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Exconsumer Project/ How To Make Yogurt

By making yogurt yourself, you have the option of purchasing milk (the main ingredient) in paper cartons or recyclable plastic containers, rather than buying it in the plastic #5 containers in which it is commercially sold. With some practice, you will also have greater control over the taste and texture of the yogurt, so that it can be made for particular purposes and recipes.

 


Step 1: Carefully wash and dry all the utensils needed to make the yogurt.

Step 2: Put aside two tbs. of yogurt starter in a small bowl, and bring to room temperature.

Step 3: Pour 4 cups of milk into a pan, and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Step 4: Just before the milk scalds, remove pan from heat and allow the milk to cool. If any viscous surface forms, remove it with the stirring spoon and rinse it off.

Step 5: Cool milk evenly until the temperature is somewhere between 105 and 120 degrees on a candy thermometer. To tell if the milk has cooled enough without the use of a thermometer, put a drop on your wrist. It should feel lukewarm but not hot.

   
     
    Step 6: Beat the yogurt starter in the small bowl a few times with a clean fork or egg beater, and then add 3 tbs of the warmed milk to the yogurt, beating after each addition.

Step 7: Pour the entire yogurt/milk mix in the small bowl into the larger pan of warmed milk and mix it in.

   
         
 
             

Step 8: Prepare the thermos or pan in which the yogurt will incubate by pre-heating it with warmed water. Once it is warmed, empty out the water, and pour in the milk/yogurt culture mixture.

Step 9: If the overall temperature in the room in which you are making the yogurt is cold, wrap the thermos in a scarf or blanket and allow it to incubate for 4 hours without disruption. If you are incubating the yogurt in a pan, consider putting it in the oven to incubate (do not turn the oven on... the oven simply provides a slightly warmer, steadier temperature than outside.)

   
             
   

Step 10: For yogurt with a more sour taste, incubate for longer than 4 hours. For most yogurt, unwrap after four hours and refrigerate until cool. (Remove from thermos before chilling.)

    
   
 

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Ingredients and Materials

The ingredients for making a quart of yogurt are very simple:

4 cups of milk

2 tbs yogurt culture: more for tangier yogurt

After you have made the yogurt, you can add sweeteners (like a vanilla flavored syrup or honey) to taste, or you can leave the yogurt plain.

When making yogurt it also helpful (though not necessary) to have the following tools clean and ready:

a measuring cup and spoon

a candy thermometer (though in this demonstration we used a meat thermometer)

a pan or thermos in which to incubate the yogurt.

Yogurt is made by adding a live bacterial culture to milk, which transforms the liquid into a viscous solid. Though most yogurt in the US is made from cow milk, the principals of yogurt making shown here work equally well with other kinds of milk (yak, goat, or whatever it is you keep in your yard.)

One of the most critical steps in the yogurt making process is inoculation, wherein the milk is boiled so that it is sterilized of other forms of bacteria which might compete with the yogurt bacteria (usually Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus). Once the milk is sterilized, it is important not to re-introduce new bacteria: hence the importance of cleaning all of the tools you will use to make the yogurt before beginning.

The yogurt culture that you add to the milk can come from any number of different sources. Though packaged cultures can be ordered off the internet, the easiest way to obtain the culture is to simply set aside 2 tbs (or however much you need) from a carton of store-bought yogurt. You only need to do this once... subsequent batches of yogurt can all be made by using 2 tbs from the last batch. You will never need to buy a Stonyfield Farm container again!

In order for the bacterial culture to transform the yogurt, it is necessary to keep the yogurt at a very steady temperature, somewhere around 110 degrees F. You can incubate yogurt in any container, so long as the proper temperature is maintained. By far the easiest thing to incubate the yogurt in is an old carafe or thermos. Providing it has been pre-warmed with water before the yogurt culture/ milk mixture is poured into it, it will hold the 110 degree temperature very nicely for the 4 hours of incubation. If you don't have a thermos, making yogurt in pan or dish or bowl is almost as easy. You can incubate it by putting the dish in the oven. Don't turn the oven on-- the warmth from the pilot light should be enough to incubate the yogurt.

Questions about yogurt making? Email Carla at cablackmar@yahoo.com