HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE YOGURT

Making your own yogurt at home is relatively easy as long as you follow the steps used in making yogurt at home. There are two main ways to make homemade yogurt – on the stovetop (and then incubated in the oven or in a cooler) or with a yogurt maker. In this discuss we will be seeing how to prepare homemade yogurt using raw milk or powdered milk (in Africa and some parts of Asia powdered milk is the milk readily available) without a yogurt maker.

Starting with the best quality ingredients ensures you’ll have the best quality end product. That means I always start with organic, grass-fed milk and use either a yogurt starter or a few tablespoons from one of my own previous batches.

You can definitely use supermarket-brand plain yogurt as a starter, but please read the ingredients carefully and look for live, active cultures. You don’t want fillers, stabilizers and flavorings in the yogurt you’ll use to propagate an entirely new batch.

Ingredients (with raw milk)

• 8 cups milk (1/2 gallon) — whole or 2% are best, but skim can also be used
• 1/2 cup commercial yogurt containing active cultures

Ingredients (with milk powder)

• 2 cup (500grams) Milk powder or powdered milk
• 6 cups (1.5 lit) Water
• 4 to 8 tablespoonful (125ml/grams) supermarket-brand plain yogurt
• Sugar to taste (optional)
• Flavour (optional)

Equipment

1. 3 quart or larger Dutch oven or heavy saucepan with a lid
2. Spatula
3. Instant-read or candy thermometer (one that can clip to the side of the pan)
4. Small measuring cup or small bowl
5. Whisk

Preparation

1. First, choose your milk. This can be any kind of milk, but the healthier your milk is the healthier your yogurt will be. Whatever milk you decide to use, make sure it is not ultra-pasteurized (the label of the milk will say whether it is ultra-pasteurized or homogenized). In order to get the most nutrition, use whole milk.

• Pour the milk powder or powdered milk into a saucepan, add two cups of the lukewarm water and mix well to dissolve the milk.
• Now add the remaining water and stir well.

     2. Heat the milk to below boiling, about 90 °C.  Stir constantly to avoid scorching-When you begin to see some tiny bubbles on the milk , stir and stay alert, and the moment it starts to boil, remove it immediately from heat, This kills whatever unsavory microbes may be lurking in your milk and ensures you’ve got no remnant bacteria, pathogens, mold, or spores. When you create an environment for bacteria to multiple, you only want the good bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles which you introduce to the milk) to multiply. Heating the milk also creates a thicker yogurt by changing the protein structure. This heating step is necessary to change the protein structure in the milk so it sets as a solid instead of separating.

     3.Cool the milk to44°C -46°C. Let the milk cool until it is just warm to the touch, 44°C -46°C. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. (Though if one does form, you can either stir it back in or pull it out for a snack!). Use the same instant read thermometer you used when heating your milk, to know when it’s cooled to 44°C -46°C.

     4.Add your yogurt starter – the good bacteria. Pour out one cup of warm milk and stir in either a yogurt starter (I use Yogourmet) or 6 tablespoons of pre-made yogurt. For a good starter, look for lactic acid forming bacteria. At a minimum you want Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Other good bacteria include Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis.

• Wisk the yogurt starter with the rest of the milk. This spreads the good bacteria throughout all the milk.

     5.Pour the milk into jars and incubate for 8-12 hours. A consistent, luke-warm temperature is paradise for all your good bacteria and promotes their growth. The longer you incubate your yogurt the thicker and tangier it’ll be. And after about 8 hours, you’ll have delicious, healthy, thick and creamy yogurt. Incubate the filled yogurt jars in a warm oven or a food cooler with hot water bottles beneath it or anywhere around your home that gets a little heat because this yogurt need to stay pretty warm and undisturbed for 8 to 12 hours so that it can set properly.

• After eight hours, you’ll get a thick natural yogurt, with no sweeteners or flavors.
• Now you can scoop out about 8 tablespoonful and set aside for your next batch.
• At this point, you can add any flavor or sweetener of choice.

     6.Place the jars in the fridge to cool and set. Cool the yogurt in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. As the yogurt cools it will get even thicker.

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