Home-made yogurt very watery

[Jimibell]

I have only tried it once but it just didn't quite make it. I made it from raw milk and kept in warm in warm water in a cooler overnight. Do I need to buy a dehydrator?
I was told by a member of our milk coop that I need to heat it the first time to 180 but doesn't that kill the enzymes?

[RasJane]

To get very thick yogurt in just overnight, you do need to boil it. Yes, it does kill the enzymes.
I make yogurt from raw goat milk. I heat the milk to 110 degrees F, add in my starter (a glob from the last batch) and leave it in my yogurt maker for at least 12 hours. It really does make a miraculous transformation in that last hour or so. Just yesterday I made some. I told ds it would be ready for breakfast. It was still runny at 8, but by 10 it had firmed up.
I know a few people with lactose intolerance who make the 24 hour yogurt from Breaking the Viscous Cycle and always have nice firm yogurt.
You might also check to make sure your yogurt is staying warm. If the temp falls too low, the bacteria will drop in activity.
Even if it isn't firm, it's still yummy in a smoothie!

[TwilightJoy]

You could always drip the yogurt to make it thicker. Then you have that wonderful whey to use when soaking grains or making l-f veggies!

I've also considered using 2 packets of the yogurt starter to make it thicker, but I'm not sure how that would work.

[kl5]

I use the recipe from the WAPF website: http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/yogurt.html. It involves heating the milk to 180 (not boiling), though the author does give some justification for it. I used a greek yogurt as my original starter and it makes beautiful thick yogurt overnight (as long as I keep it warm).