The Best Homemade Yogurt Recipe | Frugal Farm Wife (2024)
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There are a bazillion yogurt recipes floating around cyber-space already, so why am I adding another one?
Simply because this is the best yogurt I’ve ever made, and I want to share in case some of you have had the problems with other recipes that I’ve had.
By “problems”, I’m referring to things like runny, or overly tart yogurt, poor texture, bad taste, etc.
Really, you wouldn’t think there would be so much difference between recipes when your essentially only dealing with one ingredient, but everything about the process influences the final product, from what temperature you scald your milk at, to how much starter you use, to how long you incubate.
Milk Makes All the Difference
Goat milk is notorious for making runny yogurt because of its low protein content, but I’m here to tell you that with his recipe, you can make yogurt, even with goat milk, that will stand up on your spoon, and that has a heavenly smooth texture and sweet/tart taste. And no, there’s no rennet or gelatin involved.
I haven’t had even a single failure with this recipe.
Note: I choose to scald my milk rather than use raw milk for a few reasons:
Texture. Raw yogurt tends to be more runny.
So the “starter” can be carried from batch to batch. When making raw yogurt, you’ll need to use fresh starter every time, which isn’t sustainable, or for that matter, frugal.
Raw milk is a great thing, but the enzymatic qualities and fermentation process of yogurt more than make up the the milk not being raw. Yogurt – yes, scalded milk and all – is a wonderful digestive aid, especially if you’re eating low enzyme diet.
Pour the milk into an adequately sized pot and heat gently until milk boils.
When milk comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately. I have found that boiling the milk, rather than simply heating it to a lower temperature results in a much firmer texture.
Clip thermometer to the pot, and let the temperature come down to 110°.
As soon as this temperature is achieved, remove the “skin” from the top of the milk (any skin left will result in papery shreds in your finished yogurt), and whisk in the starter yogurt.
Pour the yogurt into the jars leaving at least half an inch of headspace and fit with lids.
Place the jars in your cooler and fill cooler to the top of the milk line with hot tap water.Your ideal incubation temperature is 110º, but as long as the water you put in your cooler is too hot to keep your hand in for more than a few seconds, you’re good. It will cool off before the milk gets too hot.
Snap the lid on the cooler and let incubate for 6-8 hours. It’s a good idea to replace the hot water half way through the incubation to facilitate the fermentation process. The longer it incubates, the more tart the taste, and many traditional cooking sources recommend incubating yogurt for up to 24 hours to “eat” all of the milk sugars and make sure enzymes are at their peak, so feel free to experiment with incubation times. We find the best flavor take about 8 hours.
remove jars from the cooler and refrigerate.
Enjoy!
A Few More Recipe Notes
I like to use Dannon natural plain yogurt for my starter batch. After that first batch, I’ll use the yogurt from my last batch and so on from generation (of yogurt) to generation.
Sometimes, if your yogurt gets contaminated by some sort of bacteria floating around your house or sticking to some utensil that you used, the yogurt may develope an “off” flavor. If that happens, don’t worry about it, just start over with a new carton of Dannon, or (perhaps if you’ve planned ahead, which is not my strong suit) some that you’ve frozen from a previous batch for just such an occasion.
We’ve been going strong, making beautiful yogurt since the beginning of December without having to restart yet. Sadly, our goats are drying off though preparatory to kidding in a little over a month, so it won’t be long until we must bid our yogurt addiction adieu. Sad face.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you’re still having trouble with this yogurt, Take a look at this troubleshooting guide:
Homemade Yogurt Troubleshooting Guide
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Pasteurized milk is an excellent choice for making yogurt at home. HTST (High-Temperature Short Time) or Flash Pasteurized milk is heated to 161ºF and held there for 15 seconds. If your bottle of milk is labeled “pasteurized,” it has most likely been treated in this way.
The fat in yogurt is part of what makes it thick, so using whole milk will result in a thicker yogurt than skim milk. You can also add cream to the milk or use it in place of milk to increase the fat content.
Does homemade yogurt have more probiotics than store bought? Certainly. The heavy processing and use of additives in regular yogurt you buy from store destroy probiotics. On the other hand, you can prepare homemade yogurt by natural fermentation of milk minus the processing and with no additives.
One key point in yogurt making is that heating the milk before culturing determines part of the flavor and how thick the yogurt will be. If you just heat milk to 165°F / 74°C briefly and then cool, the yogurt will taste fresh, a little fruity, and will be thinner and more tart when it sets.
Whether homemade or from the store, yogurt itself makes a great yogurt starter. If you're using store-bought yogurt, check the label to make sure it contains live, active cultures—and doesn't have any additives like sweeteners, flavours or thickeners.
A yogurt starter can be from any jar of store bought yogurt that says “active cultures” on the carton. Make sure your yogurt is plain (no sweeteners) and full fat for the best results (though I've heard low fat and even Greek yogurt will work fine as a starter as long as it has active cultures).
Fermentation time: The longer you ferment the more tart, and thicker, your yogurt will be. Different cultures work at different rates, but as a general guideline: 6-8 hours produces a mild yogurt, 8-12 hours a tart yogurt, and more than 12 hours produces a sour yogurt.
Direct-set yogurt starters are one-time-use cultures. It is possible to use some yogurt made with a direct-set starter to make a new batch of yogurt, but after a few batches, the culture will weaken and a new dose of direct-set starter is needed.
The temperature is too low. If the temp is below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the cultures will not ferment properly and the milk will stay runny. The temperature is too high. If the temperature is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the yogurt will ferment too fast and will also render the yogurt runny.
When stored properly in an airtight container, your homemade yogurt should last about two weeks in the refrigerator. We don't recommend freezing the yogurt, as it can change the texture once defrosted.
Yes, It's Worth It To Make Your Own Yogurt It's easy to make your own yogurt, and when you do, you're in control. Your homemade cultured milk can be worked into a variety of sweet and savory dishes.
If too much starter culture is used, the bacteria will be crowded and run out of food (lactose) before the yogurt is set. Too much starter can produce a sour taste, rather than the desired tart taste.
1. **Fermentation Time:** The longer yogurt ferments, the more tangy and sour it becomes. If you let the yogurt ferment for too long, it can result in an overly sour taste.
You can use nearly any type of dairy milk to make Greek yogurt, but for best results, we recommend using whole pasteurized milk. Avoid ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk when making yogurt.
You can make yogurt out of regular store-bought pasteurized milk, organic milk, raw milk or even goat's or sheep's milk. Pasteurized milk, the kind you find at the grocery store, is basically milk that has been heated up to 180 F to slow the growth of bacteria in milk, which lengthens its shelf life.
Milk is the most important ingredient when it comes to cold start yogurt. Since we are skipping the boiling (pasteurization) step entirely, we must use milk that is already pasteurized. The package will often say ultra-pasteurized or UHT (Ultra high temp) on it. Most shelf stable milks will also work in this recipe.
While you can technically make yogurt with whole, 2%, or non-fat milk, a higher fat content will definitely give you a thicker, creamier yogurt. Also, avoid milk that has been Ultra High-Temperature pasteurized (UHT).
Introduction: My name is Pres. Carey Rath, I am a faithful, funny, vast, joyous, lively, brave, glamorous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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