Saturday, January 10, 2009

I Made Yogurt!

I've been dying to try the recipe for yogurt on Crockpot365. Yesterday, I got the chance...It turned out great! I've decided that using the Crockpot was actually kind of silly, and more a a gimmick for this blogger. It could have been done just as easily in a pot. You only use the pot to heat the milk. Here's how I would do it:


Heat 8 cups (1/2 gallon) of whole milk on the stove until it boils, then let cool. Milk should be warm, but not hot (like you could stick a finger in it and not burn yourself). Heck, I imagine you could do this in a microwave. Scoop up two cups of the warm milk and put into a bowl. Wisk in 1/2 cup live active culture yogurt. This is your starter. The next time you make yogurt, you can use some of your first homemade batch as a starter. Pour the mixture back into the pot of milk and wisk it all together. Put the pot in a warm place (I used my oven, not turned on) and let sit for 8 hours. You've got yogurt! This comes out the same consistency as store-bought organic whole yogurt, but thinner than brands like Yoplait.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you the benefits of making your own yogurt. First, the cost savings. Homemade yogurt boasts a 25 cent/ounce cost savings over the store-bought stuff...that's real! Then there's the lack of plastic tub. Finally, a healthy alternative that you can dress up and flavor as you wish.

I flavored mine by adding 2T vanilla and 1/4 cup agave nectar to the whole batch. Then I separated into smaller batches and flavored with fruit purees. Finally, I poured individual portions into baby food jars (scored these on Freecycle) for ulimate convenience.

From left to right: Blueberry, Peach, Cherry, Raspberry....Yummy!

This recipe makes so much that I also made frozen yogurt and yogurt popsicles.

6 comments:

Melissa said...

I LOVE CrockPot Lady. She has fed my family MANY nights. ;)

Anyway, I really really want to do this, but in the move, lost a LOT of spare containers. Any other thoughts for what I could use? Any glass jar with a screw on cap?

Renee said...

you could keep it anything, especially if you don't care about individual portions.

Jen said...

that is awesome! i'm so glad you tried it... it's definitely on my mind. good idea on the frozen yogurt, too! must add an ice cream machine to my wish list!

Anonymous said...

I am totally giving this a whirl next! Thank you so much for sharing! :-)

Angela said...

I'm very impressed AND inspired! I'm gonna try this too! :)

Bird's Eye View Photography said...

wow! that is awesome!