To make yogurt, you’ll need milk. Whatever the amount of milk you use will be the amount of yogurt it yields. For this recipe, we’ll use a half gallon. You’ll also need some store-bought yogurt with active cultures. You’ll also need two pots which can nest within one another, to create a double-boiler and a candy thermometer. And you’ll need a heating pad to place the fermenting yogurt on.
Homemade fermented yogurt shown here is not only easy to make, it’s delicious and nutritious.
- Place the smaller pot in the larger pot and hold it down as you fill the larger pot with water, so it doesn’t float. Fill the larger pot about half-way up the side of the smaller pot.
- Pour the milk into the smaller pot and heat the water to boiling. You can use a pair of tongs to dip a slotted spoon and your thermometer in the boiling water, to sterilize them. Clip the thermometer to the side of the smaller pot. Stir the milk as it boils.
- When the milk reaches boiling temperature, remove it from the stove and place the smaller pot in a cold water bath in your sink. Keep stirring it until it cools to 110 degrees F.
- Pour about 2 or 3 Tbsp of yogurt into the cooled milk. Stir it in and then place the yogurt on the heating pad, the pot covered with a lid and wrap a dish towel around it. Let sit for seven hours.
- Check on the yogurt and test it with a spatula. If there’s curd on top, it’s yogurt. Stir in the curd, place in air-tight containers and refrigerate. You can use this yogurt as future starters for more yogurt.
To read more about the magic of fermentation, check out the article, What is Fermentation?
Have a great fermentation recipe? Send it to us! -MIKE KLEPFER