Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt is very easy to make and you probably already have everything you need. I've been looking though many tutorials and blogs on how to make yogurt. The reason I am recommending Michael Reep's website is because you'll find it's simple to follow and he tests things before he writes about them or he will say so. The website is simply: http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/ :) The tutorial begins with What You'll Need.

I made my first batch with a little more than a quart of milk, I didn't have alot of confidence it would turn out well. I'm glad to say everyone likes it alot. I've flavored half with Strawberry flavoring and the other half with French Vanilla flavoring (and sugar). Three tablespoons are reserved for my next batch. We added a drop of red food coloring to strawberry yogurt, but of course this isn't necessary.

We used 4-oz glass canning jars with plasic Ball lids, but you can use anything to include gladware. As long as it has a lid.

At Pleasantville Schoolhouse, Anna cultured her yogurt by her wood stove instead of using a heating pad. She writes how she mades her yogurt here and adds how she thickens it with out adding powdered milk or other things at the end of her recipe. I may try culturing my yogurt in the crock pot next time, like she does when her wood stove isn't on: what a cool idea :)

Update: I made yogurt now 2 times (04Apr09). The second time the yogurt was cultured from the first batch and it turned out great.

I drained mine the way Anna does here, but I drained it over night and now have very, very thick yogurt... not the best. I couldn't use my crockpot to keep the yogurt warm, mine is too small, but the heating pad worked terrific.