wanted to make it vanilla flavored, but I was out of extract. I had a packet of sugar-free vanilla pudding mix, so….I stirred in 1/3 of of the packet, and…..it came out SO GOOD!!!!!