Homemade Yogurt Recipe

Several weeks ago I started playing around with making my own yogurt.  It's a treat I rarely buy, since our boys can easily polish off a quart in one sitting, and that gets a little pricey to do on a regular basis.  However, I've discovered I can make a quart of yogurt for about $1.  Yup.  For the price of one gallon of milk, I can make a gallon of yogurt!  And I do, almost every week.  Here's the awesomely simple and fantastically economical recipe for yogurt by the gallon (it's just as easy to make by the quart -- just divide the two ingredients).

Homemade Yogurt Recipe

Ingredients
1 gallon of milk (I use 2%)
1 cup of plain yogurt (after your first batch, you can save a cup for starting the next one)

Directions
Let milk and yogurt come to room temperature before using (totally optional, I often forget, but it makes the process go a little faster).  In a large pan, heat the milk to 185 degrees over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Once it reaches 185, keep it at that temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Set the pan of hot milk in a sink of cold water until milk cools to about 120 degrees.  Add yogurt and stir well.  At this point you can add sugar and flavorings if you want (vanilla is good) or keep it all plain.  Remember to keep a little bit plain for starting your next batch!

Pour into jars, lid them and keep warm for five or more hours.  There are several ways to do this: 1) if your crockpot has a "warm" setting, set the jars in it (or you could put the yogurt straight in the crockpot and spoon it into jars after it's finished); 2) put the jars in a cooler with some hot water (about 120 degrees); 3) fill a large pan or crockpot with hot water, put the jars in the pan and set it in a warm oven.  I like option 2 best.

After five (or six or seven or ten) hours (or whenever you remember), put the yogurt in the fridge to cool.  Enjoy with fruit, granola, graham crackers or whatever floats your yogurt boat.

If your yogurt comes out runnier than you like, you can try adding a cup of powdered milk, keeping it at 185 degrees a little longer, or using milk with higher milk fat on your next batch.  Hope this is useful to some yogurt-lover out there!