Written By Vince Wheeler

Can I Really Make Yogurt At Home?

Making yogurt is super easy. I’ve made it tons of times and you can too! To get started you need to understand some basics. You need active live culture. Don’t fret, this isn’t rocket science. You’ll need to find a store bought yogurt you already enjoy. Don’t buy yogurt that has flavor added. You want plain yogurt that says “live active culture” on the container. You only need to buy this one time as long as you keep making yogurt on a regular basis.

Here’s How You Actually Make Homemade Yogurt!

All you need is two ingredients and a couple household items to make fresh homemade yogurt.

1. The Store Bought Yogurt With Live Active Culture (Only need to buy once)
2. One Gallon Of Milk
3. Cheese Cloth, Paper Towel, or A Coffee Filter
4. One Large Container (At least 1.5 gallons) or Several Small Containers

How can you go wrong with only two ingredient? You’ll have a few choices. You can make one large batch and separate it into smaller containers after the fermenting process finishes or you can make smaller containers from the start. I prefer to make one large batch of plain yogurt, but small batches with homemade jams at the bottom or top would be awesome too! The choice is yours!

The main concern you have is making sure the container (or containers) used to make your yogurt is sanitized. Clean it really good and wash it out with boiling water. I’d recommend avoiding bleach. Some people will tell you to use a little, but if any gets left in the container it will kill the good bacteria we’re planning to use. A good cleaning and rinsed with boiling water will do the job. Don’t forget to sanitize the whisk or anything else that will come in contact with your milk/yogurt mixture. This is the biggest risk to ruining your yogurt. Once the good bacteria wins the bacteria fight, the bad bacteria won’t be able to ruin the process. Sanitizing is designed to make this an unfair fight!

Now onto the fun stuff. Bring the milk up to a simmer. You don’t want to boil it or you’ll curdle the milk and ruin it for yogurt. Just get it up to a light simmer. As it simmers, you’ll scrape the foam off the top. Get as much of the foam off as possible. A little left won’t hurt anything, but do your best. Once you’ve done this, let the milk cool down to room temperature.

Once the milk is cool, slowly mix in your store bought yogurt. What you are doing is using the commercial live active culture and encouraging it to multiply. A really cool idea is to mix a variety of store bought yogurt to get a variety of active bacteria. Many yogurt manufacturers will use different bacteria. Just insure you only use plain yogurt. You can add flavors later! The more diversity you get the better this will be for you digestive system. This lets you create your own start with custom bacteria you choose! Just in case you didn’t know, your gut needs “good” bacteria to operate in a healthy way. The bacteria found in yogurt is very good for you. Anytime my stomach bothers me, I eat yogurt and almost always feel better by the next day.

Mix the milk and yogurt until it’s thoroughly blended. Pour the mixture into your container. Next, place your cheese cloth over it and set it in a warm (clean) part of your kitchen. If something is going to go wrong, it will go wrong in the next 8-12 hours. There’s no set time for this process. The goal is to let the good bacteria in the store bought yogurt multiply and make yogurt. I usually do this at night before I go to bed and by the time I wake up, I have yogurt! You’ll know your yogurt is done when it has the texture of yogurt. Once it’s thick and creamy, place it in the refrigerator and let it cool down. Once cool, you can add flavorings or simiply enjoy it as is. Take a quart and set it aside. Once you eat the gallon of yogurt, use that quart to make your next batch.

Just like sour dough starter, this is your yogurt starter. You can do this for years and years. As long as you have the “mother” you can make your own yogurt without ever needing to buy more from the store. Don’t be intimidated. This is really easy and there isn’t much that can go wrong if you make sure you’re working with a clean pan, containers, and a whisk. If something does go wrong, your nose will tell you. It will smell like rotten milk. I’ve never had a batch go bad. This is easy and you can do it!

Safety Concerns When Making Yogurt At Home

There are good bacteria and bad bacteria. This is like the show Highlander… There can only be one! One or the other will win the fight. By making sure everything is clean and sanitized, you’re giving yourself the best odds of choosing the winner. Remember, you’re starting with pasturized milk to begin with! After letting your yogurt sit out for 8-12 hours you’ll know who won. You have this built in device on your body, called a nose, that can smell the bad bacteria. If it smells sour or in anyway spoiled, you good bacteria lost the fight. Don’t eat it. Don’t stress over whether or not it’s good or bad. You have likely spent your whole life smelling the milk before drinking it. You have always be able to tell if the milk went south, right? It’s the same with yogurt. You’ll smell that it’s not good. If you did everything right and followed all my advice, you’re likely going to have awesome homemade yogurt that taste great.

Adding Flavor To Your Homemade Yogurt

I recommend you do this after your yogurt is made. There’s too many chances to introduce bad bacteria into the mix if you do this while cultivating the live active culture. After it’s made, you have many options.

1. You can keep it plain and add your flavoring each time you make a bowl. This will give you a chance to change things up each day.
2. Chop up some fruit and cook it with a little sugar and water. You’re essentially making a simple jam. If you don’t want to make your own, just use your favorite jam. Put some on the bottom of small containers and fill the top with your yogurt. You can also place the jam on top. Your choice. Simply miss the jam and yogurt when you’re ready to eat. This is the same stuff you buy when you get “fruit on the bottom/top” yogurt in the supermarket.
3. Add a little vanilla extract. If you want a sweetened vanilla yogurt, you can also make a thick simple syrup out of water and sugar. Just boil the two until you have a thick mixture. Let it cool down prior to mixing it into the yogurt.
4. Add nuts, chocolate, fruit, or anything you want. Yogurt is about as versatile of a product as you can make.

The Health Benefits Of Yogurt (Probiotics: The Good Bugs)

The good bacteria in the live active culture you bought from the store will be the same bacteria in your final product. These probiotics are awesome. They help regulate your stomach’s need for good bacteria. It’s always good to add these to your diet, but it’s especially important after an illness. These bugs let your bodies digestive system work properly. Since most of our immune system is located in the guts, a healthy system requires good bacteria. This can help in numerous ways. It has even been discovered, that depression can be caused through an unhealthy digestive system. This isn’t mental health advice. If you’re depressed, seek help. If you eat healthy foods and notice it affects your moods, you’re not alone. Yogurt is an amazing food for people with digestive issues.