Fresh Yogurt!

Homemade yogurt, with Gabrielle's granola.

Last year we decided to buy a slow cooker. In looking up recipes for our new appliance, we found a basic recipe for making yogurt in the slow cooker.  It made sense to try to make yogurt because we were spending so much on it every week and we had about a million of those quart-sized, plastic yogurt containers.

Truthfully, I don’t remember the exact recipe I used but it was probably this one: crockpot365.blogspot.com

“Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half-gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.”

I followed the simple instructions, though I used a 50-50 mixture of whole milk and 2%. My yogurt turned out pretty well using this slow cooker method the first few times. It was mild in flavor and slightly runnier than commercial store-bought yogurt. It was tasty enough that I was willing to keep trying to perfect it. Unfortunately, it started to get cold out (as well as inside our apt), so it became impossible to keep the yogurt warm enough (about 110 degrees) for 8 hours to allow the bacteria to do their thing. I tried using warm towels or putting the yogurt in a low oven to incubate, but the mixture would get too hot or too cold and in the end I would yield a cheesecake dense mess or runny clotted milk. I’ll spare you any further details of these truly gross results.

My other problem was that the yogurt wasn’t as creamy as I like. I really love strained Greek style yogurt so I tried straining my yogurt with coffee filters, or cheesecloth and fine mesh sieves. Usually this resulted in yogurt all over the kitchen counters and the floor and eventually, down the drain.

Over the winter months I continued to buy yogurt from the dairy stand at our farmer’s market, patiently waiting for the weather to warm up so I could give this yogurt business another go.

Recently, Gabrielle bought a yogurt “machine” for me. The “machine” is really just a glorified hotplate with an automatic timer, seven 6 oz jars and a lid. It works like a dream and using it has solved my biggest problem with yogurt making – holding a constant temperature for several hours. The machine also creates a creamier, thicker yogurt than the slow cooker method, which is probably also due to the constant temp.

So here is the recipe that came with my machine, with some little tips from me. I haven’t perfected yogurt making just yet, but the results are encouraging so far:

You’ll need a saucepan, a small bowl, a whisk, a thermometer and a spoon.

42 oz of pasteurized milk (2% works fine, I have yet to try fat-free) – I, being a yogurt snob, use organic milk from grass fed cows. I am lucky enough to have access to really great tasting, fresh, organic milk from Ronnybrook Farms located in upstate New York who have a stall at our farmer’s market. Use any pasteurized milk. You don’t have to be a snob like me.

6 oz of plain, unflavored, yogurt with live active cultures (this is the starter) - I use Ronnybrook's yogurt as my starter, for continuity. Also, their yogurt has a nice tartness that I enjoy. Again, use whatever you want as long as it’s unflavored, unsweetened and contains live active cultures. Oh, and take the starter yogurt out of the fridge a few minutes before you are going to use it so that it doesn’t cool your milk down too much when mixing it.

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it just starts to boil, or to around 180 degrees.

Remove the saucepan from heat and let the milk cool to about 110 degrees. I cool mine to about 112-113 degrees and then begin the next step.

When the milk nears 110 degrees, empty your starter yogurt into a bowl (hopefully you remembered to take the yogurt out of the fridge a few minutes ago). Take about two cups of the warm milk from the saucepan and gently stir it into the starter yogurt. When it’s mixed well, pour this mixture back into the saucepan and mix it gently again.

Pour your yogurt/milk mixture into the jars, place the lid on the machine and set the timer to: 7 hours for whole milk, 8-9 hours for 2%, and 10 hours for skim. My machine doesn’t have a temperature knob or setting, just a timer.

After 8 or 9 hours, put lids on the jars and chill for a few hours before eating. The yogurt should stay good for a week or so.

Yield = 42 oz of plain yogurt

To jazz up my breakfast yogurt, I add a combination of whatever we have around the house – honey, maple syrup, molasses, granola, raisins, nuts, or fresh fruit. Lately, I’ve been using GG’s homemade granola bar (crumbled up) and peach/ginger jam. I will sometimes just eat it plain too.