Homemade Yogurt

I've been promising to do this for the last two years. People keep telling me how easy it is. Last Thanksgiving I memorized the recipe from my sister-in-law, repeating it from the mashed potatoes to the pumpkin pie. Did we have pumpkin pie? Yeah, I forgot the recipe too.

Then I found a recipe and two nights ago finally used it. Yogurt. My own crock of yogurt. And they, the people, my sister-in-law, they were right. Making yogurt is easy. I made another batch tonight.

I have the recipe, from Mark Bittman, How To Cook Everything, memorized.

Heat a quart of milk to boiling and cool it to between 110 and 115. Whisk in half a cup of yogurt and keep the mixture warm for six to twelve hours.

I didn't believe it either. The hardest part was buying a cooking thermometer. I chose the least expensive.

To keep the mixture warm I used an old crock with a lid, tied two dish towels around that and put it in the back of the oven by the light, which I kept on all night - the light, not the oven. I did turn the oven on low for a few minutes, maybe five, before putting the crock in. To make the space cozy.

It all worked. The cute guy and I ate it up. From the crock. Plain. We couldn't stop.

And there's still part of me that doesn't believe how easy it is.

7 comments:

Kelly said...

yup. easy peasy lemon squeezy. making yoghurt is like exercise...when you get into the routine of it you wonder why you ever stopped or never started. Then when you do stop, it takes an age to get back to it!

Tamara said...

Yummy!

Kale for Sale said...

Kelly - I'm still in the I'll do this forever stage. But I know what you mean. Exercise? Yoga? It's been too long.

Tamara - aka My Brave Taster Friend!

Audrey said...

That's awesome. I like your crock/oven method. A friend's friends make it using a 15-degree sleeping bag. I still go with hot water bottles inside a cooler packed with styrofoam peanuts. Not the most elegant. But SO easy.

Kale for Sale said...

Audrey - My husband used to make yogurt with blankets and a cooler too. The sleeping bag sounds like a step up. It's good to know alternatives. Thank you. I made a batch two nights ago, was way to sure of my self, doubled the batch, burned the milk and had a curdled mess the next day. Sigh. I won't do that again.

Dirt Lover said...

I've been wanting to try making yogurt and found your blog/post. It's on the counter cooling! Haven't decided whether to put it in my outside oven (off, of course) wrapped up, or on top of the freezer in the laundry room. I'll probably go with the freezer this time, and it that doesn't work, I'll be trying the oven, at least in the summer. Thanks for the instructions!
~~Lori

Kale for Sale said...

Dirt Lover - Did it turn out?! We haven't had near enough heat here to leave the yogurt out. Even on top of a freezer but if it's hot I'm sure it would work. Let me know.