this girls Smitten: Make Homemade Yogurt

I absolutely adore yogurt. More particularly vanilla yogurt. I eat it just about every morning with granola and some sort of fruit. Satisfying, delicious and good for you. Did you know you can make your OWN yogurt? That's right, from scratch, making it more cost effective and definitely better for you. You know EXACTLY what is going into your yogurt instead of preservatives that may be in that on the shelf yogurt. Don't be intimidated. It does take a little bit of time and it may seem like there are a lot of steps but trust me, once you make it you will find it really isn't that hard and the outcome is SO SO SO worth it. I promise!!

In a nut shell:

Heat up milk
Cool down milk
add a cup of prepared yogurt
pour in jars
Let the jars sit in cooler with warm water a couple hours
YOGURT

See, not hard;)

First of all let me say this.....If you can get your hands on good quality, local, full fat, fresh milk....DDDOOOO IIITTTT! You can use commercial milk but do some research on milk and the benefits of local milk. And did you see I said use full fat? Ya, because fat is what makes the yogurt thicker and creamier. Using skim or low fat will not produce that creamy yogurt you are wanting.

This recipe makes 2 quarts and I love to keep mine in 1 quart ball jars. You can make more but I find that the yogurt is best used within 2 weeks and this is what my family can consume.

Here is the equipment I used.

In the picture you will see a meat thermometer. I actually used my candy thermometer instead which you will see in the next few pictures.

Go ahead a place your jars in the dishwasher to get them clean and sterilized.

Next you are going to take 1/2 gallon of milk and heat it to 185-190 degrees. Use a heavy bottom pot and stir and keep and eye on because milk will scald easily.

Once the milk reaches 185-190 degrees place the pot in a sink full of cold water or use a bowl with water and a little ice like I did. You want to cool the milk to 120 degrees.

Once your milk reaches 120 degrees you need to whisk in your starter. A starter is just previously cultured yogurt. If this is your first time add 6-8 oz. of a commercial plain or vanilla yogurt. I used Oikos greek yogurt. Once you have your homemade yogurt you will just save a cup of that to use as your starter. Trust me, you will make your own yogurt from now on ;) Also, if you are wanting to make vanilla yogurt you will add about 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla at this time. I highly recommend using real vanilla beans!

Just take a sharp knife and run a line down the bean and then use the knife to scrape out the beautiful vanilla beans from inside. Smells ssssoooo good!!

I get my vanilla beans HERE.

Once you have added your starter your are ready to pour the yogurt in your jars. You may have some bubbles on top but that is fine. Put the lids on the jars and then place the jars in a cooler. You are then going to want to fill the cooler with water that is 120 degrees. Use your thermometer! And you want to make sure the water reaches at least 3/4 the way up the jars so the yogurt will stay warm enough.

Close the lid on the cooler and let sit for about 3 hours in a draft free place. After 3 hours you can remove the jars and put them in the fridge. The yogurt will be noticeably firmer but don't worry if it is still jiggly. Once you put it in the fridge and it cools it will firm up more.

That's it! You made yogurt. This recipe is so much less tart than normal yogurt you buy in the store and has such a creaminess about it.