I have experimented and found a better method. Well, this method may not be better than the crock pot yogurt, it just works better for me. It doesn't take very long and I get consistent results- even when using skim milk!!
- milk (any- I've used homo, 2% and skim and they all work)
- a little powdered milk - 1/4 to 1/2 C
- 1/2 C plain yogurt
- a candy thermometer
- a soup pot
- a small cooler
- a couple 2 L canning jars
My process is as follows:
1) Pour 2 L of milk into a pot, heating on low/medium. Using your candy thermometer to watch the temp, heat your milk to 180 F. I keep my wisk handy to stir regularily. I have bad pots and always end with some burnt on the bottom of my pot- just don't scrape the burnt stuff off when stirring. It takes 15-20 minutes to heat the milk. Do not rush it!
2) While heating the milk I milk, I use a seperate bowl to mix the yogurt and skim milk powder. If adding honey, vanilla or other flavorings I mix the into this bowl.
3) Also while heating the milk, I fill my sink half way with COLD water. Some people use ice, but I find cold water works fine.
I also fill my cooler half way with HOT water.
4) Once the milk has heated to 180 F, I remove it from the stove and put it into the sink of cold water. Using the wisk, I stir it until the temp has lowered to 100F.
5)At this time, I remove 1 C of the heated milk and mix it into my bowl with the yogurt and powdered milk.
6) Once yogurt, powdered milk and hot milk are mixed, I dump the whole thing back into the pot of warm milk. Drain sink.
7) Grab your 2, 2L canning jars (or other glass container of about this size), a funnel, and pour mixture from pot into the jars, half into each jar.
8) Put jars into cooler- adjust hot water so that the water reaches the level of the milk mixture in the jars.
You can either keep jars uncovered, or cover them. I have done both and don't see any difference in the end product.
9) Close cooler and leave overnight, or for 8-10 hours. The longer you leave it the more 'sour' the yogurt tastes.
Magically when you open your cooler again, your jars will be filled with yogurt! At this stage I pour my yogurt into a 2L ice cream container and keep it in the fridge. This yogurt lasts us about 1 -2 weeks. Costs us about $2.50, compared to about $6-$8 for the same thing in the store.
I use mine unsweetened and unflavored because we add fruit, applesauce or maple syrup to it when we eat it, but you may experiment and see what you come up with. I have read that if you add fruit to it during the 'sitting' process that the yogurt won't set properly.
Another thing I do is I often line my strainer with cheese cloth, place it over a bowl, and pour some of my yogurt into it, allowing some of the moisture to drain. This creates a thicker yogurt and depending on how long you let it sit, it can get very thick. In the Eat Clean Diet, this is called yogurt cheese.
Happy yogurt making!
Check out these other ideas
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/homemade-yogurt.html
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/homemade-yogurt.shtml
http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/
This recipe is easy to follow; I can make my own version of it in a matter of minutes. Good thing you’ve shared some of your favorite recipes, though I wish to see how this yummy yogurt looks like. =)
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