Homemade Yogurt

It's crazy that i JUST made yogurt two days ago. I have tried a few different methods and this one worked beautifully. It is the most basic, easy to follow website.
http://makeyourownyogurt.com/
It focuses on using items you have at home. No special machines and the keeping it warm part is easy, a heating pad set on medium on a cutting board for at least 7 hours. I did the 7 and because our family likes the more tart flavor, we will leave it longer next time. I sweetened it with a touch of splenda, you can use sugar, honey or nothing. I then added about 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to a gallon of yogurt. This way it is ready to eat plain, with some fresh fruit and walnuts. ( go to www.realage.com to see the benefits of plain raw walnuts.) If you find your milk on sale ( $3.49 / gal. at Walgreens) it works out to be about $0.25 per 8 oz cup as opposed to at least $0.50 per cup that is full of junk and not as many probiotics. I just added a full cup of plain yogurt. I added about 5 capsules of pro-biotics to my yogurt for the added benefit. I know those 5 capsules grew tremendously. It is GREAT frozen with berries in those popsicle makers. Sometimes for a treat, I will put a teaspoon of strawberry jam in the center and as the kids are licking away it has a tremendously sweet center. Better than ice cream I think. Have fun, save money and teach the kids. My 7 year old read the instructions and was amazed at how yogurt was made. He still telling people about the process days later.

I use a time-tested family recipe, but this website is more thorough with more explanation to help you trouble-shoot.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Yogurt (see step 4 for using non-fat milk)

From my own experience, I use a candy thermometer to bring milk up to 180 deg. Then I let it sit on the stove til it registers 110 deg. I mix a little of the warm milk into several tblspns of yogurt then add it into the batch of milk. I cover the pot and wrap it up in a few heavy blankets and put in a corner someplace. It keeps it plenty warm. Just for clarification, the "live active cultures" in store-bought yogurt are actually bacteria, and you DO want them to grow in your at-home yogurt. It sounds gross, but these bacteria are found naturally in your intestines and by eating yogurt you are replenishing them. They are the "good" bacteria that would outcompete the "bad" bacteria of infections. Any yogurt with these cultures will work, but Stoneyfield Farm Organics have 6 different cultures in them. Best of Luck! Let us know how it goes! B.

I haven't tried this yet but want to when I get time. The whole site is pretty cool, actually.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/yogurt.htm

I just read this thread (too late). But I just wanted to share this. I make yogurt at home ritually every week. I tried out something new this week. I made yogurt with canned whole (not fat free) coconut/juice milk (THAI brand). It worked perfectly! It's delicious and naturally sweet. My son was not too keen on the coconut yogurt, but he loves the other yogurt I make. I have a yogurt maker that keeps the yogurt at the right temperature while it's fermenting. I love it because it has six one cup glass jars with lids that the yogurt ferments in (I prefer glass over plastic). My son takes them to school.

Hi D., just read your post, I know you've received many tips already and i'm sure they will help. Yes warming up the milk slowly to 180 and then waiting until it reaches 105-110 is extremely important before adding in either some yogourt that has active culture or using a yogourt starter. I use yogourt starter for my yogourt at least once a month and for in between, I use 1-2 tablspoons of my own yogourt. Want some vanilla flavour, add 1-2 tsps. to your milk after you have already incorporated the yogourt starter. We are big yogourt eaters here as well. I also make kefir. Email me if you need more info on making kefir (many benefits in cleaning your insides)or if you are interested in raw milk. I get mine once a week and have even made butter. Interested in bread, granola recipes, email me. We use a mill to grind our wheat. I have started making pasta too, my husband is italian and we all know how much they like their pasta!

So if you are in the mood to trying new things, email me. ____@____.com

Blessings
C.

Just a suggestion on your sensitive digestive system --
Try taking Aloe supplement in gel capsules. It coats the lining of your digestive system all the way through and helps to heal the irritated parts of your system. I'm not an authority on this, but I do remember reading an article about how Aloe helps to balance out the digestive system and is used especially by people who have ulcers or gastrointestinal distress. Best of luck.

Homemade yogurt is fairly easy, and I think the problem you're having is the milk isn't staying warm enough. Before I had a yogurt maker, the best method I found for fermenting yogurt was using glass jars in a big ice chest. I heat a quart of milk to almost boiling and let that cool until it's just warm to the touch. Add 2 tablespoons of room temperature plain yogurt and mix into the milk well. Pour the milk mixture into glass jars that are about the same height. Put the lids on the glass jars and put them down into a large enough ice chest to hold them all with about an inch of space in between. Pour warm water that is about body temperature down into the ice chest so that it surrounds the glass jars and leave for 8-10 hours. If you only want to make a small amount, try using your method and putting the mixture into a thermos overnight. It'll keep the temperature more constant. Good luck!

My 21 year old son has Crohn's disease and his stomach can tolerate home made yogurt that has fermented 24 hours.
To make it, he heats the milk to just short of boiling, then puts it into his oven (in his apartment) which has a very warm pilot light.
When he's here at home, however, we have no pilot light, so we came up with the following solution: heat the milk to the proper temperature, then put inside an insulated picnic cooler, with a heating pad placed alongside the milk container. It works very well.
J.

Hey, I am not sure if you have tried this but I found the YO (Yoplait brand) digestive to work for me after a couple of weeks. My stomach is a crazy mess but it has been much better lately.

Does milk need yeast to ferment? Just wondering. I love yogurt, eat it every day. All kinds, Dannon natural is my favorite, Activa is good and Yoplait. All have plenty of axctive probiotic cultures. It kind of sounds gross the way your explaining it! I mean, don't you think covering the warmed yogurt and leaving it in the oven all night would breed bad organisms? Yuck.I'm in microbioloy this semester, I'll ask my professor. It's like this weird thing I have with eggs. If I have to crack them open and fry them, I can't bring myself to eat them. But, if we go out for breakfast I love them. I know, I'm weird. I'm sure you can look on the internet for your 'homeade yogurt' recipe though, i mean they hace recipes for bombs and anything else someone would think of so you'd probably find that! :-)

Yes, you do have to boil the milk and cool it to the proper temperature, but other than that the process is not very sensitive. My husband makes it every week in a huge pot on the stove. After it's cooled to the proper temp (not sure what that is, but it's available online), he adds started yogurt - just a tablespoon or so - and puts the pot with the lid on in the oven overnight. No heat required in the oven and we don't even leave the light on. You can use your own yogurt for starter next time but for some reason you can't do this indefinitely - the quality of the yogurt deteriorates over time and eventually it's just milk though it will taste like yogurt. We make it in large quantities and it saves some money, but mostly I think he just likes to do it. You don't really have to refrigerate it either except in very hot weather. We don't add flavoring, but mix it with a little honey and water for the kids to drink for breakfast. There are a lot of online gadgets you can buy and procedures you can follow, but it's a very ancient technique and comes from the days without all that, so you can make it as easy or as complex as you like. It's not always the same every time but that's part of the experience!

Hi Everyone! One more comment, I have found that different starter yogurts and milks turn out differently flavored final product. For my starter, I use a brand from Trader Joe's called Fage. I have taste-tested every plain yogurt on the market in my area! For those of you that don't like plain, try the small one and see if it works for you. Also, I like to use the organic quart from TJ's. Yes, you have to scald the milk (bring it to 180-185) to kill the "bad" bacteria and create the optimal environment for the "good" bacteria. It takes a little practice to get the feel for it but once you do, it is very simple.

In response to the why question, my answer is that my family loves yogurt but we all like different flavors. It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to make yogurt then add individual flavoring and sweetener than to buy the individual sized servings.

I also did the SAHM and learning self-sufficiency thing, it is fun! I don't make bread anymore but I still make pizza dough, handmade tortillas and homemade lasagne with homemade noodles.

hi
I always set yoghurt at home ...u need a good yoghurt first of all from danon whole yoghurtjust for setting .then boil milk in a
pot then cool it to warm not luke warm just more than that then stir the 1 spoon of yoghurt in the milk and place the pot inside microwave overnight .it sets wonderful

I was checking this out myself and found the "customprobiotics" website, once on the front page scroll down, they even have a yogurt making kit and they tell you exactly how to do it. Good Luck, its very encouraging to see you wanting to help your body and make your own products!

I just bought a salton 1 quart yogurt maker. 14.00 on Amazon.com. I don't use the plastic quart container they provide, but I plug my unit in, get it warm..... I put milk into a VERY CLEAN applesauce jar that fits into the maker, put it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes until it is 180, let it set until it is 98, pour some of the warm milk into a clean cup with 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt, I use stoneyfarm, whole milk yogurt, mix very well, and pour back into jar with milk, mix very well. And place into yogurt maker with the plastic quart container in place, put yogurt maker lid on, wait 4 hours, check it, if it jiggles, and has some liquid on top, throw the lid on the glass jar and put it in the refrigerator. If not, let it set for a couple more hours..... makes Very good plain yogurt. We put honey in it and mix in some cereal, we like trail mix crunch. Very good treat. (I use a glass jar because it just tastes better than using the plastic container.)

Do a little experimenting, go to the natural aisle and pick out a few of the types of yogurt there and figure out what you like, brown cow makes a cream on top yogurt, that is good, but if you use it as a starter, the yogurt turns to slime, not a good one to use, the fage greek yogurt is more cheesy, like in cream cheese, but is less smooth. I like stoney farm yogurt, whole milk, and I use 2 % as my milk that I heat up. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

If you don't have a yogurt maker, You can use the jar, and after you mix in the starter yogurt, wrap it in a kitchen towel and put it on a heating pad on low..... good luck, it is fun! I also have gone online to a website called fermented treasures to find more European starters, they are fun to try although can be a little spendy. The site tells you about the different starters and styles of yogurt. Have fun.:)
M.

Hi D. C,

I have a question. I have just read all these postings and am terribly confused. You are trying to make yogurt, but need yogurt to make it? Can you tell me what the difference is? I love yogurt and have never thought about making it, I just buy it. But, if there is a true healthier reason to make it, I would definitely attempt it.

Thanks!

If you need additional help for your digestive system, Shaklee makes Optiflora Prebiotic and Probiotic products. The probiotic pill delivers the live cultures Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus to the intestine, while the prebiotic feeds them with FOS and inulin. If you choose one, do the live cultures. Many times, digestive problems are misdiagnosed as intestinal problems. Shaklee has a digestive aid called EZ-Gest that contains multiple enzymes to make sure all fat, protein and carbs are digested properly. Go to the Shaklee website on my profile and search for the products to learn more. ps. All this yogourt-making sounds fun! :)

I make it at home all the time. The trick is you have to warm milk upto atleast 175-180 degrees (I do it in a container on gas top and it starts to have bubbles at that time). Then let it cool upto 100 degrees (it should be still warm not hot). Then add the yogurt and mix well and put it in oven like you were doing before. Put it in Refrigerator for few hours before using.

Let me know if still does not come out good.

How do you know if the probiotics in the yougurt is live bacteria? I would add capsules to give it more content but are they live?

Updated

How do you know if the probiotics in the yougurt is live bacteria? I would add capsules to give it more content but are they live?

Updated

How do you know if the probiotics in the yougurt is live bacteria? I would add capsules to give it more content but are they live?

Updated

How do you know if the probiotics in the yougurt is live bacteria? I would add capsules to give it more content but are they live?

Why not just buy the probiotic that you sprinkle on your food instead of going through all of that? Culturelle and others work the same with out the hassle. Save your self the time and headache!

D C
Send me your email address and I will ask my MIL tomorrow how she makes hers - she never buys yogurt,always makes her own and my daughter will eat it plain with no probs. I think that she adds the yogurt before she microwaves the milk, she also leaves the oven light on and that "cooks" it. I'll find out more for you.
Martha

How do you know if the probiotics in the yougurt is live bacteria? I would add capsules to give it more content but are they live?

I learned to make yogurt in Japan. We just took organic soy milk, available in any supermarket, added brine, and a spoonful of old yogurt you made before, if you have any left, then covered it and set it on the counter overnight. In the morning...whala! Yogurt. After you have yogurt, you can just add some soy milk to the glass jar and you will have yogurt. However, you can only do this only about three or four times and it gets watery so we have to start from scratch. Unfortunately, I am not sure where to get brine in the US...maybe an Asian market or the Health Food store?