Homemade Yogurt: Easy To Make, Good To Eat

Making simple and nutritious yogurt is easy and lots of fun too. Here are 10 steps to make good yogurt for the family.


1. Gather All The Ingredients and Equipment

You can find most of the items in your kitchen

Ingredients

• Milk (whole, low-fat or fat-free) 1 litre or 1 quart
• Yogurt culture/starter (freeze-dried powder) 1 packet 5g
• Powdered milk 1 cup

Equipment

• Pot/pan -  large enough to hold the milk for heating
• Spoon/stirrer - stainless steel or plastic
• Container (plastic/glass/ceramic) to hold cooled milk for fermentation
• Small containers- 5 or 6 pcs for yogurt servings
• Thermometer (optional but useful if you are doing it for the first time)

For home-made yogurt that is fast and easy to make and delicious to eat, I use flavored milk and add some powdered milk for a thicker or firmer texture. Omit this last item if you prefer your yogurt smooth and delicate.


2. Add Milk To The Pan/Pot
   

First, dissolved powdered milk with some milk.

Pour rest of the milk into a pan or pot for cooking

Pour dissolved milk powder into milk and stir thoroughly

Add powered milk for a thicker consistency. The amount to add depends on your preference. You can also add your preferred flavoring at this stage.


3. Heat Milk Until It Start To Boil

Heat over medium fire. Stir constantly until milk starts to froth or boil. Do not over-cooked.

Most people recommends heating to 85°C  (185°F)  when milk starts to boil

Heat the milk over a medium fire. Keep stirring the milk as it heats up. You want to see the milk start to forth or form little bubbles as it reaches around 82°C  (180°F). Continue for a minute or two and then turn off the fire. It is not necessary for the milk to boil over. Do not over-cooked or burn the bottom as you do not want a "cooked" milk flavor.

Heating the milk to almost boiling point kills bacteria in the milk including undesirable ones which are killed if exposed to temperatures over 55°C  (130°F). Heating also denatures the milk proteins so that they set together nicely and not form lumpy curds.  

Just remember to heat the milk to about 85 to 90°C  (185-195°F).


4. Cool Heated Milk to 43-50°C  (110-122°F)

The milk is then cooled to about 43-50 °C (110-122 °F)

Pour the heated milk into a container and leave it to cool down for about 30 minutes, or you can use a water bath to quicken the cooling process. Your target temperature should be within 43-50 °C (110-122 °F). If you do not have a thermometer, place your hands around the container. It should feel warm without burning your fingers.

Remember, yogurt bacteria are killed if exposed to temperatures over 55°C (130°F), and they do not grow well below 37°C (98°F).

5. Inoculate Yogurt With Yogurt Stater

Dissolve yogurt stater powder(inset) with some cooled milk

Pour mixture back into the rest of the cooled milk

For my first batch of yogurt, I use 5g of freeze-dried yogurt starter powder or yogurt culture for 1 litre or 1 quart of milk. Dissolve the culture in a small bowl of cooled milk. Mix thoroughly and pour mixture back into the litre of cooled milk. Mix well to evenly distribute the yogurt culture in the litre of cooled milk.

Stir vigorously to completely mix the yogurt culture with the cooled milk

Once thoroughly mixed, you can use the same container to begin the fermentation process or you can distribute the inoculated milk to small clean containers or jars, filling to the neck.  Cover immediately with clean tops and tighten well.

If you do not have yogurt stater, you can also use a small cup of commercial yogurt from the supermarket but make sure they contain active lactic bacteria such as L.casei, B.longum, L.bulgaricus, S.thermophilus, L.acidophilus.

Put half a cup of yogurt in a small bowl of cooled milk, mix thoroughly and pour mixture back into the litre of cooled milk. Mix thoroughly.


6. Cover Up and Keep Warm Inoculated Yogurt

Put on the cover tightly to prevent contamination

Wrap the container with bath towels to keep it warm

It is very important to keep the container with the inoculated yogurt at the right temperature during the fermentation process which may take from 3 to 12 hours.

There are many ways to keep the inoculated yogurt warm. You can use a oven, hot-water bath, yogurt maker or heater-pads and the time required usually ranges from 3 to 7 hours. I use large bath towels to keep my inoculated yogurt warm.

7. Leave Inoculated Yogurt Undisturbed To Ferment

Since this is my first batch using yogurt starter, I have leave my inoculated yogurt to ferment or incubate undisturbed in a warm place for 12 to 15 hours to reach the desired firmness and the characteristic tangy flavor.

After wrapping my inoculated yogurt with the bath towels, I placed the container into the micro-wave oven which is quite warm with the door closed and I left it there overnight. You can put your inoculated yogurt any where in the kitchen as long as it is warm and undisturbed.

Wrapped-up container in a warm micro-wave oven

8. Turn Milk Into Yogurt

Home-made yogurt -  fresh and delicious

After about 12 hours of the fermentation process, my inoculated milk has turned into a firm texture. Stir vigorously to smoothen out any lumps. You can scoop the yogurt into smaller containers for single servings.


9. Chill Yogurt To Stop Fermentation Process

Put yogurt to the back of the fridge - it's the coldest here

Put the yogurt in the fridge to cool overnight. This thickens the yogurt  further and stop the fermentation process. You can store yogurt in the fridge for 10 to 14 days.

10. Enjoy Your Home-made Yogurt

Yogurt is a very versatile food - eat it by itself or add any flavorings that you like

Home-made yogurt is fresh and nutritious without any of the additives that come with commercial yogurt.

You can enjoy yogurt all by itself or you can add fresh fruits, nuts, granola, cookies, honey, vanill, jam, syrup, jellies. You can eat as snacks or desserts, and is use in many food recipes.

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