I decided to make my own yogurt as another step toward eliminating plastic from my life and the Earth. I love that Garry’s Meadow Fresh Milk is local and comes in glass bottles. But I was absolutely thrilled to discover St. Benoit plain yogurt in single serving GLASS JARS as well, which I use for my yogurt starter. (You can set aside enough homemade yogurt to use as a starter for the next batch, but your yogurt will lose it’s bacterial potency with each generation. To avoid ruining a fresh batch, I just use a new jar of St. Benoit every time.)
You’ll need:
1 gallon organic milk (skim, 2%, or whole milk works, but more fat = creamier), 4 tablespoons organic yogurt, large saucepan (I use a stainless steel pot), digital thermometer, clean glass jars, funnel, wooden spoons, ladle, incubation equipment of choice.**
1. Preheat the oven to 180F. Heat the milk on the stove over medium high heat to 180F, stirring frequently with wooden spoon. Once it reaches 180F, put the lid on the pot and place in the oven for 45 minutes (this makes the yogurt come out creamier).
2. Take it out of the oven, (with pot holders!), uncover it, skim off the “skin” that has formed with a fork, and cool the milk to 115F. (You may either let it cool down by itself slowly or place it in an ice bath in the sink. If you choose the ice bath, stir the milk intermittently and check temperature frequently.)
3. Put 4 tablespoons of yogurt “starter” into a bowl, add a ladleful of the milk and mix it until yogurt is a liquid consistency, then pour it into the pot of milk, and stir for about 30 seconds.
4. Using the funnel, ladle the milk into the jars, and close the lids tightly.
**5. It’s now time to incubate the yogurt for 8 hours (or longer, if you like it tangier). There are many methods for incubating, which you can find on the internet, but the following method works great for me so I’m sticking with it. I fill both 1/2 gallon milk bottles (that Garry’s Milk came in) with hot water and set them inside a large red cooler lined with a fleece blanket. Then I tuck in my jars, cover everything up with the blanket, close the lid, and let it rest undisturbed for 8 hours.
6. When the time is up, pull out the yogurt, and either eat some right away ; ) or refrigerate. You’ll know you made a good batch if your yogurt has a smooth consistency, smells really yummy-yogurty, and tastes oh-so-good!
*This is what Trina Brunk called my yogurt after giving it a taste!
ps: Once the hot water in the milk bottles has cooled, I water the plants with it.