Recipe: Homemade Yogurt

I had been seeing all these different people online who were making yogurt. Needless to say, this peeked my curiosity because yogurt is expensive...and contains a lot of sugar.
I had bean wanting to try this process, but it is a long process that just seemed kinda daunting to me. Procrastination! I am pretty good at that...

There are a few different methods out there that I thought about doing.

• Cooked on the stove then put in a cooler
• All in a crockpot
• Stove and crockpot

And the winner of which one I decided to do?!! The last one. Yes, maybe the most on the dishes end, but it seemed to make the most sense to me.

So, I got home from church on Wednesday night and decided to start the process. What else is one to do at 9 o'clock when your husband is at work?

Here is the recipe that I used:

Recipe: Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients and supplies:
1/2 gallon milk
1/2 cup yogurt starter (any yogurt with live, active cultures will work. I use Dannon Naturals but most yogurts will work. Just read the label to make sure it has live cultures!)
Large pot
Crockpot crock
Thick towel or blanket
Thermometer (optional, but highly recommended)

I started with my milk in a pan over a medium heat. You need to raise the temperature to 185F.

Here is my milk that is frothing at 185F. I let mine hold at this temperature for a few minutes, because they say it will get thicker. Make sure that you stir a lot during this phase so that the milk doesn't stick too badly to the bottom.

Remove from the heat and cool enough to put in the crock liner. 

Let the milk cool to 120F. 

Take out 1 cup of milk and add it to your live starter. Mix.

Pour the starter into the crock and stir.

Cover the crock in a towel and let sit for at least 7 hours.(I have found if I let mine sit out for closer to 12 hours, the yogurt seems to thinken.) This is where it was nice. The starter did it's work while I was asleep!

Refrigerate after the 7 hours.

Add anything to the yogurt that you want to make it flavorful. Fruit. Jelly. Vanilla. Granola. The options are endless.

I will be making it again in the future! I want to know if you try one of the recipes or if you make your own yogurt.