homemade yogurt

[RobTom83]

   Hello. I recently learned about making yogurt at home. I've done alot of research on it now, and I just made my first batch yesterday. It came out great. I would prefer it a bit thicker though. I used 2% milk and know that whole milk will yeild a thicker product, and that some people use a bit of powdered milk to thicken it also. I was wondering if I could use a single can of sweetened condensed milk in addition to my quart of whole or 2% to make it thicker and to add some sweetness to it. Has anyone ever heard of this or tried it?

[Cynthia Mosher]

Moving to Nutrition and Good Eating...

[ameliabedelia]

Letting it culture longer will also make a thicker yogurt.  I use whole milk and let my yogurt culture for a full 24 hours (sometimes 25 or 26 if I forget to take it out) and it is very thick and creamy.   I don't add anything to it.

[RobTom83]

Wow that's a long time culturing. I've really only read about 4 - 8 hours of culturing time. Do you keep it warm, like around 110F, or do you just let it sit at room temp for all that time?

[ollyoxenfree]

Lately I've been making yoghurt with a fairly good, reasonably thick consistency. It isn't quite as thick as the thickest supermarket yoghurts, but I think it could be if I let it sit in a cheesecloth-lined sieve for awhile as a final step. I think I'm using a recipe posted here awhile ago, so you may want to search old threads on the subject:

- bring 1 qt. milk (I use organic 1%) to 180 degrees F.

- remove from heat

- let cool to 116 degrees F

- whisk in 1 cup of plain yoghurt

- wrap in heavy towels and let sit on the kitchen bench until thickened (I usually wait 12 hours - start in the morning and it's finished that evening) 

- if you want to thicken further, drain it in a cheesecloth-lined sieve 

I use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven and wrap in 2 beach towels, arranged in layers.