Yoghourt

Make your own yoghourt!

Go to the grocery store and buy a pot of regular yogurt to be your starter yogurt. If you have some in your fridge already, you may use it.

Just make sure it is unflavoured, unsweetened yogurt that contains only whole milk and active bacterial culture.

Starter yogurt MUST contain ACTIVE BACTERIA CULTURE, because it is those little bacterial bio-beings who will turn your fresh, warm milk into yoghourt if you can keep them alive throughout the preparation process. You keep the critters alive by not allowing your mixture to get too hot (burns them to death) or too cold (freezes them to death).

Helpful tip: start early in the morning, because if the firming process takes only 8-12 hours, your can pop the finished products in the fridge before you go to bed.

 

Supplies needed:

• Fresh whole milk – as much milk as however much yoghourt you want to make
• Starter yogurt that contains only milk and active bacteria culture
• Containers (I prefer wide-mouth glass canning jars) to store your yoghourt in
• A whisk
• A cooler
• A pan, large enough to hold all the milk you want to use
• A liquid food thermometer
• A stove thermometer

 

Here’s What You’ll Do:

1.

In the pan, heat as much (I usually do 4 litres at a time) Whole Milk as you want to have yoghourt to 180 degrees Fahrenheit: If you have a sensitive nose like I do, you’ll notice that the smell just begins to change, but the milk does not quite reach a rolling boil. Helpful tip: do not stir the milk while it is heating up because if it gets too hot at the bottom, the milk will scorch in the bottom of the pan. If you are stirring the milk when this happens, then this yucky burned milk will contaminate your yoghourt. Just leave it and be prepared to scrub the pan out afterwards.

2.

While the milk is heating up you can wash and then sterilize as many wide-mouthed mason jars as you need to hold the amount of milk you are heating. Personally, since I am heating 4 litres of milk, I would need enough canning jars to hold 5 litres, which is about 10 half-litre canning jars.

3.

Ladle and funnel the hot milk into the canning jars, up to just below the shoulders, and leaving room for about 1 Tablespoon to a quarter cup of starter yogurt to be stirred into each jar. If it is lumpy, you can smooth it out with a whisk, but do not have the metal whisk in your milk for longer than 30 seconds because the bio-beings do not like metal.

Huddle the jars together and cover them with a clean tea towel while the milk inside the jars cools down to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is cool enough to not hurt your most sensitive skin.

Once the milk becomes cool enough to touch comfortably (with a very clean finger), stir the following into each jar: 1 Tablespoon to ¼ cup fresh yogurt (that contains live bacterial culture), then screw clean and sanitized lids on top of each jar.

3.5

Alternatively, if you haven’t scalded the milk to the bottom of your pan (as I usually do), you can cool the milk down to 110 degrees right in the pan, and stir the yogurt into that cooled milk, and THEN ladle the milk-mixed-with-yogurt into your sterilized canning jars, putting the closed canning jars straight into your stay warm method.

4.

Now comes the challenging part, the part that requires dedication and attention. You now need to keep the liquid in the jars at a steady temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit for the following 8-24 hours, until the milk becomes solid yoghourt. There are several ways to do this, some ways work better in the heat of summer, some ways work better in winter, some ways will suit you better than other ways. Over time, you’ll discover the ways that work best for you.

 

Option 1: Use a cooler.

Fill a cooler part way with 110 degree water, place your jars in that cooler, ensuring that the water does not reach past the shoulders of each jar. (You never want this water to get as high as the cap of the jar – just in case the seal is not good – you don’t want water to enter your yoghourt.)

For the next 8-24 hours, use a thermometer to measure the water temperature every hour or so and add hot water to maintain a constant temperature of 110 degrees.

When the yoghourt is firm, regardless of how many hours it has been, you may remove the jars from the cooler and place them in your refrigerator. At this time they are ready to eat.

 

Option 2: Use your oven.

Place the closed canning jars inside your oven and turn on the oven light to provide a steady, gentle heat.

Every hour confirm the temperature within is 110 degrees. If the temperature falls below 110, turn the oven burner on to it’s lowest setting (usually 250 degrees) for the minimum amount of time required to raise the temp back up to but not beyond 110 degrees.

For the next 8-24 hours use a thermometer to measure the oven temperature every hour or so and adjust to maintain a constant temperature of 110 degrees.

When the yoghourt is firm, regardless of how many hours it has been, you may remove the jars from the oven and place them in your refrigerator. At this time they are ready to eat.

 

Option 3: Use towels and a therapeutic electric heating pad.

Wrap the closed canning jars in clean bath towels, stand them up on a fabric heating pad – like the kind you’d place on your shoulders or your knee or your back when your body experiences pain – and wrap everything again in another clean bath towel.

Every hour use a thermometer to confirm that the temperature within is 110 degrees. If the temperature falls below 110, turn the heating pad on to it’s lowest setting for the minimum amount of time required to raise the temp back up to but not beyond 110 degrees.

For the next 8-24 hours, measure the oven temperature every hour or so and adjust to maintain a constant temperature of 110 degrees.

When the yoghourt is firm, regardless of how many hours it has been, you may remove the jars from the cozy bundle and place them in your refrigerator. At this time they are ready to eat.

 

Option 4: Use a large slow cooker.

Stand the closed canning jars in a large slow cooker, and add a few inches of 110 degree water and put the lid on top.

Turn the slow cooker on to it’s lowest setting.

Every hour use a thermometer to confirm that the temperature within is 110 degrees. If the temperature falls below 110 then adjust the setting of the slow cooker to raise the temp back up to but not beyond 110 degrees. If the temperature becomes to hot, add cold water until the interior temperature returns to 110 degrees.

For the next 8-24 hours, measure the temperature every hour or so and adjust accordingly to maintain a constant temperature of 110 degrees.

When the yoghourt is firm, regardless of how many hours it has been, you may remove the jars from the slow cooker and place them in your refrigerator. At this time they are ready to eat.

 

Option 5: Use a chafing dish.

Stand the closed canning jars in a clean chafing dish, add a few inches of water to the bottom, and put the lid on top. Turn the chafind dish on to its lowest setting until you reach a standing temperature of 110 degrees.

Every hour use a thermometer to confirm that the temperature within is 110 degrees. If the temperature falls below 110 then adjust the setting of the chafing dish to raise the temp back up to but not beyond 110 degrees. If the temperature becomes to hot, add cold water until the interior temperature returns to 110 degrees.

For the next 8-24 hours, measure the temperature every hour or so and adjust accordingly to maintain a constant temperature of 110 degrees.

When the yoghourt is firm, regardless of how many hours it has been, you may remove the jars from the chafing dish and place them in your refrigerator. At this time they are ready to eat.