Whether you just love making your own food, or you are a homesteader looking for dairy recipes for your fresh milk. How to make yogurt is something that anyone who loves real food, and looking to make the best decisions for themselves and their family should be interested in. Homemade yogurt is a great way to get extra sugar, and fillers out of your food- while doing something good for your gut health.
I love a good bowl of yogurt for breakfast, so my goal early on as we moved into our homestead was to learn how to make yogurt. After a little research, I discovered something that really surprised me. Yogurt is so easy to make from scratch. No, really it’s so easy to make. Cheyenne taught her friends who just started their homestead how to make it on an isle at Kroger when they didn’t have any in stock.
And it’s not one of those things that are ok, but the store-bought one is better. Homemade yogurt is delicious! Are you sold yet? Easy and delicious, can it get any better? The simple answer is yes! Because you learned how to make yogurt, you now know exactly what is in your yogurt- which means you can cut out all those questionable ingredients that you can’t pronounce on the label.
Is Yogurt Good For You?
More and more we hear about the dangers of our foods and how horrible they are for our bodies. Take yogurt, for example, you think, “Ok I am eating yogurt and this has to be good for me, right?” Well, maybe not. If you are buying flavored or sweetened yogurt it’s going to be filled with terrible sweeteners (like high fructose corn syrup –or some hide this and just say corn syrup-) which makes the finished product not so healthy and terrible for your body.
But it’s got cultures or something like that and those are good for me, right? Right! If they are really in the yogurt you are eating, go ahead and take a look at the label on your yogurt I’ll wait. See any live ACTIVE cultures in it? The truth is that some brands do not even have active cultures (the good bacteria that helps your gut).
Specialty Organic yogurt can cost up to seven dollars a container (ouch!). I’m willing to bet no normal person wants to pay that much for yogurt. I certainly don’t- and you don’t have to!
How To Make Yogurt From Scratch
Do You Need A Certain Type Of Milk To Make Yogurt?
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Yes and no. You need real milk- not that fake plant version. Haha! Raw milk is the very, very best option when it comes to how to make yogurt from scratch. Raw milk can be really hard to find in some places, depending on your state’s raw milk laws. You can sometimes purchase a herd share from a local farm or homestead if you don’t have your own dairy animal.
If you can not find raw milk the next best option is whole milk (brownie points if it’s organic!), but again the most important part is that its whole milk. None of that skimmed milk nonsense. You can use cow, goat or any other milk along those lines to make your own yogurt.
To Make Homemade Yogurt You Will Need:
- raw or whole milk
- powdered milk (This is optional. It helps make your yogurt thicker if you are using something other than cow’s milk.)
- Freeze-dried yogurt culture (Cultures For Health has cultures you can purchase) or a plain organic whole fat yogurt with live active cultures.
- Crock-Pot
or another slow cooker - Thick fleece blanket or other heavy blanket or several towels.
- A wooden or plastic spoon.
Making Homemade Yogurt
How To Make Yogurt Step 1:
Turn your crockpot to low and let sit and heat up (We do this while making dinner so it can be warming while we are busy with other things and as a result, it does not seem to take long).
How To Make Yogurt Step 2:
Pour the milk into a pan and let it heat to 175 degrees F (be really careful not to scald the milk or your homemade yogurt will taste funny. Afterward, pour the warmed milk into the crockpot and turn the crockpot off.
How To Make Yogurt Step 3:
Add the starter or room temperature yogurt with live active cultures.
How To Make Yogurt Step 4:
Cover with several layers of towels or blankets and let it sit undisturbed for 8 – 12 hrs with the lid on and covers wrapped/ No peeking now! You need to seal that heat in. When 8-12 hours are up you can unwrap and gently spoon into jars or place the whole crock into the fridge with the lid on.
How To Make Drinkable Yogurt
If you want to make a thinner yogurt to drink let it sit for a shorter period of time than you would for a normal yogurt (8-12 hours), and then store it in the fridge.
How To Make Thicker Greek Yogurt
If you want it a bit thicker like Greek yogurt you can pour it into coffee filters, a clean new pillowslip, or some cheesecloth and hang it or put it in your strainer in the cheesecloth. The whey will come draining off of your yogurt. But DON’T THROW IT AWAY! Keep it (you can even freeze it in an ice cube tray) and it can be used to add protein to smoothies. (Yep, this is the overpriced powder you get at the health food store or at your local smoothie shop.), used in soups, etc. If you allow the yogurt to drain longer it will become a “yogurt cheese” which is much like cream cheese.
, a clean new pillowslip, or some cheesecloth and hang it or put it in your strainer
in the cheesecloth. The whey will come draining off of your yogurt. But DON’T THROW IT AWAY! Keep it (you can even freeze it in an ice cube tray
) and it can be used to add protein to smoothies. (Yep, this is the overpriced powder you get at the health food store or at your local smoothie shop.), used in soups, etc. If you allow the yogurt to drain longer it will become a “yogurt cheese” which is much like cream cheese.Storing Homemade Yogurt
Later when ready to eat it you can sweeten or flavor it. Just take your serving and sweeten with honey, maple syrup or stevia. We like the liquid stevia that is flavored with vanilla and other flavorings. We top with flax and frozen or fresh berries, chopped nuts, granola (Ooh we have a recipe for you!) or whatever you desire. Be sure to check out our granola recipe! Trust me, you won’t believe how good it is and it’s another super easy one to make. Try it, and let us know what you think, we sure love to hear from you!
or stevia
. We like the liquid stevia
that is flavored with vanilla
and other flavorings. We top with flax
and frozen or fresh berries, chopped nuts, granola (Ooh we have a recipe for you!) or whatever you desire. Be sure to check out our granola recipe! Trust me, you won’t believe how good it is and it’s another super easy one to make. Try it, and let us know what you think, we sure love to hear from you!
Yield: 8 Cups
Homemade Yogurt Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon of raw or whole milk
- 3/4 cup of powdered milk (optional)
- 1/2 cup of plain organic whole fat yogurt with live active cultures. Or Yogurt Starter Culture
Instructions
- Turn your crockpot to low and let sit and heat up (We do this while making dinner so it can be warming while we are busy with other things and as a result, it does not seem to take long).
- Pour the milk into a pan and let it heat to 175 degrees F (be really careful not to scald the milk or your homemade yogurt will taste funny. Afterward, pour the warmed milk into the crockpot and turn the crockpot off.
- Add the starter or room temperature yogurt with live active cultures.
- Cover with several layers of towels or blankets and let it sit undisturbed for 8 - 12 hrs with the lid on and covers wrapped/ No peeking now! You need to seal that heat in. When 8-12 hours are up you can unwrap and gently spoon into jars or place the whole crock into the fridge with the lid on.
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I had heard of making yogurt in a crock pot and always wondered whether it wouldn't be too warm and kill the culture, but now I know: Turn it off and cover it to preserve the heat. That sounds super easy. I use a thermos for mine, which works mighty fine too. I'm curious about the metal spoon issue you mentioned. Can you point me to the research on that? I'd love to understand what's happening. I presume the metal acts on the live cultures somehow?