Homemade Yogurt
I often make substitutions and adjustments to make recipes work for ingredients already available in my pantry. I rarely follow recipes even when baking, where precise measurements and specific ingredients matter a bit more as compared to season-to-taste cookery. Some tweaked recipes turn out fine while others get filed in the “meh” or “time to get takeout” cabinet.
One ingredient that I consider irreplaceable is yogurt. Substituting milk, cream, buttermilk, or any other similar product just doesn’t work most of the time.
My favorite yogurt brand is Fage, a tangy Greek-style yogurt strained to a thick consistency. It’s similar to Arabic labneh and is sometimes referred to as, drum roll please, yogurt cheese. As much as I like the taste and texture of Fage yogurt, I’d rather have it as a quick snack than as a cooking ingredient. It’s fairly expensive and plunking down $15 worth of yogurt on a batch of yogurt-braised chicken doesn’t make much sense to me.
ideal temperatures referenced from Harold McGee’s On Food And Cooking
Having a bit of experience with handling wheat and rye starters, I felt confident with the general idea behind making yogurt. You’re basically creating an environment for active cultures to feed on milk sugars (lactose) and create lactic acid as a byproduct. The lactic acid solidifies the milk into a firm gel, creating yogurt. Sounds delicious, I know.
After a few tries, it turns out that it’s fairly easy to get consistent results. There are a few things to consider when making homemade yogurt:
Use a thermometer
Unless you can accurately tell the difference 100ºF and 180ºF by sight or feel, use a thermometer to get consistent results. If the yogurt starter culture is added to milk that is either too hot or too cold, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with spoiled milk after a few hours.
Avoid pectin in the yogurt starter culture
In my first attempt, the milk did not fully solidify and had an odd texture. The sourness was there, but the stringy strands of slime were troubling. I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong, until I noticed that the yogurt starter I used from Stonyfield had pectin in it. Switching to a yogurt starter that contained nothing but milk and active cultures (such as Fage) seemed to eliminate the textural issues.
Scald the milk to 180ºF
Heating the milk only up to the optimal temperature for the yogurt cultures to breed (around 104ºF to 113ºF) resulted in tangy milk that had the occasional cluster of firm yogurt. I actually liked the results, but it was not what I was looking for. The milk needs to be heated to 180ºF to denature the proteins and help the milk solidify. This step is not optional. This temperature also ensures that any unwanted cultures in the milk are eliminated, leading to the next tip:
Use the same container for scalding and fermenting
Heating the milk to 180ºF sterilizes the milk and its container. Pour the scalded milk into a different container to ferment and you run the risk of introducing unwanted bacteria to the mix.
Use the oven to ferment
There’s no need to buy a yogurt maker. I usually make bigger batches in stockpots or dutch ovens so I use a warm oven to ferment the milk. Most ovens, including mine, don’t go low enough to maintain the ideal temperature for creating yogurt. The oven light bulb happens to keep my oven temperature at around 100ºF to 110ºF, the ideal temperature for yogurt cultures. Your results may vary.
Homemade Yogurt
makes 1 gallon + 2 cups of yogurt
Can you guess how I figured out the yield?
1 gallon milk
2 cups yogurt with active cultures
Notes:
- This method works for skim, 1%, 2%, and whole milk.
- Save 2 cups of yogurt for the next batch.
Heat the milk slowly over medium-low heat until it reaches 180ºF. Cool the milk to 110ºF at room temperature.
Turn on the oven until the temperature reaches 100ºF. Turn off the oven then switch the light bulb on.
Add the yogurt to the scalded milk, ensuring that the yogurt is evenly distributed. Place in the oven and ferment for at least 3 hours. It may take anywhere from 2 to 10 hours for the yogurt to fully set.
Place into the refrigerator and let cool completely before serving.
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July 5th, 2008 at 12:23 am
These are good tips. I made yogurt once and have been wanting to do it more since then. My problem is that I don’t have a bulb in my oven so I string one in that is plugged in outside with a lamp peice, I do this for tempeh making too. It’s a bit of trouble though, hence the putting it off. I’m inspired now though. Tomorrow, yep.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:12 am
[...] Apple Pie, Patis, & Pate has just posted a wonderful post - 5 tips for Homemade Yoghurt. Make sure you read this if you are just starting the journey of home made [...]
July 5th, 2008 at 3:14 am
What a great post! I love your photo and your clear instructions. I have made my own yoghurt a few times, using a crock pot, and love it. I love the process and love the resulting yoghurt. Thanks for these enlightening 5 steps.
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July 5th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Great recipe for yogurt… But I’m still reeling from the price you have to pay for it at the store…. WOW!
I pay about 2 euros for 4 1 cup containers. Needless to say I use lots. I’m not sure if it would be cheaper for me to make it, as fresh milk is a bit expensive - long life is the standard here, and that doesn’t work.
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July 5th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I love homemade yogurt, and I make about 3-4 quarts weekly.
First, you really do not need 2 cups of yogurt per gallon of milk! A couple of tablespoons should be enough. (I use a teaspoon of so per quart of milk).
I agree that heating the milk to 180 is essential for good, firm, yogurt. I no longer use a thermometer. I already know how much time I need to heat the milk for in the microwave, and I also know how much time, approximately, it takes it to cool down to the right range. I can tell by touch if the milk is too warm or too cold. I always mix some milk into the previous batch of yogurt, and then mix that back into the milk. I then skim off any bubbles on top of the milk (and skin if that has developed).
I used to incubate my yogurt in a yogurt maker, but I found that it heats up my yogurt too much. So, recently I moved to using the microwave as my incubator. I heat up two small cups of water for about 2 minutes in the microwave. I then wrap the yogurt container in a blanket, and put in the hot, steamy, microwave overnight. By morning I have beautiful, firm, creamy yogurt.
One final tip: when I heat the milk, I often steep something in it. I’ve tried matcha, rosemary, mint, and vanilla and got good results. Cocoa powder did not work. The rosemary was especially tasty.
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July 5th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I’ll have to give this a try. How long does a homemade batch of yogurt tend to last before it spoils?
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July 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
if ever we get to tear ourselves away from the computer, we want to make yogurt, with these tips
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July 6th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
rainbow - Have no idea how to make tempeh.. Sounds interesting.
vegeyum - Thanks for the link back!
katie - The price isn’t just for one tub. It’s takes about 2-3 tubs for a batch and it adds up to $15.
boaz - Will try it with less starter next time. It so easy to kill the starter so I always use a thermometer. Really good tips there, too. I’ll try steeping with tea next time.
eddie - It doesn’t usually last longer than a week, but beyond that I can’t say for sure.
sarah - it only takes 5 minutes of actual work
July 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am
We make yoghurt, too
My husband bought a heat pack from the local pharmacy that he swaddles the yoghurt with, then pops into an earthenware pot to keep toasty. Odd, I know. But it works for us.
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July 7th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Why waste the oven? Get a wide mouth flask and it will ferment overnight perfectly. It has bee sterilized in the dishwasher and no problems with contamination. I’ve been making perfect yogurt this way for a decade. And agreed that 2 cups is way too much.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Great tips! I’ve yet to make yogurt, but these tips will definitely come in handy! I certainly eat enough yogurt, I should try my hand at making it!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
dee - I also considered doing that. It’s like Alton Brown’s method, but I didn’t think I could make bigger batches with it.
lulu - I usually do 2-3 gallon batches in stockpots and dutch ovens and the oven is the best solution for that amount. Will definitely try with less starter next time.
girlcanbake - hope it helps!
July 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Wonderful to see you writing about yogurt cheese. We like it so much we wrote a cookbook and guide to expand its uses. I hope you will allow us to share our enthusiasm: Yogurt cheese (or YoChee as we call it) is a wonderful versatile ingredient you can make at home to improve your own yogurt. Simply by draining it. It has substantial health, taste and cooking benefits (a creamy food which is low or no fat plus high protein and calcium). I hope you will take a look at,” Eat Well the YoChee Way” our guide and cookbook to this important food. We even paid ($1,000) to have yogurt cheese analyzed in a lab for nutritional content. The book really increases the use of yogurt cheese to main courses, soups, sauces, desserts, and much more. (Nutritional content included). Inexpensive durable drainers (starting at $9.) make it easy and clean. Our website YoChee.com contains a free yogurt cheese how - to slide show, nutrition information and free recipes. Thanks.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I use Bob’s Red Mill powdered milk to make my yogurt, a Styrofoam cooler, (like $2.00) and a cheap heating pad for old tired bones. I don’t do anything in the way of heating my ingredients, just place everything in cooler. I do use empty jars from food-stuffs.
To make the yocheese, old flour sacks work great, you can even squeeze out more liquids.
Only source of fresh milk here in the Philippines is like $2.00 per liter, My powdered milk is like $.45 per liter.
Another simular cultured milk product is kefir, doing the same draining for the cheese. It just cultures sitting on the counter or in the cabinet.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Jude –
I swear by the FAGE /Total Greek Yogurt, too — especially the 2% fat version, which is 130 calories, 4 grams fat and a whopping 17 grams of protein. I’m new to yogurt making, bought the EuroCuisine yogurt maker and like it a lot. But how do you make home-made yogurt have as much protein as one 7 ounce container of the Fage?
I’m the worst at math, so correct me if my calculations are wrong, but here goes.
I use 2% organic milk. 8 ounces = 130 calories, 5 grams fat and 8 grams protein. So wouldn’t 6 ounces = 6 grams of protein?
OK. . .there are 7 six-ounce jars in the yogurt maker.
So I then decided to use the FAGE as my starter, ’cause I like thicker yogurt and for the extra protein. The batch is in the yogurt maker right now, so I don’t know yet how it’s going to turn out.
BUT. . . 17 grams of protein divided by 7 jars = 2.42 grams per jar.
So now each jar has 6 grams of protein from the MILK and an additional 2.42 grams of protein from the FAGE .
That’s only 8.42 grams of protein.
How the heck can I get my home-made yogurt to have 17 grams like the store-bought?
I thought of adding POWDERED SKIM MILK, which the EuroCuisine instructions says to do if you don’t want to boil the milk.
OK, so the suggested 5 TBS of powdered skim milke = 15 grams of protein. 15 grams divided by the 7 jars would add another 2.14 grams of protein. THEN the total protein would be 10.56 grams.
Too disappointing! That’s still too low in my opinion — it simply doesn’t come anywhere near the nutrtional value of the FAGE.
Am I calculating wrong? Is there something I’m missing? I want to match the FAGE, but how do I do it?
Thanks one and all in advance –
Mary Jo
July 15th, 2008 at 1:41 am
David - thanks for dropping by.
Jerry - Styrofoam sounds like a good idea. Should keep the heat in. Never tried yogurt milk from 100% powdered milk.
Mary Jo - Fage is strained to an almost solid consistency so it has a higher concentration of protein than unstrained yogurt. I usually mix in the whey instead of straining it. there’s a lot of nutrients there.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Jude –
Sorry to be ignorant, but what do you mean you mix in the whey instead of straining it. What the heck is whey? Is whey something you buy? I just dumped one 7 oz. container of Fage into the milk and then put it in the EuroCusine cooker. Then put the little jars in the refrigerator. The yogurt came out very thick like the Fage, but disappointingly didn’t have much flavor. Nowhere near as tasty as regular Fage , nor as tasty as using powdered yogurt starter and milk.
I’m not sure when/where you would strain the yogurt either. At what point in the process? Jude, I’m WHEY confused here!
July 16th, 2008 at 9:00 am
P.S. What really seems to make the yogurt thick is to let it stay in the yogurt maker for 24 hours, then the fridge for around 8. Since I wrote the above message, I Googled “whey.”
Are you saying I could buy whey in a health food store and add that to the 2% milk, and use the Fage as the starter?
Or use milk, whey and powdered yogurt starter and forget the Fage.
If powdered whey, how much whey do you put in the milk?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Mary Jo, whey in this case is the cloudy liquid produced after the yogurt has gelled. In greek style yogurt, that liquid is strained out after fermentation which is the main reason why the protein content in Fage is much higher than regular yogurt.
You can use the powdered yogurt starter if that works better for you. Letting the milk ferment longer will also help develop flavor.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Jude —
Jude –
Hmmm.. . . . I never get ANY cloudy liquid after my yogurt jells. I don’t get any liquid at all. The Fage makes the milk mixture thicker and then after being in the yogurt maker machine for 24 hours, it’s even thicker. But it doesn’t TASTE like Fage. (Although looking at the Fage label, it also has CREAM in it. Maybe THAT’S what gives the Fage such yummy flavor. But I’d rather not add cream because it’s got so much fat….)
Using milk and powdered yogurt starter has better flavor — but then the yogurt isn’t thick and it doesn’t have enough protein.
Frankly, I’d sacrifice the thickness if I could find a way (or a whey) to boost the protein. Maybe the answer IS to buy whey powder at a health food store.
Then I spoon the mixture into the little jars, turn on the EuroCuisine cooker and leave them there for 24 hours. That seems to make the yogurt really thick. And then refrigerating for 8 hours completes the process. I just took a jar out of the refrigerator and have it upside down over a strainer and nothing’s coming out.
July 20th, 2008 at 12:28 am
It’s weird that you don’t get any liquid after the yogurt coagulates. Maybe there’s a bit of evaporation going on?
I wouldn’t really use powdered whey. It will give the yogurt an off taste for sure.
Sometimes the yogurt is strained for a few hours with a weight on top (say, a can of tomatoes). Any liquid that can be squeezed out will come out then.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Well, if I get liquid, OK, I’ll stir it back in. But that will only keep what’s already there. Are you saying there’s simply no easy way for me to boost up the protein in home-made yogurt to match a 7oz. container of FAGE? I’m depressed!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
It has to be the straining that boosts the protein in Fage. In any case, just eat more of the homemade version to make up for the lesser protein content
August 11th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Jude,
These are all great tips! We would like to feature them on Chef’s Tip. The best part is you don’t even need to register or sign up. Please email me at chefstip@gmail.com if interested. Thanks
Amy
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I purchased a Euro Cusine yogurt maker. I have made many batches, but about every other one never solidifies. I use a thermometer, so it’s not too hot. I had not been heating the milk to 180 first–could that be it? I use 4 c. skim milk, 5 T powdered milk, 5 T agave nectar, 1 tsp vanilla and then when cool enough I mix the starter with a bit of the milk mix and add it all together–then put it in the jars in the yogurt maker. I leave it about 8 hours–sometimes it works–sometimes it stays liquid (but still doesn’t seem to spoil) . . . any ideas??
October 9th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Ok, inspired by your blog (which wifey conveniently pasted to my desktop), I made my first one gallon batch of yogurt. I am so amazed at how simple it is to make! I thought one needed a degree from a culinary school to make it. One gallon cost me less than $4 to make; we usually get 1/2 gallon for about $6 (the boys eat a lot of yogurt). Thanks for sharing!
October 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ok, My second time making yogurt and I am totally hooked. I use three tablespoons of already made yogurt plus one cup of heavy cream to one gallon of boiled milk. heaven, i tell you, heaven. thanks for posting the blog and thanks to wifey for making me aware of it. Now I am gonna be making my own butter…i’ll let you know what happens.