This came out beautifully, nice and thick even though this uses low fat milk. I used organic milk and organic Greek yogurt. Thank you for the recipe.
This is the basic recipe I have been using for years. Some temps and times that work for me: I heat the milk (1/2 gal) in a double boiler to 180 degrees for 30 minutes, cool to 110 degrees in a cold water bath, add the starter (buy a cup of plain yogurt with live cultures), place in a warm place (oven with towel, etc.) for 8-24 hours. The longer it rests and grows the tarter it will be. Special note- resist the urge to check what is happening, the only failure I had was because I stirred the yogurt 6 hours in to the process. You can strain the yogurt at this point or after you have refrigerated it. Strain the yogurt to thicken it (greek style). I use a colander with coffee filters to strain the yogurt. The left over byproduct (whey) can be used in soups or oatmeal recipes. 1/2 of the yogurt will be whey by volume. It has protein and a unique flavor. I keep back a 1/4 cup starter for the next batch. 1/2 gallon batches are plenty for our family of 3 for a couple of weeks.
Other inexperienced reviewers do not understand that much like making sourdough bread, yogurt must have a “starter” bacteria to make yogurt. This recipe uses a small amount of store bought yogurt for that, although you can buy powdered starter if you’d prefer although I don’t know why you’d bother when you easily obtain fresh product. After that you can use part of what you made as the starter (also like homemade sourdough, and no one would dispute that’s indeed homemade!) as long as you have Something to use for the culture. TIP: use your Instant Pot!
That is an awful lot of yogurt to use in 7-10days! I use a similar method, but with 6 cups of milk in a 2 quart glass measuring cup, 14 minutes in the microwave brings up to 180 F without boiling, transfer to another bowl to speed cooling to 110 F, then run oven 1 minute, turn off but leave oven light on, add 1-2 T of plain yogurt, mix well, cover and leave in oven overnight. It's not Greek yogurt unless you then strain it; I use a handkerchief lining a strainer.
I make yogurt this way all the time! If you are like me and want to use exact temperatures, I heat the milk to 180 F and then let it cool to 110 F before I add the yogurt. I put the towel wrapped pot in my oven on the proof setting and it stays the perfect temperature. Don’t have a proof setting? Just turn the oven light on, this works great too. After I let the yogurt sit overnight in the fridge, I line a mesh strainer with coffee filters and strain some whey off to make Greek yogurt. Don’t throw away the whey, it’s great if you make homemade soups. Substitute half of the broth / water the recipe calls for. It gives the soup a pleasant and unique flavour.
I have made this many times before reading this. It is a tested recipe I cherish.
Fyi; only use plain Yogurt- no additives. You can add puréed fruits and berries to the yogurt only to what you eat straight away. If you make a giant fruity yogurt and don’t eat it straight away - it will become watery and runny and spoil faster.
I warm my oven to the lowest setting and turn it off. Once the yogurt mixture is ready, I cover the pot and put it in the oven overnight. My morning, the yogurt is ready to go. I find this easier than wrapping a pot in a blanket.
I have been making yogurt for years. I have access to a local dairy and their milk is not homogenized which makes the best yogurt. I have never boiled the milk, just heat it to 185* then let it cool to 110* in the crock of a crock pot . I do the towel wrap and leave it overnite 10 hrs in the oven with the light on. If your oven has a pilot light that's all you need. I use organic yogurt with nothing but milk and active yogurt cultures and it is yummy from the first batch. I make mine with skim and use it in baking or smoothies or with granola/oats/cereal. I monitor the temp closely because milk that's too hot will kill the yogurt cultures,
I do a gallon of whole milk a week in the Instant Pot, using Icelandic Skyr culture. I strained it through cheesecloth. But less work is to buy a greek yogurt straining pot, so I can now just pitch it in the reefer to strain. BTW, if the milk is "ultrapasteurized", then you do not have to boil it, just bring it up to 115 degrees. This is how to make Creme Fraiche too, using heavy whipping cream.
Did this in the mid 70s in Honduras, with whatever milk was available and yogurt from the Mennonite market. Worked great. Watch the finger in the mixture stuff these days...germs, don't cha know.
