Receta Woo Hoo Yogurt Success
Homemade Yogurt Success
Have you ever seen something so yummy?? What a great way to start out this chilly morning.
Here is a picture of the beautifully thick and smooth homemade yogurt I made yesterday. Isn’t it pretty?
The other day I posted a link for instructions on how to make homemade yogurt without a yogurt maker. The instructions had you place your pot of milk on top of a heating pad. Well of course I couldn’t find my heating pad so I had to improvise. I also didn’t follow those instructions to a T. You see I tried making yogurt once before. It turned out fine flavor wise but was a bit runny. I like the consistency of Dannon fruit on the bottom yogurt to give you an idea of what I am striving for.
Homemade Yogurt
This homemade yogurt is pretty darn close to that thickness. I added a dollop or two of raspberry jam on top and had it for breakfast. Yum Yum.
Here are the instructions on how I made it.
- You will need a half gallon of milk. I used 1%
- 1/4 cup of Dannon plain yogurt to use as your starter
a thermometer
a heating pad or a large electrical roaster to keep your milk at an even temperature for an extended period of time. We are talking hours. Seven at the least.
a large pot w/lid
a spoon
a whisk
First let me start by telling you that I had to play around with my roaster for about an hour before I began. The lowest temp on the roaster is 150 degrees. You need to let your yogurt ferment in the roaster for 7 hours or longer, keeping the temp as close to 100 degrees as possible. So I had to figure out how to do that. What I found was that my roaster did not even start to warm up until I set the temp on 200. That is way too hot. So what I did was put a towel over the top and hung an oven thermometer inside hanging from the metal meat rack that comes with the roaster. I also added about an inch worth of water in the bottom of the roaster pan.
I let the roaster heat up for a while and checked the temp. The temp was about 120. I turned the temp down to 150 and after a bit checked the temp again.
The ventilation from the towel allowed some of the heat to dissipate but kept the inside of the roaster warm enough for the yogurt. Once I was ready for that stage of yogurt making I would check the inside by placing my hand on the removable pan. If it was warm I left it alone. If it felt cool I turned the temp back up to 200. I did this all day long. If your going to make yogurt this way or with a heating pad you should do it on a day that you will be home all day so that you can monitor the heat inside the roaster. Plus you wouldn’t want to leave the roaster or heating pad on unattended.
Pour your milk into a heavy pot and heat on medium low to 185 degrees. Stirring occasionally.
Once your milk has reached that temp move it off your burner. Now you can either let the milk cool on it’s own or you can put your pot in the sink with enough water to reach the level of your milk to cool it faster. You need to bring the temp down to 110 before you add your starter.
What I did was move the milk off the burner and measure out my yogurt starter and checked the heat in the roasting pan. Once I had everything ready then I put some tap water in the sink and cooled the milk down.
Now if you have been reading about making homemade yogurt any where on the internet by now you have figured out that most recipes call for 2 or 3 tablespoons of starter. I believe a 1/4 of a cup is a little bit more then 3 tablespoons but to be honest I didn’t pay attention as I measured it out. Plus I figured more starter = thicker yogurt.
Mix your starter in well. I used a whisk and whisked until there were no more lumps of yogurt in my milk.
Put the lid on your pot of milk and place it inside your roaster. Put a towel over the roaster.
Now this is the hard part. You must leave your pot of milk/starter undisturbed for at least 7 hours. The longer you let it go the tangier your yogurt will be. Be careful when checking the temp in your roaster not to disturb the pot. That means no peaking under the lid! You don’t want to jiggle the pot at all. Leave it alone and periodically check the temp in side the roaster. Adjust as needed.
I left my yogurt for 11 hours. After that long I couldn’t take the suspense any longer. I had planned to leave it for 12 hours but just couldn’t wait any more.
I lifted the towel off and peeked under the lid. I am sure a sigh of relief escaped when I saw the thick, white creamy yogurt waiting inside.
Transfer your yogurt to some containers with tight fitting lids and place them in the coldest part of your fridge. As the yogurt cools it will thicken even more.
Homemade Yogurt
Enjoy! Let me know how it goes if you decide to make some yogurt of your own.
Thanks for stopping by!