Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt

Many people I know think that making homemade yogurt is a big deal. Fact is, I am not a fan of store bought yogurt. Most store bought yogurts (even organic yogurts) have a long list of ingredients, when all you need to make yogurt is some milk and some yogurt. Homemade yogurt also turns out to be less expensive. You can make a gallon of yogurt for the price of a gallon of milk.

Yogurt is made by fermenting milk. The bacteria in the yogurt ferments the milk and milk becomes yogurt. Read more about the chemistry behind yogurt here.

My mom has been making it since I was a kid and it is very common in India. It is usually easy to make it in summer as the weather is warm. But now that its cold, I had a hard time getting it right. I think I know the trick now.

Any milk and yogurt can be used to make this yogurt. If whole milk is used the yogurt will be thick and 1% yogurt is a not as thick. You can start with store bought yogurt for the first time and then use the yogurt you made for subsequent preparations.



Ingredients:
-Milk (1/4 gallon)
-Plain yogurt (1/2 cup)

First pour milk into a clean vessel and start boiling. Keep the stove at medium, NOT HIGH. Once the milk starts building a layer of skin/cream, turn off the stove. If you are forgetful like me, keep a timer for 10 min and keep checking the milk. You can also stir the milk to make sure its not getting burnt from the bottom.

Allow the milk to cool down for about 15 minutes, until the milk is luke warm. Then add 1/2 cup of yogurt and stir it well. Put a lid on it and keep it in a warm place, like inside the oven (oven should be off).
Note: If milk curdles when you add yogurt, it means that milk was too hot. In case this happens, you can make homemade paneer or ricotta cheese with the milk, so don't throw it away.

Check back after about 4 hours (if the weather is warm, it takes less time) and you will have some awesome homemade yogurt.
Note: If its still milky, it could mean the temperature in the house was not enough, so try keeping it in the oven with the light turned on to give a mild heat, but the oven should be turned off.
If yogurt is sour, it was out for too long. In case the yogurt is sour or it didn't turn out right, you can make a soup with it. So nothing will be wasted. I will post it soon.

Now make sure to keep some yogurt aside to use as culture for next time.
Don't worry and give it a try and you will master it in no time.