Homemade Yogurt

Name: Homemade Yogurt
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 24 min
Yield: 8 Servings
Cuisine: Other
Ingredients: 0.5 gal reduced-fat milk; 0.5 cup plain yogurt

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Making yogurt — with no added sugar, no high-fructose corn syrup, no thickeners, and no shady business — is easier than you think, and requires no specialized equipment. This recipe tells you how to make yogurt using a dutch oven or other heavy pot to heat the milk and hold the heat in while the yogurt sets.

Homemade Yogurt

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Ingredients

Instructions

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Step 1
Pour milk into a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Skim milk does work, but the results aren't as creamy - we recommend whole or 2% milk.
Step 2
Heat the milk to 200º F (very hot, but not boiling). Stir to keep the milk from burning on the bottom. Heating the milk like this changes the protein structure so it will set properly.
Step 3
Let the milk cool down to 115º F - lukewarm. If a skin forms, stir it back in before the next step.
Step 4
Mix 1 cup of the warm milk into the plain store-bought yogurt (make sure the package says "live and active cultures"). Whisk out any lumps.
Step 5
Combine the milk-and-yogurt mixture back in with the pot of warmed milk.
Step 6
Put a lid on the pot (or cover with aluminum foil) and place the whole thing in a turned-off oven overnight. Turn the oven light on to keep things warm. You can also wrap the pot in towels - kitchen towels or even a big beach towel - to keep the heat up while the yogurt sets. Another option is setting the wrapped pot in a closed microwave next to a bottle of hot water.
Step 7
Once the yogurt has reached your desired consistency, whisk it, store it in a reusable container, and refrigerate.