Yogurt 101

I recently read an article in Better Homes and Gardens magazine on the different types of yogurt (Yogurt, Explained -Taking the Confusion out of the dairy aisle, Sept.2008).. I was a little miffed that they didn't share how EASY it was to just make the yogurt yourself!

I figure it's about time I just BLOGGED about it.



What you need to make vanilla yogurt:

milk- fat free, skim, 2% or whole-however much yogurt you want to make. Try a half gallon.

candy thermometer

Dannon vanilla yogurt with live active cultures as your starter. You only need this the first time you make yogurt.
Vanilla. Real vanilla is preferable. Use whatever you have though.

Sugar to sweeten.

Powdered milk-to thicken

saucepan to heat milk in

tupperware containers to store yogurt in

cookie sheet and kitchen towel to cover the bowls with

stove and electricity..or gas, or a wood burning stove. whatever.

What I do and Why.

I pour the milk into the pot and clip the thermometer to the side. I heat it on low, stirring frequently until the temperature reaches 180 degrees. You want to kill off any bad bacteria..so your new good bacteria can thrive. Once it reaches 180, I turn off the burner (important..I frequently forget to do this). Remove it from the burner and add half a package of powdered milk. It's about 1/2 cup. I whisk this in. Then I add about 1 TBS of vanilla..and about 1/2 C of sugar. Stir well.
Let the milk cool to 100 degrees exactly! Important! If it's too hot, it will kill your yogurt starter and it won't set up. Ask me how I know this.

Once your milk is cooled to 100 degrees..take about 1/2 to 1 C of the Dannon yogurt and whisk well into your cooled milk. Pour the milk into a couple tupperware containers. Place them on a cookie sheet and set in your oven. Do.Not.Turn.Your.Oven.On. Someone did this once. Not pretty. (and no it wasn't me) Cover the bowls with your towel. Let this set in your oven overnight with the oven light on. The light will give just enough warmth to help set your yogurt. By morning..you should have nice thick vanilla yogurt at a fraction of the cost.
Cover and store in your fridge..and enjoy!
:o)

notes

*I did not use the powdered milk until just recently. I found that the powdered milk makes the yogurt nice and thick..just like store bought. I could not get my yogurt to turn out that way before. Thank you MOMYS. :)

**If you want plain yogurt, skip the sugar and vanilla step, and use Plain Dannon as your starter.

*** If you have made yogurt successfully using soy milk or rice milk, please send me the recipe. Thank you!