Homemade Yogurt Is Easy And Delicious

I'm always looking for a do it yourself project, and my latest endeavor is a real winner. Homemade yogurt is thick, creamy and so healthy. No artificial ingredients of any kind, just milk. All this wholesomeness leads to a yogurt that can be made any way you like it. Thick or thin, it's up to you. Sweet or sour, it's also up to you. With a few batches under you're belt, you'll know exactly what you like, and your days of Chobani, Fage, Yoplait, Dannon, Liberte, and Stonyhill will be gone. It only takes a few minutes to assemble. I like to make it while I'm cooking dinner. That way I'm there to make sure the milk gets to the right temperature. Trust me, you can't make a mistake, and you'll be pleased with the results. I was getting all the supplies ready for yogurt making the other day, and Ron says, "What are you making?" I told him it was yogurt, and he asked me why I was always making something weird. (I think the last thing I made was preserved lemons). People who don't like to experiment in the kitchen wonder why anyone would bother making homemade yogurt when there are so many good products on the market. Those of you who like to experiment, as I do, understand why I do things like this. I must say Ron was right to think I was concocting something weird, as I had an electric heating pad and thermometer with my pile of ingredients. There are many ways to make yogurt, but here's what I did, on advice from a bridge playing friend of mine, Patricia. Homemade Yogurt 1 quart 1% milk ( I have not made it with whole milk, but I know it would be delicious) 2 T. plain yogurt, with live cultures (any brand will do) 3. Clean kitchen towels 4. Electric heating pad 5. Thermometer In a heavy saucepan, heat 1 quart of milk until 140 degrees. Many recipes say to heat it to 180 degrees, but having tried heating it to various temperatures, 140 degrees works fine. Remove from heat, and let stand until it has cooled to about 115 degrees. Take 2 Tablespoons of plain yogurt with live cultures and mix with 1/4 cup hot milk. Then add the yogurt mixture to the warm milk. Pour into glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Put the electric heating pad on high, place the bowl on the pad, then take two kitchen towels and drape over the top of the bowl and tuck in under the heating pad. Leave the mixture for anywhere from 5-12 hours. The longer the mixture sits, the more tart it will be. I left my last batch for six hours, and I had a sweet, delicious plain yogurt. The yogurt will appear very thin and watery at this point. You can refrigerate it as is, and it will thicken when it cools, or you can make more of a Greek style yogurt (this is what I did) by doing the following. Strain the yogurt over a collander lined with cheesecloth for about an hour. You will be draining out the whey, and what will remain will be thick, delicious yogurt, that will thicken more as it cools in the refrigerator. The other way to keep the yogurt warm for the necessary 5-12 hours is to put it in an oven, with just the pilot light on. (also wrapped in towels to keep warm). Either way, you'll end up with smooth creamy yogurt unlike anything you can buy at the store. This is not a cost savings, as one quart of milk only produces about three servings of yogurt. Be sure to save 2 Tablespoons of yogurt to start your next batch. Enjoy. I almost forgot to mention that my favorite way to eat yogurt is just plain, with a little honey drizzled over the top. I have been experimenting over the past few weeks since I first wrote this blog and have discovered the following. It is not necessary to heat the milk to 180 degrees. I think the yogurt comes out better when milk is heated to 120-140 degrees. I also like milk mixture kept in the heating pad for only about four hours. The longer you heat it, the more tart it becomes. Also, if you want thick Greek yogurt, pour the mixture into a colander and let it drain for about an hour, or more. Get as much of the whey out as possible, and you will have a thick yogurt.