Making your own yogurt is easier than you think

Homemade yogurt is so easy to make and all you need are two ingredients.

When I tried my first bite of homemade yogurt I noticed how smooth it was and how fresh it tasted. And I really like how easy it is to make. It just needs to sit undisturbed for a while and then be chilled before serving. It’s definitely worth the wait.

It’s really important to sterilize the Mason jars that the yogurt will be in. I washed these with hot water and soap, then rinsed them really well. I then poured boiling water into each jar and let them sit for about 15 minutes before pouring out the water and letting them air-dry.

Here’s where the easy part comes into play. All you do is pour the milk into a pan that has a thermometer in it. When the milk reaches 185 degrees F, move the pan away from the heat and let it sit in the pan until it cools to 110 degrees F. Be sure to place your thermometer in the center of the pan, and don’t let it touch the bottom – you’ll just be checking the temperature of the burner, not the milk. Then whisk in a little yogurt that has live and active cultures in it.

Next all you do is pour the mixture into Mason jars.

Put the jars into a large pot and wrap the jars in a couple of kitchen towels. Cover the pot with a lid and put it into an oven (no heat required) to sit undisturbed for the next 9 hours.

Chill for about 3 hours. Voilà — you have homemade yogurt.

Enjoy this yogurt plain or add your fave ingredients to it.

Store any leftover yogurt in the fridge.

This yogurt makes a great snack and, of course, tastes wonderful with fruit, nuts or granola.

How to make homemade yogurt

Fresh homemade yogurt that’s made in your very own kitchen is easy to make and tastes wonderful all by itself or with fruit, berries and nuts.

Yields about 1 quart

Prep time: 10 minutes | Inactive Time: 13 hours | Cook time: 20 minutes | Total time: 13 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole milk (we used DairyPure®)
• 1/4 cup yogurt with live and active cultures

Directions:

1. Sterilize 2 pint-size mason jars (or a quart-size Mason jar). Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, add the yogurt and let it sit on the counter (to take the chill off) while heating the milk.
3. Heat a medium-size pot on medium heat and add the milk. Put a food thermometer (meat or candy thermometer) in the pan and lightly stir the milk so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan as it heats.
4. Once the milk temperature reaches 185 degrees F remove the pan from the heat and let the milk cool until it drops to 110 degrees F.
5. Once the milk is at 110 degrees F (don’t let it go lower than this), add a ladle of the milk into the bowl of yogurt and stir until the mixture is smooth. Then add the yogurt mixture into the pan and lightly whisk to incorporate the yogurt with the milk in the pan.
6. Carefully pour the yogurt mixture into the Mason jars.
7. Put the lids on the Mason jars, but don’t tighten them. Just set them on top of the jars.
8. Put the jars into a large, heavy pot. Wrap the jars with a couple of kitchen towels to cover the sides and tops of the jars. Cover the pot with a lid and set it in the oven for 9 to 10 hours undisturbed. If it’s convenient, turn on just the oven light for the first 1 to 2 hours to warm up the oven ever so slightly.
9. Remove the yogurt from the oven and chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours before serving.

Recipe ideas using yogurt

Persimmon and yogurt parfaits
Organic beet and yogurt vegetable dip
Lamb burgers with feta-yogurt sauce and cucumber, tomato, onion, dill salad