Question about making my own yogurt

[Lizzo]

How do you do it? Do you use cultures and a mason jar or a yogurt maker? I considered buying a yogurt maker- but I don't want to use powdered milk which is appears the makers require you to use.
Any advice? How do you do it? Step by step and your trial and error advice is much appreciated.

[Mama2Kayla]

I ferment mine in the oven with the light on. I wrap the jar in a towel. It keeps it right around 100 degrees. That's all you really need. Just find a spot in your house where you can keep it around that temp. I have heard of people using heating pads, coolers left in warm water, etc.

I think the only reason they suggest powdered milk is to thicken hm yogurt. You don't have to use it. In fact all you need to start a batch is a starter of plain store yogurt. Just heat the milk up, add the starter, put it in a warm spot, and forget about it for 12-24 hours(longer you go, the tarter the yogurt).

Good luck! Hm yogurt is really fun and yummy.

[Mama2Kayla]

I ferment mine in the oven with the light on. I wrap the jar in a towel. It keeps it right around 100 degrees. That's all you really need. Just find a spot in your house where you can keep it around that temp. I have heard of people using heating pads, coolers left in warm water, etc.

I think the only reason they suggest powdered milk is to thicken hm yogurt. You don't have to use it. In fact all you need to start a batch is a starter of plain store yogurt. Just heat the milk up, add the starter, put it in a warm spot, and forget about it for 12-24 hours(longer you go, the tarter the yogurt).

Good luck! Hm yogurt is really fun and yummy.

[gbutterflykissesm]

I use regular skim milk, but I do add maybe 1/2 a cup of powdered to thicken it... I don't have a yogurt maker either. I heat the milk to 180F and then cool it to 115F, add 2 "ice cubes" of store bought yogurt that I have frozen ahead of time. (before adding them, I put some of the 115 F degree milk in with the ice cubes in a small bown to dissolve them). Then I put it in a mason jar and put it in a medium sized cooler with 2 other mason jars that I filled with the boiling water I used to sterilize. I cover the cooler and 8-10 hours later I have yogurt.

[cristeen]

I use the crockpot and a mason jar.

[tulip4me]

In the Wise Traditions magazine there was an ad for Motherhouse Market. They sell Yogotherm Yogurt Maker that doesn't use any electricity. They say you just warm up the milk, add the culture, then put it in the yogurt maker. The yogurt maker comes with a plastic container so she improvised & sells a glass 1/2 gallon jar that she replaced it with. I'm seriously thinking about purchasing it. Has anyone used this yogurt maker before? Oh, and here's the link http://www.motherhousemarket.com/ind...products_id=47.

[cristeen]

That looks like a large thermos. Some people achieve the same thing with a personal/lunch cooler.

[RAF]

We use a quart size yogurt maker(electric) but insert a glass mason jar instead of the plastic thing they use. We use our whole, raw goat milk. We take a packet of starter culture and make a quart with it to use as starter. Then we just pour a quarter cup of that yogurt into each batch of fresh milk and stick it in the yogurt maker. We don't heat our milk or add any thickeners to it. It is drinkable consistency, but we like it that way.

[deethai]

I just use a clean Tupperware container with lid and I dont put the lid on too tightly.

I mix 1 litre of any type of milk 1.5% or 3% (no fat milk ends up a bit too watery for me) with 1-2 table spoons of plain yoghurt, put it into the container and leave it in the kitchen overnight, 10 hours or so.

The room temperature is around 28-30 degrees here so that's all I need to do and in the morning it's yoghurt.

[Lizzo]

Thanks for the responses. I am a novice with the yogurt making, so I need a lot of help!
So, I do not have a gas oven, but the crock pot method sounds like a good one for me. I have an old school crock pot that only has high and low settings. So how would I do it? Do I use cultures or pre made yogurt? Do I put water in the crock pot? Do I heat the milk first- and how much if it's raw milk (which it would be)? What is the ratio of milk to pre made yogurt or culture?
I need like...step by step directions!!!

[hippiewitchie]

Originally Posted by Lizzo

Thanks for the responses. I am a novice with the yogurt making, so I need a lot of help!
So, I do not have a gas oven, but the crock pot method sounds like a good one for me. I have an old school crock pot that only has high and low settings. So how would I do it? Do I use cultures or pre made yogurt? Do I put water in the crock pot? Do I heat the milk first- and how much if it's raw milk (which it would be)? What is the ratio of milk to pre made yogurt or culture?
I need like...step by step directions!!!

I like the step by step directions from mothereathnews.com
You heat the milk, then cool it to under 120 degrees,
poor a little of the hot milk into your starter (either store bought yougurt-must say live active yougurt cultures, or buy starter from your hf store). then stir it into the hot milk.
I incubate mine by putting it into a covered container, put that into the crock from my crock pot, and fill to the yogurt level with 110 degree water and cover. I put the crock on a heating pad with a layer of folded towels between the pad and the crock. Then I wrap the whole thing in a blanket. Do not disturb until you are done incubating.
This works for me. I tried the crock pot itself but it was too hot and cooked my yogurt. Maybe I could try it in my smaller crock with the warm setting, but this method has not failed me yet.

[deethai]

I did an experiment the other night. I opened a capsule of Solgar Acidophulis and mixed the powder of the capsule with milk.
I also did two comparison mixtures, one with store yoghurt + milk and one with store yoghurt + acidophilus capsule powder + milk.
All 3 results tasted the same in the morning and had the same consistency, the pure acidophilus powder mix was maybe just a tiny bit more watery, but not much.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Lizzo

Thanks for the responses. I am a novice with the yogurt making, so I need a lot of help!
So, I do not have a gas oven, but the crock pot method sounds like a good one for me. I have an old school crock pot that only has high and low settings. So how would I do it? Do I use cultures or pre made yogurt? Do I put water in the crock pot? Do I heat the milk first- and how much if it's raw milk (which it would be)? What is the ratio of milk to pre made yogurt or culture?
I need like...step by step directions!!!

First, fill your crockpot with cold water, turn it to low and with the lid off, leave it alone for several hours. Then go back and check how hot it is. To be yogurt safe, you should be able to stick your hand in the water and have it be comfortable, just warm (not hot). You can check it with a thermometer if you have one. If it's too hot, the crockpot method will not work with that crockpot. If it's a good temperature, then the crockpot method should work .

So what I do is fill a quart mason jar with my (cold) milk, cover the mouth with a piece of cloth and screw down the band to hold it on. Place it into the (cold) water in the (cold) crockpot, leave the lid off, set it to warm (low) and leave it alone for at least 12 hours, although I like 24 better. Take it out of the crockpot and pop it directly into the fridge without disturbing it. Once it's cold, you're ready to eat.

The ratio of milk:culture is a matter of personal taste. I use about 1 Tbs of yogurt to 1 qt of milk, and get a very mild yogurt. I used to use 2-3 times that much and would get a very tangy yogurt.

HTH

[Attached Mama]

Here's what I do....

Heat about a quart of milk in a pot til it's about 100 degrees. So really warm, but not hot. I don't personally like the methods that heat the yogurt higher as I want to keep the benefits of my raw milk intact - especially since I don't like to drink raw milk very much, but I do love raw milk yogurt.

Then I pour the milk into a very clean large jar that has been warmed by rinsing it with some hot water. I mix in about1/4 cup (i never measure) of yogurt and then I wrap the jar around with a thick bath towel and use a huge rubberband to hold the towel in place. I place the whole thing on top of my old fashioned metal radiator and come back about 24 hrs later. Sometimes it's kinda runny and sometimes it's thicker, but it always tastes great!

I have to find another method for warm weather now tho. My crockpot seems to be too hot so maybe a cooler of warm water...