How to make your own yogurt

I've mentioned homemade yogurt before, but I figured that it deserves it own post. Here's where I got the original instructions.

What you need:

Thermos

1 Tbsp of your old batch of plain yogurt

An amount of milk that fits into your thermos

Pan or Pyrex to heat milk

Thermometer

How to:

1. Bring the milk to a boil either on the stove or in the microwave.

2. Let the milk cool to 50 degrees Celsius (about 122 degrees Fahrenheit)

3. Put the tablespoon of yogurt and the cooled-down milk into the thermos.

4. Close the thermos and let sit for 8-14 hours.

5. Open up the thermos and be amazed! Scoop your yogurt into a container.

6. Add any flavors (like berries) or sweeteners (like honey) that you want, but make sure you always have some plain yogurt around for your next batch!

Note: You might want to allow some of the whey to pour out before scooping out your yogurt. Additionally, if you like thicker yogurt, you can strain more whey off by using cheesecloth or a wire sieve. Save the whey! You can use the whey in baking, soups, etc.

We've been doing this for at least a couple months now, and it has worked great. However, here are a few pointers to keep you from having the same little pitfalls in the beginning. First, the milk really does need to be heated to boiling. It denatures the proteins so that the bacteria can make the milk into yogurt. Second, the thermos is necessary. The bacteria need the milk to stay warm so that they can keep doing their work. Third, the yogurt tends to stick to our thermos, but I found that letting it soak in some water with vinegar and baking soda before scrubbing it helps.

Enjoy!