Yogurt Recipe

This is for my sister-in-law Lex. 

I decided to share my yogurt recipe so you all can be as awesome as I am. :p

All you need is: 1 gallon of milk and 2-3 tablespoons of any plain yogurt that says it contains Live Active Cultures in the ingredients. 

Step 1: Put your milk in the crockpot. 

Step 2: Heat the milk on high for a couple of hours until the milk is about 170-180 degrees fahrenheit.

Step 3: Turn it off and let the milk cool until it is between 110 and 120 degrees fahrenheit. It cools faster if the kid is off during this part.

Step 4: Add the yogurt and put the lid back on the crock pot and wrap the crockpot with towels. Big ones.

Step 5: Leave it to sit and make yogurt for 12-24 hours. The longer you leave it the more sour it will be.

Step 6: If you want runny drinkable yogurt then it is done. If you like it a little (or a lot) thicker (like we do) drain off a little (or a lot if the whey). I line my strainer with paper towels (double or triple thick) and leave it for an hour or so. I know people who have used coffee filters or cheese cloth for this part.

Tips and tricks:

*You can use any type of milk you want, from whole milk all the way down to skim milk. I've even read that people have used cream or half and half.

*One gallon of milk makes 4 quarts of yogurt, unless you drain off some whey and then it makes less depending on how much you drain off. I usually try to drain off 1 quart of whey leaving me with three of yogurt. My family has been loving this so much that I've been making yogurt about once a week lately! We drink less milk when we eat more yogurt though, so it all evens out. 

*If you use a little powdered milk (like 1/3 cup) in your milk when you first put it in your crockpot the yogurt will turn out a little thicker. (I've been doing this, but I've also done it without too and it's just fine.)

*Sometimes the yogurt can be a little clumpy. Before I put it in my fridge, I get out my beaters and whip it up a little bit. It makes it a much nicer texture.

*Save your whey that you drain off and use it. You can substitute it for water or milk when baking and it is so yummy! It is good in bread or pizza dough, or pancakes and it is soooooo good for you! Or you can give it to your plants instead of water. They love it!

*The yogurt is delicious on cereal (hot or cold), or with applesauce mixed in, or with a little extract (our favorites are banana, strawberry, lemon,  and coconut) and some sweetener mixed it (sugar, honey, ect).  We also like to put fresh fruit in it, and I just made some pumpkin granola that it is absolutely delicious on. The possibilities are endless!

*Before you eat it all up, make sure to save a few tablespoons from your batch to make some more! You can use your own yogurt to start another batch! Cool huh?

You should let me know if you try it!! It's a pretty easy and straight forward recipe and as long as you make sure your milk gets to the right temperatures, it's hard to ruin. I hope it works for you!