Homemade Yogurt

Growing up the only kind of yogurt I liked was Yoplait lemon and lime yogurts. My mom would make homemade yogurt, but I didn't care for it because it was plain. As I got older I decided to give homemade yogurt a try again and added a lot of cinnamon sugar and I loved it! My parents found an old yogurt maker for me at D.I. when I was in college and I have used it since. The way I make yogurt has a ton of shortcuts so I will explain my way, then I will link over to ways to make yogurt if you don't have a yogurt maker.


What you'll need:
Milk
A cup of plain yogurt (Greek or regular - I used Kroger brand)
Candy thermometer (or yogurt spoon if you have a yogurt maker)

(This is the old one that I have)

1. Take a yogurt cup from yogurt maker and fill with milk to about 3/4 full. Pour into a 2-qt sauce pan. Repeat for however many cups you have in your yogurt maker. (See I'm not even thinking about measuring or doing the math)
2. Scald your milk, stirring frequently. (Scalding will take it to about 180 F)
3. Let the milk cool down to about 110 F (pretty warm, but not hot - if you don't have a thermometer) and pour a little bit of milk into a bowl. Mix 2-4 Tbs. of plain yogurt (this is your starter) with the milk in the bowl. Then add this mix back into the pan of milk and stir.
4. Fill your cups with the yogurt, put the lids on and place in yogurt maker. Plug in your yogurt maker and wait 8-10 hours.
5. Remove cups and refrigerate.

Easy peasy, right? This will make a fairly runny yogurt. I like it this way, but my husband prefers custard-like yogurt so I'm going to be experimenting with starters and extra add-ins (powdered milk, etc.).
If you don't have a yogurt maker, but still would like to make your own yogurt, you can do it in a slow cooker. A good link I found was here at Utah Deal Diva. She goes over how she makes homemade yogurt and it looks to be fairly simple. I hope you try it!