As you may have guessed from the title, I made yogurt! And delicious yogurt it was too. I have been wanting to do this for a long time but was recently pushed into doing so when I discovered the wonderful yogurt I so love from the market comes in a container that we can’t recycle in Halifax. (As does all of the yogurt and pretend yogurt in the stores.) I was feeling guilty about throwing away a plastic container a week, so it seemed like the perfect reason to start making yogurt. (Yes, I still have to buy milk but the carton can be recycled.) Plus, it’s just the kind of thing I like to do.
I gathered my ingredients:
1 L of homogenized milk (you can use any milk, but I like it creamy)
I used 4 tbsp of skim milk powder to make it a thicker yogurt. This is optional, and I more or less guessed an amount.
1/2 cup of yogurt
And gathered my materials:
a pot
a crock-pot or wide mouth thermos (there are lots of recipes for making yogurt in a crock-pot from start to finish but…..I didn’t. I might try it though.)
candy thermometer
Then, the making:
Warm the milk SLOWLY in a pot on the stove to 180F or 80C. While you are doing this mix the yogurt and milk powder in a bowl. KEEP AND EYE ON YOUR MILK! When milk is heated, remove from heat and cool to 110F of about 54C. Preheat the thermos or crock-pot with boiling water. I used a crock-pot and also put it on low for a bit to heat it up. Take a bit of milk (say, 1/2 cup) and mix it into the yogurt mixture. Then add that to the rest of the milk in the pan. Empty the water out of your thermos or crock-pot and unplug the crock-pot, if using. Pour in your milk mixture. Put the lid on and keep it in a warm place over-night (up to 24 hours). I covered my crock-pot with a warm blanket for insulation. The next morning you will have yogurt! It’s all VERY exciting.
Here is some of mine, with a bit of blueberry jam. I made 5 cups of yogurt, 1/2 cup of which I will save as a started for my next batch.
