Homemade yogurt

So here's the 411 on making yogurt (at least the way I do it.  There are other ways....)

When I realized that The SB is sensitive to pasteurized milk and loves yogurt I knew I had to do something so he could enjoy that food and not break out with eczema on a daily basis.  So I started looking into different ways to do it, trying to find a way that would be easiest with our lifestyle.

I came across this site: Nourishing Days, Crockpot Yogurt.  It seemed easy enough so I gave it a try and it worked....so here's how I do it.  (Or you can just follow the instructions in the link above :)

Pour half a gallon of raw milk in a crock pot.  Mine is big and oval shaped...not one of the tall deep circular ones.  (This is what you get for asking a non-cooker to explain how I do things! haha).


Turn the crockpot on the LOW setting (not keep warm) for 2.5 hours.  I usually do this at about 2 PM so the yogurt will be finished the next morning.


Then turn the crock pot off for three hours.  **Don't remove the lid at any point.  I don't stir or do anything other than push buttons on it once I put the milk in. :)

After the three hours, take 1 to 2 cups of the warm milk out into a bowl (I recover the crock pot immediately) and mix in roughly 1 cup of plain yogurt for the cultures.  I use organic as-high-fat-content-as-I-can-find and non-hormone Greek style yogurt.  It seems that if I don't use Greek yogurt then my yogurt is runnier.  If I use the Greek style as my starter then it is at least the consistency of our "normal yogurt" and sometimes as thick as the Greek style.  (Even if you don't go raw with your milk I encourage you to look into why hormone free is important and make informed decisions.)

Once the warm milk and yogurt for starter have been mixed, then I put it back in the crock pot and mix it with the rest of the milk.  Wrap the entire crock pot in a big beach towel to insulate and leave it sit for about 10 to 12 hours (overnight in my case).

The next morning I get up and scoop it into glass containers and put it in the fridge for at least 8 hours to help it "set" a little more....and because warm yogurt sounds nasty to me.  :)

I have made this probably 20+ times and I've only had failures twice....both times were when I didn't follow the times listed above.  My old crock pot made better yogurt.  I just got a new one two weeks ago and it's not as thick as I would like.  I'm sure the new pot heats higher or faster than my old one.  If I knew all the temperatures the milk had to be at at all of these stages I would use my kitchen thermometer to perfect it in my new crock pot....but I'm too lazy to go digging for the appropriate temperatures. :)

You can order cultures specific to the type of yogurt you want to make and make your own starter that way, but for me it's just easier to use the regular stuff.  That 1 cup of pasteurized milk product added to a half gallon of raw milk to make yogurt doesn't affect The SB's eczema so that's good enough for me.  :)

We eat it with granola in the morning a lot for breakfast.  I use it often in place of sour cream.  I like to add it to brothy soups to make them a little creamier.  Or we eat it plain with a little honey or fruit or jam mixed in.  I usually make a 1/2 gallon every week using the raw milk we get weekly.