{Note: this post was edited on 4/15/17}
You guys. I don’t know why I didn’t start making yogurt sooner. Homemade yogurt is SO much better than store bought + it’s cheaper + it’s super easy to make in the crock-pot! So basically you have no excuse not to try it.
All you need is 1) a gallon of milk and 2) a fourth cup of yogurt for a starter. I try to save some yogurt each time I make it to use for starting the next batch (I freeze it and then thaw it on the counter), but obviously for the first time you’ll need to buy some. Plain or vanilla yogurt will both work great. Also, you’ll need a crock-pot (I love this crock-pot) as well as some cheese cloth.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon of milk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Empty the gallon of milk into the crock-pot. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 hours.
- Turn off the crock-pot and let it sit (still covered) for 3 hours.
- Gently stir the fourth cup of yogurt into the milk. Replace cover and wrap the crock-pot in a towel. (The crock-pot should be turned off and unplugged.)
- Let it sit overnight or for about 10 hours.
- Refrigerate and enjoy as is, or . . .
- Fasten a doubled-over cheesecloth on a large bowl with some clips and scoop the yogurt on top. Let it sit to drain for a couple hours to make Greek yogurt. (Depending how large your bowl and cheesecloth are you may need to repeat this step a couple times to drain all of the yogurt.) A gallon of milk should make at least two quarts of Greek yogurt.
We like to sweeten our homemade yogurt with agave but it’s also very good plain if you don’t mind the tart flavor. 🙂
{We love our yogurt with some yummy homemade granola and berries sprinkled on top!}
Here are just a few things to keep in mind:
1) Make sure your starter yogurt is fresh. If you want to make a new batch but the yogurt you have left in your fridge is more than a week old you’d be better off buying some more to use as a starter.
2) I don’t recommend using Greek yogurt as your starter; it just doesn’t seem to turn out as well.
3) After sitting overnight or for about 10 hours your yogurt will probably be as set as it’s going to get – in other words, if it’s runny, giving it four more hours probably won’t change much besides making it a bit more sour.
4) When I’ve had to buy yogurt for a starter I’ve had the best success using store-brand yogurt from Aldi. Don’t ask me why! Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Do you make your own homemade yogurt? I’d love to hear any tips you may have! Feel free to comment below.
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