by Texas Homesteader ~
I’ve gotten so many questions about making homemade yogurt. Folks are really surprised to find out how easy it is! For those of you who missed it, I’m reposting this easy step-by-step tutorial of my homemade yogurt recipe. It’s easy to make, takes very little hands-on time, and since I make it in reusable 1/2-pint caning jars it’s not only single-serving convenience but environmentally friendly too! Enjoy.
I wanted to make my own yogurt and thought you had posted in the past. Sure enough, I went to your blog and searched “yogurt” and BAM, there it was. I gave this recipe a whirl and found it is delish and super easy for a newbie in the kitchen with “making your own things” to reduce cost. officially a fan of making it myself. Thank you for posting.
I’m glad you gave it a go, Michelle. I think it’s safe to assume now that you know it really IS as easy as it sounds, you’ll be enjoying your own homemade yogurt from now on! ~TxH~
I have a question about this recipe. I have made yogurt in the past (long time ago) but never with powdered milk. I thought it was a great idea so I made it last week when we ended up with an extra gallon of milk. It happened to be whole. I have never used whole milk in yogurt before. I took a long time to set and I think made my house was too cold. The yogurt tastes good but it is a little grainy and leaves a film on the spoon. The yogurt also separated into two layers a bright white layer and a cream colored layer. What gives? I’ve never seen that happen before. I’m not sure if this is due to the powdered milk, maybe I didn’t stir it enough? Or is this due to using whole milk? I loved the thickness of it and would like to replicate that but I don’t like the film or the graininess. I don’t care about the separation, it was just weird. I realize this is an old post and this might not get an answer.
Of course I’ll answer you Jane. I used to always make my yogurt with whole milk, it was thicker & creamier and I loved the taste, but I went to 2% several years ago to cut the fat content. (I actually tried skim milk once but was not pleased with the result) I’ve always added powdered milk when I make it to maintain the thickness I love and also to add a little protein. I’ve never had it turn out grainy or to separate, but my guess is the temperature didn’t stay warm enough to continue incubating (while still not being too hot to kill your cultures) I usually have to bump my oven a couple of times during incubation to maintain proper temps, and since you said it took a long time to thicken it makes me suspect temps are your issue. If you’re using my oven procedure you might put an oven thermometer in along with the yogurt so you can monitor temps. You don’t want extreme temperature changes but I’ll let my oven heat for 30-seconds to a minutes to help maintain my temps. Hope this helps, let me know! ~TxH~
Thanks, I’ll try that next time. Do you know what the ideal incubation temp range is? I really want to make this work, it was the most fantastically thick yogurt i have ever made.
I try to keep it between 100 – 110. Up to 115 wouldn’t hurt but much higher than that you run the risk of killing your cultures. Much under 100 and your cultures quit working for ya. Between 100 – 110 you should be good to go. My yogurt usually completes in about 4-5 hours in these temps and it’s nice & thick with a silky texture. Let me know how it comes out! ~TxH~
Found your blog by following Friday linky from Little House in the Suburbs back in August 2013. Made the 1/2 the yogurt recipe last weekend using Oberweis 2% milk – turned out so well I made another 1/2 batch this weekend. Wow! Really enjoying homemade yogurt – thank you! Cynthia from Chicago
Oh thank you Cynthia for letting me know how you’re enjoying it! You know, although I’ve been making my own yogurt for years if I had only known how EASY yogurt was to make I would have started long before I did – Love it! ~TxH~
I found this post through a blog link up. I made the vanilla version for my kids and it worked great. I wish it was a little thicker. Any suggestions? My kids love the portion sizes and I loved the quick incubation time of this vs other recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie – I’ve found that homemade yogurt is indeed silkier than the commercial stuff, but the powdered milk in my recipe adds both thickness & protein. I believe the higher milkfat will make a thicker yogurt as well, so whole milk will be thicker than 2%. (I’ve made yogurt with skim milk and didn’t care for it at all) You can further thicken your yogurt by straining it through cheesecloth for a few hours in your fridge after it’s made to remove some of the whey, basically making a thicker Greek yogurt. Easy/peasy! ~TxH~
Mary, let us know how it comes out. I’ve never had a batch fail so I know you’re gonna love it. ~TxH~
Wow, this seems so easy! I eat yogurt every morning and also put it in smoothies. I really do need to try this myself. I am pinning it.
~Ann
Ann – easy, easy, EASY! Give it a try, you won’t be sorry. Thanks for the pin! ~TxH~
My sister has been learning how to make her own milk products like sour cream, cream cheese and mozzarella and she wanted to learn how to do yogurt next. Sharing with her, looks really easy.
Yes Lucy, please share – it’s super easy and I love the reduction of landfill trash. ~TxH~
What a great idea to put the yogurt in 1/2 pints!
I make my yogurt in a thermos, but I use the same recipe. I have a large, wide mouth thermos that I ‘heat’ by filling it with hot water and letting it stand for about 5 minutes. I don’t chill down the milk, I pour the warm yogurt mix directly in to the warmed, drained thermos. After about 6 hours I have yogurt.
Now, I am going to store it in 1/2 pints in the fridge. Just brilliant.
I’ve heard of the thermos method Redd, it sounds really easy! Thanks for sharing. ~TxH~
Thanks for linking up with EVERYTHING FRUGAL!
We use a lot of yogurt and maybe one day I will work on making my own!
Thanks for sharing your recipe at Fabulously Frugal Thursday. I’m finally getting back into making homemade yogurt using my crockpot.
Visiting from Our Simple Farm blog hop! Love this simple, easy to follow recipe for homemade yogart. I’ll be so happy to say good-by to store bought versions and hello to my own creations. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Give it a try Shannon – you’ll LOVE it! ~TxH~
I’ve made my own yourgt for a couple of years, using an electric yogurt maker I bought at my local Goodwill. It has a thermostat, so I can start the yogurt after dinner and have fresh yogurt when I wake up the next morning! TALU
I’ve seen those yogurt makers Kathy but I’ve never used one. Sounds convenient! ~TxH~
Although our methods differ a little, and I keep mine all in one big bowl, I also love to make and have homemade yogurt handy. I use it for dips, baking, etc. as well as for eating. 🙂 Growing up in an Armenian family, I usually eat it with a drizzle of honey and crumbled cracker bread. [#TALU]
I’ve been thinking of making my own yogurt but haven’t been brave enough yet. LOVE the idea of making the individual containers. I just bought a bunch of yogurt, but I’m going to make this as soon as we are running low. Thanks so much!
My kids LOVE yogurt and I want to get more into canning and making more of my foods. We planted a garden this year and made our own compost so I’m sure this is something that I will attempt soon. Pinning it so I can refer to it later/
Give it a try Stephanie. Although my drive to try making my own yogurt was for primarily environmental reasons, I was really shocked when I discovered how ridiculously easy it was to make. ~TxH~